As some of you may be aware im soon to become a qualified bike MOT tester and have plans to take over my dads business when he retires doing bikes MOT's and servicing work. At the moment my dad also does car work which accounts for about 2/3 of the turnover but i just want to concentrate on bikes. So to increase the turnover/ profit on the bike side of things im planning on setting up a small shop aswell selling accessories etc.

Has anyone else had experience running a shop and can advise what sort of things to stock and what sells well etc.... Or if anyone else has any suggestions.. if you were to take a bike in for a MOT what sorta things would you like to  see in a small shop while you browse round?  I'm thinking of things like chain wax .. stuff that you might think... " ouu i need some of that"..   i also think it might be a good idea to have a small seating area and a coffee machine so you can have a brew while you wait...

feel free to throw any ideas in the air  cos theres bound to be something i havent thought of!

:buttrock:

Seating and coffee. If there isn't, you just tend to stand about feeling uneasy or go for a walk. Or maybe thats just on my bikes. The only reason we used to go to Scotbike, was to get a coffee and a muffin.  :O Although sometimes we did end up buying stuff on the spur of the moment.  :verysad:

Quite a few dealers I've been in have a workshop viewing window, to reassure the owner their bike isn't laying on it's side at the back.

Earplugs at a decent price.
Quality chain cleaner and wax. No point buying cheap stuff in bulk if it doesn't sell.
Brake/Clutch/Parts cleaner.
Bungee nets and cords for emergencies.
Water dispersant, such as GT85/WD40.
Spare fuses.


OK, you are dealing in machinery covered in oil and filth, but I've had better experiences from places with a clean front office, with a quality coffee machine, up to date calendar/bumf to read and keys handed back not covered in used oil.

'Thrown away'?

Think of all the friends you could have made on here!

Seriously, 'though, raffle prizes or similar?  Go'n gettit outa the bin before they take it away!

Sounds like your bin man will be advertising on ebay shortly.  :laughcont:

Mags, seats and coffee are all very well but what you really need is a ten foot caged ring with naked ladies erotically 'fighting' in it.  Failing that I think the quick stop style of stock.  As mentioned, chain wax, fuses, bulbs etc are always good as a lot of bigger places dont seem to bother with this sort of thing preferring to give shelf space to high end lids or similar.
TC is spot on about the friendly personal treatment - from a mercenary sales point of view, if you make people think of you as more of a pal then they will have more loyalty to your business.  They'll also tell their mates what a good bloke you are and maybe bring in some more sucke....punte...Customers.

The ability to "see" the E mark on that "quiet" end can will work wonders for your reputation.
That & doing the MOT when you said you will & not 2 hours later "when you can be bothered" will get my vote every time

For the last 2 years I have been going to a place that looks like a bike graveyard, has a 2 ft square green painted section viewing area & no seats or coffee. The guy that runs it is honest & has a pragmatic approach to life.He is knowledgeable about all bikes from classics to modern, will fix minor faults FOC-& has yet to fail any of my bikes-which is as it should be cos I wouldnt dream of taking it in if I havent checked it over first.

sounds like my dads place dp!  :D

he often fixes things FOC , which i moan at him about cos its all lost profit!

he never turns a bike MOT away and nearly always does it while you wait.. one local dealer has a 3 week waiting list to do a MOT!


thanks for the info guys . specially TC , ta mate, ill be getting in contact with motrax for a catalogue, prices etc. Things wont be changing for a while but i want to start throwing ideas in the air to see what potential there is so keep em coming!  :D

EB, we do a lot of Motrax stuff at the training school-next time I'm in I'll find out which are "hot" & whats "not".

ok. next question...


if i was to offer the following for sale at the following prices.. would you be interested?
... this is just a random selection.


carbon look/ annodised tax disc holders £8

spine tank protector..( from carbon finish to fancy patterns to match your bike ) £10

disc lock £7

revolver style lock 40" £8

1.8 m heavy duty chain with closed shackle lock  £20

cargo nets £2

packs of 20 cable ties £1

rear paddock stand £25


Lets just say ive been doing abit of homework.  not found out prices of oils, lubes etc yet. but will let you know...  

btw i dont actually have any of these ... yet.. just abit of a survey

Sounds good EB,
The  tank protectors are a bit pricey for up here, unless they are the pre-formed type in which case they are cheap!

Not trying to tell you how to run your business-but how good is the quality?
My M8 bought a paddock stand from a company which was as much use as a chocolate fireguard-he will not go near the shop again as he nearly "dropped" his duke using the stand.
it wasnt that cheap (in price ) either.

My advice would be to go for the quality stuff if you can afford to-by all means keep the cosmetic cheepy stuff-you wont get too many folks complaining at the price of a tank protector if they make a pigs ear of fitting it.

i agree with you dp, no point selling rubbish! the paddock stands are the same as the one i use at home and i've never has any probs with mine.

i could probably do the tank spine protectors for £8  they vary from plain carbon to fancy holographic ones with suzuki, honda , ducati on them... look quite nice in the catalogue!

im open to all suggestions, as this is what im posting for, to get feedback from you all and what you think  :buttrock:

I think your best best is to keep the consumables and a few other bits such as have been mentioned, and build up gradually as and when you find out what your customers ask for.

I know some folks in Poole who started that way, they had a business selling bearings (all sorts, not bike bearings) and they started out just ordering stuff for their mates, then it got a bit too much to handle in the bearings shop so they opened a shop, now they've had to take over the shop next door as well!

There's lots of stuff you can order for folks without keeping it in stock, that way someone else has to tie up money in stock, you just get the benefits of selling it.

just been to a local bike shop to compare prices

heres how they compare on some prices


maintenance spray.. £6.50!!  i could charge £3

oxford disc lock £15  i could charge £7

oxford tank spines  £14.. i could charge £8-10

tax disc holders £13.. i could charge  £8


this is just a small comparison..  just shows that i could be quite competitive on prices and still make a reasonable profit..