Taking over the bike shop...

[Reynard]

I've seen guys set up on the street with little more than a blanket and some tools. I've seen tents set up (sponsored by shops) where folks can get free repairs and buy some of the most common items they'd need.

I'd be thinking the first Friday of every month outside the train station, the second Sunday in the main park etc. That kind of thing. A tent, a bike stand, tools and some spares. Bigger jobs could be referred back to the store?
Maybe a regular day at local schools to do basic repairs and teach kids the basics. A potential big one would be a service for local businesses whereby their employee bikes get a tune up while they work.

We get businesses do that regularly in the car park in Tesco Ely - things like windscreen repair, that kind of stuff. So it's obviously a strategy that works.

 

[Andy in Germany]

We get businesses do that regularly in the car park in Tesco Ely - things like windscreen repair, that kind of stuff. So it's obviously a strategy that works.

Long way to go on a Sunday though.

 

[KnittyNorah]

The smaller, "client focused" approach of home visits is a different kettle of fish. I doubt anyone would offer such a service and by its nature it would be small so little scope for complaint, I'd imagine. Although, maybe Andy has plans for a fleet of Giant Green bikes sweeping the land!

In the small city/large town where I live, there are at least two or three small businesses which offer to come to your home with their van, set up as a mobile workshop, to perform minor repairs on your bike (within certain post-codes) and will pick up your bike from your home, and return it to you later, if more lengthy and/or complex repairs or maintenance is required. The lbs I use for my bike does this; I took my bike to them on the bus (folding bike) and they were quite upset I'd done this - I suppose I do look old and decrepit! - and said why didn't you ask us to come and pick it up? Do you want us to bring it back to you?

Andy - or in this case his bosses - need to be ultra-careful not to tread on people's toes. There is a non-profit in my town which has something to do with bikes and bike maintenance; it is allied with the Climate Change people and is stepping very carefully. I think it's more to do with showing people how to do their own basic bike maintenance than anything else. Not about taking business off the small business owners who doubtless have enough struggles of their own.

If there's suddenly a charity or a non-profit trying to 'muscle in' - in however small a way - by offering a service to the general public (which is already available at commercial rates) by undercutting generally-recognised commercial rates, well ... any beneficial collaboration with bike businesses in the area could be kissed goodbye ... I think it might work if only certain sectors of the population were to able to access this service - eg there is an organisation near me which offers 'home handyman' services FOC to people over the age of 75 and in receipt of certain age and income related benefits. There is no objection from people who run their own home repair businesses because the people using the organisation's service would be highly unlikely to hire the home repair 'professional'.

 

[classic33]

Long way to go on a Sunday though.

Set off on tonight when you've finished.

https://www.bakfiets.com/modellen/business/flightcase

 

[HobbesOnTour]

In the small city/large town where I live, there are at least two or three small businesses which offer to come to your home with their van, set up as a mobile workshop

I stand corrected!

 

[All uphill]

In the small city/large town where I live, there are at least two or three small businesses which offer to come to your home with their van, set up as a mobile workshop, to perform minor repairs on your bike (within certain post-codes) and will pick up your bike from your home, and return it to you later, if more lengthy and/or complex repairs or maintenance is required. The lbs I use for my bike does this; I took my bike to them on the bus (folding bike) and they were quite upset I'd done this - I suppose I do look old and decrepit! - and said why didn't you ask us to come and pick it up? Do you want us to bring it back to you?

Andy - or in this case his bosses - need to be ultra-careful not to tread on people's toes. There is a non-profit in my town which has something to do with bikes and bike maintenance; it is allied with the Climate Change people and is stepping very carefully. I think it's more to do with showing people how to do their own basic bike maintenance than anything else. Not about taking business off the small business owners who doubtless have enough struggles of their own.

If there's suddenly a charity or a non-profit trying to 'muscle in' - in however small a way - by offering a service to the general public (which is already available at commercial rates) by undercutting generally-recognised commercial rates, well ... any beneficial collaboration with bike businesses in the area could be kissed goodbye ... I think it might work if only certain sectors of the population were to able to access this service - eg there is an organisation near me which offers 'home handyman' services FOC to people over the age of 75 and in receipt of certain age and income related benefits. There is no objection from people who run their own home repair businesses because the people using the organisation's service would be highly unlikely to hire the home repair 'professional'.

It's my turn to be 'that guy'.

If a service provided at people's homes or workplaces by a social enterprise meets their needs better than a traditional shop, why is that a bad thing?

I agree that shop owners may be annoyed and uncooperative, but, again, why is that a bad thing?

Maybe the original bike shops shouldn't have been allowed, then stables, blacksmiths and horse breeders would still be found in our towns.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Probably worth pointing out that we aren't strictly able to offer such a service to the public unless we have licenced bike mechanics and a licenced master bike mechanic in the company; this is precisely to protect other bike shops.
I can't officially call myself a "bike mechanic" because I'm not licenced, unless I've worked in a shop for more than 5 years. If I want to run my own shop I think three of those years need to be in a management position. (So 4 1/2 years and counting). Then I'll get another "Exception" made, otherwise I can't get liability insurance.
We can get around this to some extent by saying it's an internal service and/or for training or qualifying our clients. I've since seen the original email and that's what they're talking about: specific events for a specific group.

