Starting A Beginner Cyclist Website/business

[ENP]

Hi guys/girls,

I've had an idea for a small business for a little while. Basically it involves cycling and triathlon 101. I'll provide services such as how cleats work, what to look for in a road bike/go along with you to bike shops and help explain, beginner sessions on the road to build up safety/confidence, etc.

Was thinking of starting a website, facebook page, etc and promote the beginner tips from gear, training and nutrition tips, that sort of thing.

With these sports growing so much in popularity recently, I thought it's a good opportunity. What do you all think?

[ThingOne]

If its something you want to do as a hobby then yep sounds great.
Will be tricky to make real money out of something like that though.

[ENP]

If its something you want to do as a hobby then yep sounds great.
Will be tricky to make real money out of something like that though.

Yea obviously I'm not going to quit my 9-5 job.

I thought it's a fairly decent way to make some extra cash in the weekends. Also can gain people skills, leadership, and hopefully will move onto coaching later on.

[its that guy]

First before anything your going have to draw up a Customer to profit flowchart. Then do some research into to how much people are willing to spend and what level of service they would expect in return.

HTH(I'm a twerp)

[speeding_ant]

I think a few of your potential services might conflict with what current bike stores already offer. I guess your special niche would be that you're a third party, not wanting to sell them anything?

[scatter]

Friends of mine do exactly as you propose to do here in Chch. They get really good numbers but there ain't any money in it

[ENP]

Friends of mine do exactly as you propose to do here in Chch. They get really good numbers but there ain't any money in it

Do you have a link or website to this?

I'm starting to think with all the effort to start it up, I'm thinking quite small in terms of what I'm offering.

How do I come up with ideas. Big ideas. The likes of Torpedo7 or Orca/2XU big...?

[ENP]

First before anything your going have to draw up a Customer to profit flowchart. Then do some research into to how much people are willing to spend and what level of service they would expect in return.

HTH(I'm a twerp)

Sounds straight out of a textbook. Do you study business at uni?

[speeding_ant]

With money and power. And knowledge helps.

[ThingOne]

Friends of mine do exactly as you propose to do here in Chch. They get really good numbers but there ain't any money in it

Do you have a link or website to this?

I'm starting to think with all the effort to start it up, I'm thinking quite small in terms of what I'm offering.

How do I come up with ideas. Big ideas. The likes of Torpedo7 or Orca/2XU big...?

Well thats the big question, T7 would have required quite a bit of seed capital to setup and run to profitability.
Having been involved with a few businesses at that sort of stage, its a tough world out there.
The internet is not a magic bullet too success, for every global success I suspect probably 1million failures, most ideas have already been done, and discovering something new is a battle to get it too scale (ie lots of cash) before someone else notices and overtakes you.
Just protecting your idea is expensive.
If your'e serious about finding the next big thing, first find someone with deep pockets who buys into you as a person capable of delivering, how you do that is over to you.

[Oli]

ENP, what experience do you have to offer? You need to get that across to sell yourself to your potential clientele, then if they like the job you do word will spread and you can explore various ways to capitalise on it.

[cruiser]

First before anything your going have to draw up a Customer to profit flowchart. Then do some research into to how much people are willing to spend and what level of service they would expect in return.

HTH(I'm a twerp)

Sounds straight out of a textbook. Do you study business at uni?

Uni is far more complex and accurate than that advice....HTH(I'm a twerp)

Some useful questions to challenge every idea: Where do you want to be in 5-10years? Is your idea going to get you there?

One of my old workmates used to piss me off so much I nicknamed him "spanner".
He was a real spanner in the works/ pain in the arse. For every idea I had, he threw every curveball at them to challenge the idea's viability. He made me justify it to him, and therefore myself. Best lesson I've ever learnt about what's worth doing and what's just pie in the sky.

What else could you do using the same time investment to better meet your goals? Does the idea fit in with your big picture?

[Oli]

ENP, what experience do you have to offer? You need to get that across to sell yourself to your potential clientele, then if they like the job you do word will spread and you can explore various ways to capitalise on it.

Another point I'd add is that there are many people already vastly experienced in cycling and the industry who offer similar services, yet I don't know one who is making a full living off their work let alone making enough to grow into a T7 size business! The world is full of people looking to get rich from their passion for cycling, and not that many do. You have to make sure you know what you're doing and be prepared to work long and hard - then you just might have a shot.

[slidecontrol]

One of my old workmates used to piss me off so much I nicknamed him "spanner"

he made your nuts tighten?

[bubbaa]

some fantastic advice in this thread

there are lots of potential problems

If ya aint gonna quit your 9-5 I say go for it.

the worst you lose is some time (assuming you have sorted liability/OSH issues) and even if it falls flat on its face ALL these things are a learning experiences that can be used by an intelligent person in the same sphere or another at a later date.

have a crack !

No-one ever succeeded by not having a go and the fact that others have failed means only that you need to do things a bit differently from them (and its going to be hard hard work)