Bike Hacking Your Dreams

How many of us actually follow our dreams?  I know that I have a lot of dreams and/or ideas, but I rarely if ever act on them.  I am more likely to blog about my ideas than do anything about them.  Witness my entry on my ideal bike rack. 

One Bike Hacks reader is following a dream and decided to share with all of us.  Toby is following his dream of opening a bike shop and below is his story.  Take it away Toby!

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Hello to all the readers of Bike Hacks. Wanted to let you all know that I have opened a bicycle shop out of my garage and share with you my experiences thus far. My name is Toby Miller and in February of this year I turned 40. I decided that it was time for me to do something that I had always wanted to do with my life.

Since I was a small child I have always loved bicycles. I think what I love most about them is their simplicity. And fortunately for me I have good mechanical aptitude and love to work with my hands. So I started gearing up this February for opening a shop by buying bicycle tools. I searched on-line and found the best prices I could and started ordering as much as I could afford. I also bought two books on bicycle repair and started reading to give myself knowledge about the newer gear and brake systems that I was not familiar with. Then I bought 4 used bicycles and tore them completely apart and reassembled them to just refresh myself with everything.

The next step was to go to city hall and obtain a business license. To get a business license to run a bicycle shop out of my garage I had to go before the Zoning board and explain to them what I intended to do with my business and get a letter of approval from them. After receiving my letter I had to purchase a city as well as a county business license. I believe it cost around $40.00. to accomplish this. I also had to get a tax id number.

Now came the hardest part of the whole process. Now I had to call distributors to find a parts supplier. You would think that this would be an easy task but I can assure you it's not. I must have called 40-50 distributors before I finally found one that would give me an account. Two weeks later I found one more that would work with me and I have stuck with only these two. They have both been really good to me and I am grateful to them both. I would mention their names but I am not sure about the legality of such things.

Now I had my distributors and as soon as my catalogs came I took the little bit of money I had and ordered parts and a few accessories. Then I put up a sign on my garage door ordered some business cards and rode around handing them out. Then I bought some more used bicycles and got them ready for resale.

Well that's how it all started and to date I am still rolling. Business is slower than I would like but I am going to stick it out for the long haul. We have another bicycle shop in town and it has been here for 35 years. I figure I'll just be patient and keep going and eventually more people will come to the shop. After all I did not get into this for the money, I got into it for the love I have for bicycles.

Now I have an offer for all of you Bike Hacks readers. If you need anything for you bicycle just contact me and if it is something I have or can get I will be happy to help you out and give you a discount.
 
Community Bicycle Shop
Owner: Toby Miller
Columbia, TN 38401
931-797-7990
druid052000@yahoo.com

Good luck Toby! 

Have you started your own business?  If you do and you would like to share give us a shout out.

Comments

[Tim]

So glad to see this here on Bike Hacks! I live in Spring Hill (just a few minutes north of Toby). As soon as I saw the garage picture, I remembered you used to advertise on Craigslist. Glad to see someone following a dream and stepping out there!

[Runwithken]

Good luck!!

[Jason]

Wow, that's really great.

"After all I did not get into this for the money, I got into it for the love I have for bicycles."

I share your dream! I would love to open a bike shop in my home town. My wife and I talk about it all the time.

[Den]

Really like what you have done Toby.

Sadly I live in an apartment and space is really limited. All that can be done now is to have a blog of just about everything I do with my bikes... Then I get to work on friends bike for free as more people started contacting me... Nope Im not in for the money... wrenching is therapeutic.

[Dale Hemmerly Miller - Nashville, TN]

Presently with over 80 antique bicycles and many new bikes my wife and I understand, "for the love of bikes". Everytime I get on a bike and ride I am a kid again. A feeling that rarely comes now at my young age of 53.

Toby's story touches the heart of all Americans. The ability to dream, take a chance on that dream and succeed. The best we can do for the American Dream is call men and women close to us like Toby and buy from them. Wasn't a garage about the size of Toby's where Harley Davidson started?

Toby, I will be calling you about tires, wheels, tools and much more. You will succeed!