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Jonalong

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    Kent
  • Real Name
    Jon
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    Mod
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    United Kingdom

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    Male

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  1. Thanks mate, I agree with you! Passing traffic should account for a huge amount of sales. Once the locals realise they have an alternative to what is currently available, that is open more hours and can service their bike for the next day, rather than the next month - they hopefully should be peeled away from old habits! And yeah - JD that is the main market research that I have done so far, asking people what they want. And the overall consensus so far has been yes, we want it, go for it! I spend a lot of days and nights riding around town, when you are on a bike you realise how many other people are also out on them! Begging for somewhere to grease their squeeky crank!
  2. Hi Mate, we have a Halfords, but it's out of town, and the bike section is always snowed under, you cant even talk to an adviser without standing for half and hour patiently waiting for them! Point taken though! Your advice is not falling on to deaf ears! I will still persue the banks for thier investment over any other alternative. Your fag packet calculations are correct! i am planning on selling around 6 - 7 bikes a week - although not completely dependent on this.. They vary in value but there is such a hole in the market for regular everyday bikes that commuters, women and leisurely bikers want that they have so limited choice of at the moment... Tunbridge wells has a catchment area of over 100,000 (wealthy) people, the value of bikes sold to well off londoners should be enough to keep a steady flow bike sales.... as I say though, the shop should be over to tick over on servicing and maintenance alone... this seems to be the general consensus in the bike shop owners world! (And judging by the business of the other local shops!)
  3. I know you don't want to do the donkey work for me, but could you give me an idea as to where you think i'm going completely wrong?! Cheers. Jon
  4. Thanks very much JD, appreciate it. This is what it mainly comes down to, there is a massive gap in the market, that is my primary reason for wanting to do this, not for the 'fun' of owning a bike shop, i want to start my own business that is going to be successful! I would kick myself in years to come when one opens up and does hugely well due to the demand in my local area! I don't mean to piss people off! Thanks hi-OOPS -CAPS!! thats the attitude!!
  5. Haha possibly! Show me where I'm going wrong! I am kind of throwing ideas around here and I understand it probably looks like I am away with the fairies My job is managing the money on £millions of construction projects, and I make some pretty serious profits on them, so I'm not completely mad
  6. F*ck it... here you go! That site looks a bit basic to me! Income Per Year Per Month Low Range Bike Sales £ 71,400.00 £ 5,950.00 Mid Range Bike Sales £ 61,200.00 £ 5,100.00 High Range Bike Sales £ 51,000.00 £ 4,250.00 Accessory sales £ 18,200.00 £ 1,516.67 Total £ 201,800.00 £ 16,816.67 Service Sales £ 31,200.00 £ 2,600.00 Total £ 31,200.00 £ 2,600.00 Total Sales Value (Per Month): £ 19,416.67 Purchases (Cost of sales) £ 12,031.67 Less: Closing Stock £ 200.53 Cost of Sales £ 11,831.14 Gross Profit £ 7,585.53 Less: Expenses Staff £ 30,000.00 £ 2,500.00 Shop rent £ 18,500.00 £ 1,541.67 Business rates £ 1,500.00 £ 125.00 Electricity £ 800.00 £ 66.67 Business Insurance £ 400.00 £ 33.33 Public Liability Insurance £ 300.00 £ 25.00 Water £ 300.00 £ 25.00 Phone £ 300.00 £ 25.00 Employers National Insurance £ 2,000.00 £ 166.67 Payroll and bookkeeping fees £ 1,000.00 £ 83.33 Accountancy fees £ 800.00 £ 66.67 Annual return fee £ 15.00 £ 1.25 Website £ 750.00 £ 62.50 Marketing £ 1,500.00 £ 125.00 Repairs, renewals and maintenance £ 1,200.00 £ 100.00 Sundry £ 1,040.00 £ 86.67 Total: £ 60,405.00 £ 5,033.75 Profit: (After Expenses) £ 2,551.78 Less: Corporation Tax £ 510.36 £ 2,041.42 Less: Closing stock £ 200.53 Approximate retained cash (Per Month) £ 1,840.89 Ah that sounds like your stuck in the old days then mate, he who dares wins, if you dont ask you dont get! Ok.. that didnt come out quite how it should have done, never mind.
  7. No problem, everyone has to learn at some point, and this is generally how I do it - asking lots of people their opinion and for their advice, then mushing it all together to make up my own mind! Looking back at my posts I think I have probably given the wrong impression of what I am after/have meant - sometimes a problem with writing things rather than real life interaction! I'm not trying to put across that I know exactly what I'm doing, I have always taken risks and generally seem to get away with it and come out on top. I have done all the dog work to get to this point, its the finance that I am now after, and any advice is going to be invaluable. I still need to actually go in to my bank and sit down and have a chat with the relevant folk, therefore I can't really comment on potential interest rates right now. But with the parents thing.... I just think it would be beneficial for me to take advantage of the comfortable financial situation they are in (i.e paid off mortgage, excellent credit rating) Rather than screwing myself over and paying the higher rates that I would be forced to use without having any assets to secure decent rates against. (I know for sure they could get £25k plus @ 7.5% ish) It's just the high risk of losing the money that would be worrying! Both are options at the moment. Do you agree?
