About Mike Sinyard:

Mike is the founder and chairman of Specialized Bicycle Components, an American manufacturer of bicycles and cycling components. Specialized is an Associate Member and has always been supportive of the NBDA and dedicated to the IBD.

In 1974, at the age of 24, Mike Sinyard began putting bikes together from Italian components he imported and the rest, as they say, is history…

We know Mike as one of the pioneering leaders in our industry. Mike’s entrepreneurial mindset catapulted Specialized to one of the world’s leading cycling brands. His passion and love for cycling radiate from every product Specialized have created in the last 44 years. His commitment to innovation and excellence is unparalleled. With a signature tagline of innovate or die, how could we expect anything less than the best?

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post Finding Focus with Mike Sinyard appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

So, how critical are margins? Well, that is a bit of a loaded question. On the one hand, they are crucial, but the reality is that so many other things weigh in on a store’s profitability. Expenses are a considerable part of profitability, as is the ability to avoid discounting and turning your inventory as quickly as possible. But let’s get back to margins and talk product margins, which is where the discussion is always centered. Rarely do retailers discuss or complain about their control or lack of retaining as much margin as possible. Evaluating product margins has to happen from the standpoint of what you end up with once the product is sold, or what is referred to as realized margin. This idea is straightforward but can be overlooked if you do not use financial tools to do these evaluations. Two products with different initial (wholesale) margins may, for many reasons, have flip-flopped realized margins. Things like color, quality, sales staff buy-in, and many other factors can affect an item’s ability to sell quickly at full price/margin. An underperforming item isn’t a good buy if it ends up languishing on your shelves and eventually is discounted to a lower realized margin.

Margin and Pricing

Hand in hand with margins and successful stores lies the topic of pricing. There is very much an art to pricing the items and services in your store. Of course, there are many very price-sensitive items in your store that you will be pricing at, generally the retail price that a supplier sets. These items will most likely be bikes and other high-profile items that have been researched before a customer arrives. However, you must be very careful not to fall into the trap of thinking that an item that has an acceptable margin on paper is profoundly affected by what the article may be selling online. You can probably think of a few things that sell at or even below your wholesale pricing if you search for the best price. The reality for your store may be that it can still sell very well at the full margin in your business. I know from personal experience that even items that are very susceptible to discounting online may again sell very well at full price in your store. This conversation is a different and more detailed on psychology – both yours and customers, which can derail you if you don’t experiment and make all efforts to keep your own bias from altering reality. Don’t just blindly assume you can’t command a full-margin for an item until you have tried. Also, your service center is very much an area that you can use to regain margin loss elsewhere. If you are struggling with ideas on uncovering these hidden margin opportunities, please visit my P2 consulting page to learn how I may be able to help you increase your profitability. A few easy examples would make sure you are charging for services that customers may not expect to free. When selling a bike, for example, could you be charging to install additional accessories or component swaps? The answer is yes if you are wondering, yet many store owners and staff will argue that it’s impossible. However, the store across town is quietly doing just that, and it is working out just fine. You don’t know if something works until you try it, and try it with conviction.

Running a Profitable Bike Shop

Running a profitable bike shop is not as simple as it would appear on the surface. When it comes to pricing and margins, I hope you begin to analyze your business to dig deeper into your potential profitability. Do not just assume that margins are too low. You have an ultimate say in your margin maintenance and pricing strategies. Margins and pricing are, of course, a very critical part of your success. Still, they are also not the simple issue many will make them out to be, and with some serious attention to details, you will begin to realize just how much control you ultimately have over your business.

Words by David DeKeyser

David DeKeyser and his wife Rebecca Cleveland owned and operated The Bike Hub in De Pere, Wisconsin, for nearly 18 years. In 2018, they sold the business and real estate to another retailer based in a nearby community. David now writes the Positive Spin series on Bicycle Retailer and Industry News and he writes articles for the NBDA’s blog, Outspokin’. David also provides business consulting through the NBDA’s P2 Consult Program.

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post Margins And Pricing: How To Run A Profitable Bike Shop in 2020 and Beyond appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Diet – Springtime Stressors and Solutions

With the increase in hours and physical workload, it is straightforward to cut corners on what you are eating. When you run out of time, and it’s 3 pm, and you still haven’t eaten lunch, it makes anything you can shove in your mouth seem like a good idea. This is the wrong time to make concessions nutritionally. I am not a dietician, but we all know that food is fuel and impacts your performance and, generally, well-being. Make the right decisions, and take the time to sit down and eat.15 minutes will not ruin anyone’s life if you are not available while eating your meal at the right time of day.

