Trouble starting my own business.

[Gamisch]

Just one piece of advice, if you do not have a lot of capital keep your monthly fixed expenses like rent as low as possible or just do online. It will give you a lot more flexibility to ride out any down times or financial issues. If I had to do it all over again, I would focus on a business online without a brick and mortar. Online gives you a much wider net in terms of customer base and a lot better margins because of reduced storefront and labor costs. I am not that familiar with Ebikes and how that industry works but I would wait until you had your revenue numbers consistently high over a period time before locking into a lease. Do your Ebikes require to be sold locally or can you ship them?

Yes I can ship them via the bigger world wide companies. Its double , I sometimes feel like it would be easier to convince costumers if I had a a store, but from the other side like you say, it's just extra costs

I don’t see them. Hence, I’m skeptical of the market for it. It’s extremely niche.. much less so than conventional bicycles, which serve both purposes.

To chime in on the topic, the thing with ebikes is , it a growing market. Especially elderly people love it, because you can easily turn the system of and you'll have a conventional bike. People getting older and older so you can see the market grows bigger and bigger every year. Also , 25 (Kilometer)ph is without your own kicking power. That would add some to the total speed and make it approx 35 kph.

I live near the beach and a lot of different businesses rent out eBikes to tourists, and more locals are using them to avoid beach traffic and parking fees. I have seen more this summer than any previous.

Maybe you could design a rental plan and approach local businesses and rent some out to them or start some sort of low cost subscription service for high school and college kids?

Maybe you could modify them for deliveries and approach restaurants and pitch it as an affordable option for local food delivery, etc.

eBike repair/refurbishment seems like a great skill to have right now.

Yes I was I also thinking to get my foot in the door of one off these delivery services and do repairs for them. Rental might be a good option tho...I am now building a website where I offer services, and try to analyze through my site what service people need the most.

I am not gonna give up,my skils grow everyday. I am a bike specialist by now...

 

[mer-li]

I am not gonna give up,my skils grow everyday.

This is the greatest motivation!

 

[BadWatermelon]

I live near the beach and a lot of different businesses rent out eBikes to tourists, and more locals are using them to avoid beach traffic and parking fees. I have seen more this summer than any previous.

Maybe you could design a rental plan and approach local businesses and rent some out to them or start some sort of low cost subscription service for high school and college kids?

Maybe you could modify them for deliveries and approach restaurants and pitch it as an affordable option for local food delivery, etc.

eBike repair/refurbishment seems like a great skill to have right now.

I see people on e-bikes everywhere at the beach (Southern California). If I was going to park one of those things at the beach, though, I'd be very concerned about it getting stolen.

The weather is also good all year here, so that makes them more viable than, say, in Minnesota.

 

[evan12]

Hi everyone. Shalom to all my SS brothers.

I am a bike mechanic. Been doing this for the last 2 years. Got into the business via a friend, and leaned the basics. It was a small family business, and it was clear from the get go that I couldn't get a long contract. ( they like most , started from the backyard and grew the business to a healthy company).

After approximately 1 year I left, with a bag full of skills. I figured out a business model to start my own business. Ebikes are rather expensive. I refurbish the higher end models top to bottom, add a new electric system to it and sell it for half to one third of the normal price.

But here the problem. I dont sale(enough).

It seems I am invisible on the selling sites. Every sh1tty bike ( less quality AND more expensive than mine) gets 30 plus likes and is sold within days ,but mine seem invisible. It makes me doubt my model, and I am honestly stuck on how to move forward.

I dont ever wanna work for a boss again in a dusty factory, but tbh its crossing my mind lately, to just give up and stop chasing my dream. Technical I M sound but my marketing is sh1t is seems.

Maybe the wrong place to ask but lets not always talk about women women women right? Perhaps somebody has a golden tip.

Have you done any market segmentation ?
Segment the market
Select best segment to target
Build persona of the target segment
Make all your marketing efforts on that target segment.

 

[xplt]

I don’t see them. Hence, I’m skeptical of the market for it. It’s extremely niche.. much less so than conventional bicycles, which serve both purposes.

In germany you see more ebikes than conventional ones meanwhile. I‘m blazing down a trail in the woods and two ebikers are coming my direction UPHILL… like wtf.

There‘s a huge market here for ebikes.

I sell a lot of stuff online. Watches, guitars, electronics. Sometimes I sit on something for two or three months, mostly when I used bad photos. Review your advertisment critically, when you sell qualitiybikes, you should sell them in no time.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

I live near the beach and a lot of different businesses rent out eBikes to tourists, and more locals are using them to avoid beach traffic and parking fees. I have seen more this summer than any previous.

Maybe you could design a rental plan and approach local businesses and rent some out to them or start some sort of low cost subscription service for high school and college kids?

Maybe you could modify them for deliveries and approach restaurants and pitch it as an affordable option for local food delivery, etc.

eBike repair/refurbishment seems like a great skill to have right now.

He could approach them and have them become customers for bike repairs where he would give them priority treatment and discounted rates based on volume.