Starting a Mobile Bicycle Business Part 1: Are you ready?

[@camt1818]

"You're everyone...You can't just hide in the back of the shop" I think the national chain bike shop I work at has primed me to own a mobile shop. At said shop, you often run the shop by yourself. On top of ripping through scheduled service, you are also the service advisor, salesperson, and customer service rep. You're answering phone calls, answering questions on the sales floor, checking in and checking out bikes, setting up bikes for test rides, and doing while-you-wait services. Just thinking about it before the busy season ramps up again, I can't help but remember how demoralizing it is to only make $120 a day after all that. You've reminded me why I need to start my own business

[@DoneRightBicycles]

After 17yrs as a mechanic and my last job I was doing all the rolls minus paying the bills. I'm totally ready to start my mobile business. I have a tons of loyal customers and people always asking me to come to their house to work on stuff. This video was the final push I needed! Thanks

[@NeutralSupportNews]

When you start out, it can feel like having to make your own clothes when you're already cold - but it is SUPER rewarding if you do it right. Sounds like you have a great foundation already! Glad you are finding these videos useful!

[@fettyscycleservice9032]

This is and was the most well said explanation of this part of the “bicycle world” Very impressive.

[@ExplorinDoranRBrown]

This was so valuable and come when I started my mobile bike shop 2.5 yrs ago!!! Doran’s Mobile Ebike, Emoto & PEV Repair in Temecula, CA I decided to rewatch now while reorganizing my shop (in my garage) and van with new tool boxes, figuring I would get some inspirations, ideas and motivation to get this daunting project done. ❤❤❤❤❤

[@charliesullivan4304]

Wise advice ... and I also love all the little clips you stick in. Especially Officer Clemmons with Mister Rodgers!

[@mountainbikemike]

Loved this. Perfectly explained. Hello from The Rapid Wrench Melbourne

[@rpiereck74]

I'm an aircraft mechanic who does bicycle mechanics for fun, this video gave me some ideas... Instant like!

[@jpcycleservices3810]

This was like an epiphany. Whilst watching this video, I spent most of the time shaking my head at all the things you mentioned,that happened and still happen to me after 5 years of operating a mobile repair shop. Brilliant.

[@NeutralSupportNews]

Information for some, therapy for others 😜

[@rickbrozowski5999]

Thanks! Great Advice. You talked me out of a failure that was inevitable.

[@NeutralSupportNews]

Maybe just not yet, things change!

[@chrishophoto]

Great video! I’m amazed you started with just 35 grand. That sounds extremely thin on budget! I bet you worked insanely hard to make it work!

[@NeutralSupportNews]

It was very "Do or Die" 😂 I think less is possible, I think more is way more comfortable!

[@SevenTwo5ive]

Good video Danielle!

[@happychaosbikelab]

I'm fully operational and launched my mobile bike repair shop is run out of a school bus based in LA. and because I don't do sales there's no need for inventory. I built three bikes during the pandemic no need to shadow a mechanic and my clients bring their own parts needed for the repair. Also, not in it for the $, I want to simply remove barriers to traditonal B/M bike shop models re access - I'm planning to become a non-profit in year 2.

[@NeutralSupportNews]

Cool! Congratulations

[@greenmachine55]

This definitely a well explained video and very informative. Idk if a mobile bike shop is for me but I definitely plan on a mobile part for customers that can't come to me either to just go to them or help bring there bike to my garage. I also plan on using any vehicle I drive on a daily basis as a mobile advertisement as one way to advertise myself to people plus I got a Facebook business page.

[@NeutralSupportNews]

Be sure to reap the tax benefits of using that vehicle if you are in the US!

[@greenmachine55]

@@NeutralSupportNews I plan it won't be easy cause odometer doesn't work and the real mileage on it is a guess

[@bikewizardscork]

Hey this video is Great thanks 👍

[@JoseSorianoPhotography]

Great advice! Love the content

[@bikernaut1]

Great valuable information

[@ronspencer6668]

Love it, well said. We have run Velocity Bikewerx up here in Ontario since 2020 after 15 years as a B&M and it's all good. It has it's ups and downs but the random retail part - well it's less random all though as you pointed out, stuff happens at an appointment to blow up the appointment, lol but making the variables more constant is easier. I just subscribed so i'll watch the vids as i go. Two quick questions because i have to get to my next appointment, lol.. 1- why are you doing B&M? 2- why youtube (can't be lucrative) and what equipment and editing software are you using. Cheers.

[@NeutralSupportNews]

Thanks! Glad you're seeing success with the model, it's really nice to be able to build EXACTLY what you need and the model supports that! 1) I opened a Brick and Mortar in an underserved area with limited resources - the "just walk up with no appointment" generated a ton of business just because of the clientele in that area. It was the right move in that circumstance! 2) KZbin is not to make money 🤣 I just like doing this. Any little bit I get from subscriptions to the website from supporters or whathaveyou is just easing the burden of cost a little bit. I get to do interesting stuff, play with tools all the time, it's really just a passion project. I just use iMovie to cut things together, along with a graphics software to create some of the images.

