Help name my bike shop!

[Buicknick72]

I've known a few people that had this type of idea. Nothing ever comes to reality tho. A regular garage- you charge $70 an hour and give your mechanic, $10-$30(?), which means to match profit with a garage you'd need to rent the bay at $40 an hour minimum, no one is gonna pay that. The numbers just aren't there. And the liability is near impossible. You gonna trust Joe Schmo to use a tire machine? Is the insurance company going to?

I'm not saying to not go for it, but to make it work you need to be more creative than all the other people who had this idea. You need to find a way to get the numbers to work.

As for the name - it does need to at least hint towards the DIY part. But "Dave's DIY Garage" is boring. Maybe something like "You Wrench It Cycles".

[MikeB]

I've known a few people that had this type of idea. Nothing ever comes to reality tho. A regular garage- you charge $70 an hour and give your mechanic, $10-$30(?), which means to match profit with a garage you'd need to rent the bay at $40 an hour minimum, no one is gonna pay that. The numbers just aren't there. And the liability is near impossible. You gonna trust Joe Schmo to use a tire machine? Is the insurance company going to?

I'm not saying to not go for it, but to make it work you need to be more creative than all the other people who had this idea. You need to find a way to get the numbers to work.

Those are all good points, and include some of the problematic issues I've been thinking about. How are you going to charge the customer -- by the hour, day or by the job itself? DIY mechanics are not known to be highly efficient, so a valve job (for example) might tie up a bay for days -- or more if the customer has to take his dog to the vet. Are you going to set a time limit? What if the customer has not finished the job by then? Throw him out? Hold the bike hostage?

In an earlier post I said I like the idea of a teaching situation. YOU would be in charge of this and control the proceedings, from safe use of tools to not destroying them. During the "Valve Job 101" module you could accept enrolees needing this particular service, whatever their bike brand, and they would proceed through the procedure as a group, each working on his/her own bike under your supervision and with occasional breaks for you to illustrate some aspect of the procedure or use of tools to the group as a whole. Students would be charged a flat tuition, of course, and would buy parts as needed from your shop. The course would have specific times and duration (7:00-9:00PM, Tu, We, Th etc.) so that you could get them in and out on schedule.

Advertising slogan: "Learn while you save. Save while you learn."

[Buicknick72]

Originally Posted by MikeB

In an earlier post I said I like the idea of a teaching situation. YOU would be in charge of this and control the proceedings, from safe use of tools to not destroying them. During the "Valve Job 101" module you could accept enrolees needing this particular service, whatever their bike brand, and they would proceed through the procedure as a group, each working on his/her own bike under your supervision and with occasional breaks for you to illustrate some aspect of the procedure or use of tools to the group as a whole. Students would be charged a flat tuition, of course, and would buy parts as needed from your shop. The course would have specific times and duration (7:00-9:00PM, Tu, We, Th etc.) so that you could get them in and out on schedule.

Something like that could definitely work. The only thing is that the teacher would need to hold some tangible qualifications. I could see some serious interest in that.

[SuperiorKolours]

The Ride or DIY Workshop

[davelisowski]

These are all good points.

I appreciate the advice as always! I am definitely working on making this reality.

[Jmplogin]

If it hasn't already been suggested this business model may work for you as a diy bike shop, http://www.techshop.ws/ we have one here in Raleigh I've been meaning to check out for a project I'm working on.

[joe in calif]

DIY GARAGE says it all.

[Buicknick72]

DIY garage or DIY workshop isn't very specific. It sounds more like a department in Home Depot than a bike shop....

[93gc40]

I chose DIY Garage, mainly because I think limiting this kind of shop to Bike only would be a mistake. But I also see the issue, space. Takes a lot more room to work on and store project cars than bikes.

[tgelphman]

Originally Posted by invalidsession

"The Bike Works". Simple, clean and encompasses your goal.

Chris.

I like it but my guess is 90% of the people will assume bicycle.