Brain – Springtime Stressors and Solutions

It is very easy to become mentally overcooked when you have too many things on your plate. Do not take on new projects or commit to something that will pull you away from the most important tasks during your busiest season. Making daily to-do lists to remember what needs to be done is a straightforward tool that many do not employ. Owners on down the line have an incredible increase in tasks to complete when the season explodes; it can be tough to remember what you planned to do that day within the first hours when things get crazy. Let your list guide you. Service departments that were calmy building bikes for spring and cleaning workbenches all winter can become overwhelmed and tense. The solution is, to be honest about expectations and try to do your best to accommodate customers’ and employees’ needs. Avoid making promises you cannot keep. If your repairs are getting backed up, you can see if some employees are receptive to working overtime, but try to avoid getting people to worn out, too early in the season. It is a balancing act, and it is essential to capitalize on the busy times, but the season is long, and you also need to conserve some energy. It is also important not to get sidetracked with nonessential activities when you may not have enough time to get the essentials done.

Personal Time – Springtime Stressors and Solutions

For me, spring was always a double-edged sword as a store owner. I love riding bikes, and after a cold winter, the first hints of sunnier and warmer days make you want to get out and enjoy it. As a store owner, I also relished the opportunity to sell inventory that needs to be paid for soon finally! The problem is that you are often too busy to get out and ride. You have to carve out time for yourself to get out and enjoy the weather. Not only for your own sanity’s sake, but life’s too short to miss out on the pure pleasure of riding. The shot of energy you get is not only crucial for your health as you need to exercise, but it helps you to be better at your job.

The central theme above is that you need to eat right, exercise, and not overwork yourself physically and mentally. It is much easier said than done, but it is critical to your success and, more importantly, your health to not lose sight of the big picture when the first overwhelming spring rush descends on your store. Don’t beat yourself up too much if you ate that pizza and didn’t ride today, and also plan on staying late into the evening getting caught up. We have all been there, and sometimes it is unavoidable to get overworked. But as a rule of thumb, remember that you are not going to be able to maintain that pace very long, and the longer you do, the longer it will take to recover. Bottom line: eat your veggies, get good sleep, and ride your bike!

Words by David DeKeyser

David DeKeyser and his wife Rebecca Cleveland owned and operated The Bike Hub in De Pere, Wisconsin, for nearly 18 years. In 2018, they sold the business and real estate to another retailer based in a nearby community. David now writes the Positive Spin series on Bicycle Retailer and Industry News and he writes articles for the NBDA’s blog, Outspokin’. David also provides business consulting through the NBDA’s P2 Consult Program.

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post Springtime Stressors and Solutions appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

In this second article on the subject, we will look at what can help drive success for that typical IBD. While the challenges are genuine due to financial issues previously outlined, I believe there are ways to succeed.

Six Keys to Successfully Sell Ebikes

1.Enthusiasm & Confidence. Without legitimate interest, it will be challenging to sell e-bikes. Pretty simple, but critical. In my own business the first year we made an effort to sell e-bikes a customer asked if we sold e-bikes. An employee joked – “No, but Dave does.” It was funny at first until it dawned on me that I was selling better than 75% of the units and working the sales floor less than 10 hours a week. Product training, knowledge, and experience all lead to increased enthusiasm and confidence. Make sure your staff is set up to succeed.

2. Test Rides. This technique seems obvious, but when talking e-bikes, test rides take on a deeper meaning. It means actively engaging every single customer that walks into your store to try one out. Convey to them that it’s a new category of bikes, and you love to see what people think of the product. Let them know you are genuinely curious about their thoughts versus trying to sell them one. Disarm the interaction from a sales presentation to a product review. There are two goals here; the first is to get one more person to understand the product even if there is zero chance they will buy one. They will, however, know other people and can let them know. The more folks out there that understand the product and that your store sells it, the better off you will be. The second goal is obviously to sell them an e-bike. I would guess half of my sales came from a very enthusiastic approach to getting people with no intention of buying an e-bike to ride it. Taking someone from a potential $600 sale to one over $2000 is pretty satisfying!