  8. "Theres no "this is how much start up will be" if your seriously going to walk into a bank and ask for money you need a whole business plan package, which if you do properly will take you of least a month to set up" ---This is why I was interested to hear exactly how this guy had figured out that I was under budget, with little to no information of the company plan, or what has been lined up. I'm simply asking about peoples experiences with lenders... It’s interesting to hear assumptions with no knowledge of what I am paying for shop rent, fit out, stock, etc! You need to be able to account for and be knowledgeable about.... refurbishment, decor, stands, bikes, stock, suppliers, wages, national insurance, rent, workshop, liability insurance, contingency, marketing, launch, deadlines, cash flow projections, budget allocation, electronic POS, contracts, break clauses, limited company?, sole trader?, business insurance, building rates, water, electric, USP, demand projection, distribution. -----Refurb is not required, the rest of your list - This has all been drawn up by myself and my accountant, who is also an excellent friend of mine and has done this many times before. J "Personally I wouldn't employ someone with "15 years exp" because that essentially means £20k plus per year? You should be that "high" paid guy in your business. Also remember that 70-80% of businesses fail or lose money in their first year. So if you think you can go "urrrrr I wanna bike shop" and someones going to give the money to you, then you are stoned. All money borrowed will be at a very high rate which you need to account for in your business plan. And if that numbers too high then they won't invest in you because their repayments will cripple your company. From my finance exp if you do get money expect it to be at 20% or more?" -----I understand where you are coming from, but time goes fast when you start working in a bike shop at 13…. He’s now 28 and will be doing the day to day running of the shop whilst I manage the business and continue with my other work. I do not plan to pay myself out of the companies money for the first year or so... I will continue to earn money through my current profession. 20% or more?! I would rather save up the money myself than pay that! I think I can currently get the money for 7-8% if I were to do it through a personal loan. (Not recommended!) What do you do for a living out of interest? -----------RobinJI Thanks mate and good luck! I will let you know how it all goes, I’m looking forward to getting stuck in now! It really helps when you can use others with parts and experience that help you along the way! I couldn’t have done this with my experience alone! Could you please share your calculations? Would be very helpful! Thanks.
  9. Haha, no problem, criticism is happily accepted! I know how to bleed maggies.. didn't have a bleed kit at the time and was meant to be going out on a ride later that day! That was an purely an example Anyway that's beside the point, I have a guy lined up (with 15 years experience running a bike shops) that will be managing the shop day to day and will be servicing etc etc! Could you please advise on what additional start up money I would need? (Agreed, £25k is on the low side, I would budget for around £35k)
  10. I would not fancy sharing the profits further down the line... Plan would be to expand the business if all went well! Thanks for the suggestion though. Jon
  11. There is a lot of people out there that need work done on their bikes, most bike shops can survive on servicing and labour alone, bike sales do not account for much of their profit. The only bike shop we have in town has waiting times of over a month just to bleed my maguras! (with 2 or 3 workshop guys!) Initial set up costs will be around £25k, with predicted turnover value of around £20k a month and costs of £18k -(worst case) - this is based on pretty low sales figures. Where there is a will there is a way, I'd rather take a risk and start making my own money, than never risk it and end up lining someone else's pockets for the rest of my life!
  12. Ok, thanks very much! yeah I would imagine that would be possible for a primarily internet based business, its opening premises and getting everything set up that is going to cost me the money! Thanks very much for sharing your experience, this is how I expected really, I had been considering a personal loan, but have been advised that if I register as a Ltd company, and manage to secure finance against the company rather than me, should everything go pop - the bank and "company" will suffer rather than my pocket! However i feel that if I could get everything off the ground there shouldn't be too much chance of it going down the drain! I think it might be a case of getting a personal loan secured against my parents house! should be an interesting conversation! haha Thanks again. Jon
  13. Haha, I have thought about a fair bit! I didn't want to bore everyone with the details, just wondered if anyone had had success with a specific bank! by no means is that all I know you need to do I'll expand slightly... Starting an independent bike shop, little competition in the area, product range and target market is sussed, suppliers etc sorted, I have a business plan, profit and loss forecast, cash flow, the potential premises have been whittled down, I am now looking at the borrowing... all the above need to be drawn up before approaching a bank! I am in the jolly process of assessing my best financial options - business loan? personal loan? half and half? its quite a minefield with all the options available for finance, alongside everything else that needs to be sorted! Its not what you know, its who you know! I like to try and get advice and information from as many sources as possible, a bike forum would seem like a good place to me!
  14. I am currently in the process of trying to start up a bike shop... company plan is nearly there, need to register the company and then try and get a small business loan! Has anyone done this before? Any suggestions on banks? Or general advice? Many thanks Jon
  15. Etnies Number Mid - Best Shoes I have ever worn, designed for BMX, but awesome for Trials! http://www.foundationbmx.com/bmx-shop/clothing-footwear/bmx-footwear/etnies-number-mid-black-red.html
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