[@MrSociofobs]

There's also the culture and climate factors. If it's a country like mine, where people don't cycle much at all and half of the year is cold, wet, icy and snowy, you'll be scraping for any work in the winter months at a heavily discounted rate. It's not uncommon here to see bike shops close their repair services for the winter and only operate in season.

[@bicyclerider8218]

I recently discovered your excellent channel. What is the background of Neutral Support? Did you receive much pushback or apprehension from potential customers when you started our mobile bike business dude to your relativity young age and being a woman? I notice you have a lathe and milling machine. Are you also a frame builder? I'm looking forward to your next video.

[@NeutralSupportNews]

Not really pushback, as much as an assumption that I was probably just the assistant 😜 Or it was my dad's company or something. I had someone tell me to "thank my husband" when I dropped off their bike... Stuff like that. I do build frames, but mostly just for fun given my lack of time. Neutral Support is a passion project for sure, also mostly for fun doing something I saw no one was really doing! Now if I could just clone myself so I could have more time to do it!

[@Medicbikerepair]

What was your shop called and are you still in business?

[@NeutralSupportNews]

My business was Torrenti Cycles - I operated it for about a decade before recently moving out of state and selling it. Now population density where I live would dictate a different business model entirely. That's the beauty of building your own mobile business though - you do whatever you want or need to for your market.

[@denverspin]

Do you work for Yamaha?

[@NeutralSupportNews]

When I'm not slinging sweet vids on KZbin 😁

[@denverspin]

@@NeutralSupportNews I met you at the Denver ebike convention through the summer. I thought you seemed familiar.

[@zygmuntthecacaokakistocrat6589]

Having worked in shops, then contracted for event support, then moonlighted for a local mobile repair company (Melbourne, Australia), & now contentedly fixing local bikes in my home workshop, I would say that mobile mechanicking is the most stressful way to earn a (partial) living out of fixing bikes, even without dealing with the overheads, scheduling, accounts, etc. The getting there, the missed appointments (usually customer caused), the not having the correct part, the 'little-job-turns-into-a-big-job' scenario, the non-ideal/cold/wet/hot/dusty/draughty/dog-poo-infested conditions are all factors which mitigate against it. Also, the idea that a rookie mechanic could make a profitable go of it is a little laughable, as you need all your wits and experience about you to make on-the-road jobs stick, and customers happy, without the full resources of a bricks and mortar shop (no matter how well equipped your van is) at your disposal. Oh, and your van getting broken into and cleaned out (been there done that). Sorry to be a Debbie/Darryl Downer, but you're much better off honing your skills in your shed at home, and if your really want to cast the net outwards, pay some gullible teenager peanuts (or perhaps pistachios) to pick up and drop off bikes in your local area, in exchange for teaching them how not to wreck tools and parts whilst handling them.

[@NeutralSupportNews]

Thanks for your well thought-out response! I'd say that hasn't been everyone's experience with the mobile model, but it varies greatly from business to business. Wasn't mine :-) In this series, I am going to try to cover the vast array of possibilities, some of which include no house calls at all (corporate accounts etc). As far as rookie mechanics go, I wouldn't endorse someone who doesn't know what they are doing. However, the "Jiffy Lube" approach of only doing minor things like flat tires and cable adjustments has worked for some. They simply don't do the more advanced work. That model is fine as long as you are up-front and don't offer services you can't handle. You can always expand services later on as you learn more. For some people, the "sink or swim" aspect of working on your own is exactly the push they need to learn. Reiterating: definitely not an endorsement of "winging it" or doing things you don't know how to do without proper training.

[@bkefrmr]

Methinks, for you, the answer to the question "Are you ready?" is a very obvious, "HARD NO!" For me, (and Danielle, of course).I've found that the easiest way to make money as a bicycle mechanic is my mobile bike shop. I'm super good at it. HELL YEAH I was ready, and yup, I also now have a brick and mortar shop, and the van is the profit center. It's amazing. I'm blessed.

[@MetalTiger88]

I'm also a bike mechanic working in a shop. I geat at least one "cucumber" a day to do a service on... Oh and keep in mind that customers are one of the weirdest poeple😂

[@Geoff_G]

And then the unassuming, innocent looking customer walks in and says, " Hey, my Schlumpf hub gears are stuck. Can you fix it?"

[@NeutralSupportNews]

Never trust a customer

[@marknorabuena]

I think your wrong if your a disgruntled bicycle mechanic employee that anger & vengeance gives you that ambition to stick it too the company you work for. Be a pirate ARRRHHHH!