3. Know the product. This is a product that many of your staff may not be drooling over. Your team needs to understand how critical these sales are to your success and know the details of the e-bikes they are selling. Battery capacity, motor size, charging information, customizing the tune, and associated apps pertinent to the e-bikes you are stocking are mandatory pieces of information. Knowing the classes, the restrictions on where they can be ridden, and areas that they are allowed cannot be overlooked. Selling e-mtb’s when your local trails are off-limits could lead to prickly conversations between the customers who bought the bikes and the local trail groups and land managers.

4. Ride the e-bikes yourself! Nothing is more comfortable than selling a product you understand and enjoy. Nothing tells a customer that the product is incredible than the salesperson who uses the same product or brand. Anyone who worked the sales floor of a bike shop has been asked, “what do you ride?’ a bazillion times.

5. Allocate the dollars and develop a plan. It may take you a year or two, or even more to fully build out your inventory and develop yourself and your employees into e-bike selling experts. You cannot just throw them on the floor and expect them to sell themselves. It may take some time to be able to afford the extra inventory costs. Working with your vendors is critical here. You may need to discuss ways to go “off program” to grow the sales organically and grow into the category. It would help if you considered the potential numbers in a way that’s workable while assuring your vendors you want to improve the category. This hurdle is the basis of part one of this series.

6. Planning and promotion. You will need to address this category as a new business. Realistically, layout your goals and how to get there. Budget what the time and dollars commitments will be. To be successful, you need to get outside the store and bring the bikes anywhere you feel you can get people on them and introduce them to the product. Farmer’s markets, springtime lawn, and garden, or camping, and RV shows. Outdoor expos, retirement communities, and expos. The list of potential promotional outlets is as endless as your imagination. The goal, however, is simple – get people to ride and understand the bikes. You also want to merchandise your website correctly, and this article will give you some great ideas. Simply put, the e-bike category needs promotion to drive sales.

There are some situations where e-bike sales may legitimately not make sense for you, or you may be employing the above tactics and more, yet you experience less than stellar results. One example that comes to mind would include mountain bike specialty shops whose nearby riding opportunities are closed to e-bikes. Some stores may not be fans of e-bikes, and I think we should respect that. I recently had an excellent conversation with Brice Erickson, owner of B&L bicycles in Pullman, Washington. He has employed the techniques above and more. His enthusiasm for e-bikes is infectious. He has had tremendous success selling them and has far surpassed any averages for shops his size. He said he had become an e-bike store at this point, which also sells and services traditional bikes! Brice is an example of what enthusiasm, knowledge, and belief in the e-bike category can do for your sales. Brice’s business is in a small town and proves that it is possible to exploit this category without being a big store in a big market. I recently did a podcast interview with Karen Wiener of The New Wheel in the San Francisco Bay Area, an e-bike specialty store. Karen and her husband opened and grew their stores organically, and with the hilly area they live in, e-bikes were a natural fit. It is essential to understand that not every store can live up to some of the outlier examples given. Still, the category at this point is on such a fantastic growth curve. It would be a big disappointment to let the potential slip through your hands. Put in the effort to understand the products, ride the bikes, and engage your vendors to find ways to make e-bikes a success.

Finally, if you find yourself struggling and would like to grow your e-bike sales or understand your finances better, I would be excited to learn more about your business and develop a plan to help you. You can reach me at david@nbda.com.

Words by David DeKeyser

David DeKeyser and his wife Rebecca Cleveland owned and operated The Bike Hub in De Pere, Wisconsin, for nearly 18 years. In 2018, they sold the business and real estate to another retailer based in a nearby community. David now writes the Positive Spin series on Bicycle Retailer and Industry News and he writes articles for the NBDA’s blog, Outspokin’. David also provides business consulting through the NBDA’s P2 Consult Program.

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post Selling Ebikes Part Two: 6 Ways To Power Up Your Sales appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Step 1. Check your online catalog

On your website, check that you are displaying your correct assortment. Under the “Bikes” menu, select “Electric”. This effort should show you the electric bikes from the major brands that you support, including in-stock models and supplier inventory depending on your subscription level. If you find any issues with the items displayed, please contact SmartEtailing support for assistance. As a reminder, not all cycling suppliers provide content or integrations to SmartEtailing.

Step 2. Direct traffic from your homepage

You don’t need to create additional pages to get customers shopping. Use the drag and drop tools on your website to create a homepage section about your electric bike selection. Add a call to action button titled “Shop electric bikes” linking to your electric bikes catalog page. Many retailers filter the results to in-stock only to create more interest in stocking models.