 

[Big John]

Andy - or in this case his bosses - need to be ultra-careful not to tread on people's toes. There is a non-profit in my town which has something to do with bikes and bike maintenance; it is allied with the Climate Change people and is stepping very carefully. I think it's more to do with showing people how to do their own basic bike maintenance than anything else. Not about taking business off the small business owners who doubtless have enough struggles of their own.

The town where I live has a high street full of charity shops, not unlike most of the town's in the UK these days. Banks, building societies and charity shops fill the spaces where Woolies, BHS, C & A, Debenhams, Littlewoods and sundry others once were. I wouldn't put the demise of these retailers down to the rise of charity shops taking their business. A bike charity is no different to any other charity shop - we're selling used items. Online shopping is changing the face of business, not charities. Our LBS's should be worried about Chain Reaction, Wiggle, Planet X and the many others that are out there rather than worry about a charity that probably makes as much in one week as a LBS makes on one sale of a quality road/mountain bike. I don't see us as a threat....more of a necessity.

 

[Rusty Nails]

Interesting useless information: Stuttgart is Cardiff's twin city. This makes sense as both are small port cities and state/provincial capitals. We even have a tram with Cardiff's crest on the side.

Our council loves twinning.

In the city centre we have a Stuttgart Strasse leading on to Boulevard de Nantes.

 

[KnittyNorah]

It's my turn to be 'that guy'.

If a service provided at people's homes or workplaces by a social enterprise meets their needs better than a traditional shop, why is that a bad thing?

I agree that shop owners may be annoyed and uncooperative, but, again, why is that a bad thing?

Maybe the original bike shops shouldn't have been allowed, then stables, blacksmiths and horse breeders would still be found in our towns.

I don't think that a non-profit should undercut an existing business by offering goods or services to the general public at significantly less than a normal small business needs to charge for the same goods or service. I can't imagine that it would do much to strengthen support among the local business community, either.
The original bike shops which first rose in competition to, then replaced, livery stables, farriers and horse-trainers were not charitable organisations, or run on non-profit principals, as far as I know. If they had've been, I expect we'd've heard about it!
If there is to be a government (local/national/regional/devolved) sponsored reorganisation of bicycle repair and maintenance so that responsibility for such is put into the hands of various bike charities and non-profit organisations, then I would expect to see the government - through the non-profits - offer salaried posts to local mechanics and the staff of bike shops.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Like they say "every day's a school day". Learnt something I didn't know about the relationship between charities and for profit businesses.

 

[Andy in Germany]

This bike:

Is now complete, tested, and on sale for 250 €; it's my first clients first bike for sale. He's one of many people who doesn't realise his own capabilities.

I also have another new client who is here for five months because he's looking for an apprenticeship placement as a bike mechanic, and the Job centre sent him here to learn the basics so he can hit the ground running. I've told him I fully intend to take advantage of this. Today was his second day and he obviously was ready to build bikes so I put an old city bike in the stand and told him to have at it.

Bikes are selling well; we made 530€ in February and I thought that was a dead month. This month I know I've sold far more bikes, as I've been building at least one a day and there's only seven in the showroom.

Unfortunately that means that I've got to now use the evil Excel to make a spreadsheet for my expenses and sales for management, before they have a collective panic at the order I've just made...

 

[Andy in Germany]

I've got to now use the evil Excel to make a spreadsheet for my expenses and sales for management, before they have a collective panic at the order I've just made...

Managed to beat the Evil Excel into submission despite repeated random reformatting of cells and attempts to delete half the spreadsheet. Saving every 17 seconds seems to beat the cycle.

This was suddenly urgent because an appointment scheduled for tomorrow to discuss various things with another colleague was cancelled due to illness so the purpose was altered to be a general evaluation of how the bike shop is doing.

After I'd finished getting the place organised last month so I could find parts and tools I've been far more productive. I therefore wanted the results for this month to be part of the discussion, not least because my contract renewal is on the horizon. I also wanted to show that my clients are starting to repair bikes, and by extension that I'm training them.

 

[All uphill]

Managed to beat the Evil Excel into submission despite repeated random reformatting of cells and attempts to delete half the spreadsheet. Saving every 17 seconds seems to beat the cycle.

This was suddenly urgent because an appointment scheduled for tomorrow to discuss various things with another colleague was cancelled due to illness so the purpose was rescheduled to be a general evaluation of how the bike shop is doing.

After I'd finished getting the place organised last month so I could find parts and tools I've been far more productive. I therefore wanted the results for this month to be part of the discussion, not least because my contract renewal is on the horizon. I also wanted to show that my clients are starting to repair bikes, and by extension that I'm training them.

Great work, Andy.

They are lucky to have you, and I hope, are aware of that.

 

[sevenfourate]

This bike:

View attachment 683450

Is now complete, tested, and on sale for 250 €; it's my first clients first bike for sale.

Looks gorgeous Andy ! Thank goodness you’re 3 or 4 Countries away 🤣