Step 3. Make your website a resource

SmartEtailing has designed a free electric bike landing page in its page library that you can import and modify. Review the prebuilt content for opportunities to localize to your business, with revised text or images. Add a note about your local selection and expertise. Ensure that the landing page has direct links into your catalog to get consumers shopping. Add another highlight to your homepage directing customers to “Learn about electric bikes”. You have two sections on your website, serving consumers who want to get shopping and those who want to learn more.

Step 4. Drive traffic

Now your website is ready to inform customers and get them shopping. Use your social media channels and email marketing to get more shoppers engaged. Driving traffic isn’t a one-and-done proposition. Reinforce the message regularly in new ways and always link back to your website. Repetition is important. The traffic you build on your site will help with your organic search results over time.

Step 5. Ask for help

If you find any of this confusing or too time consuming, please ask the SmartEtailing team for assistance.

What a great list – Thanks again, Ryan! I hope you take some time to implement these suggestions to capitalize on the e-bike opportunities you have in front of you. In addition to Ryan’s ideas, I would love to hear from you at david@nbda.com, whether you are having success or struggling with e-bikes. This category is such an opportunity for the bicycle retailer to reach new consumers and interest the customers you have already acquired.

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post 5 eBike Website Merchandising Tips appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

As a business owner, you need to always be on the winning side of expense fluctuations.

The concept is simple. Have an expense go up; you have to cover that expense. If you have gone with the flow for years and not adjusted service pricing, for example, even as the wages you are paying your service staff have risen, you are losing. Thinking the big dollar “profits” on that particular order you are ordering can outweigh the incredibly high freight costs coupled with the relatively low margin, you are losing. Product pricing may be creeping up on SKUs that have been in your POS for years, and you are still charging the same retail price = a loss. MSRP and MAP pricing has two keywords you should key in on your system. You were suggested and minimum.

If you follow the suggestions, you will get the minimum profits. Not only can you price items higher, in many cases, but you also have to maintain your benefits. Can you price everything higher? Of course not, but you may be surprised at how easy it is to mark items above MSRP/MAP pricing with very little to no pushback. I feel that service pricing and service parts are the most easily raised prices. It is incredible to view the enormous disparity in service pricing around the country or even in the same town.

Spend some time lurking around your peers’ websites and see for yourself. Can it be that simple? Of course, it is. Constant attention to your bottom line, margins and expenses will keep you moving in the right direction. For every retailer who says they cannot compete with the internet, another one proves them wrong. For every retailer who thinks they cannot command those higher service prices, someone will.

Your mindset has to change so that you have to understand the basics of your business and act on them on a day to day basis. Do you have a category that is stinking up your cash flow, yet you feel it is critical to your store’s image, ego, or has to be supported because that’s “who” your shop is? That by either eliminating or right-sizing that category will send the wrong impression to your employees or customers. This real issue that I have heard many retailers provide as the reasoning they continue to invest time, shop space, and cash flow into underperforming areas of their business (well, the ego part is usually avoided).

Here’s what you need to do: each time you have a price increase in freight, inventory, wages, or any other expenses in your business, you need to sit down and decide whether you want to make less money and necessarily pay for the increase out of your pocket, or do you maintain your margins and subsequent cash flow by finding an item or service that needs to increase to cover the increased cost. You can also revisit your expenses and see if you can reduce them in a particular area. By thinking you are working daily to stem the million little paper cuts one at a time, versus finding out your profits dipped at years end. Being proactive is the easiest way to stay on the ball.

Finally, if you have items or a vendor whose margins are not in keeping with your desires as they relate to profits, you have two choices. First, you can raise the prices to mostly stress test them to determine if your market will bear the (needed) increase in pricing. Second, you can search for products/vendors that may deliver the higher margins you need and still be desirable to your customers. Remember, you are ultimately captaining your ship, and it is up to you to avoid sinking that ship. I’d love to hear from you – if you have questions or comments regarding these ideas, email me at david@nbda.com.

Words by David DeKeyser

David DeKeyser and his wife Rebecca Cleveland owned and operated The Bike Hub in De Pere, Wisconsin, for nearly 18 years. In 2018, they sold the business and real estate to another retailer based in a nearby community. David now writes the Positive Spin series on Bicycle Retailer and Industry News and he writes articles for the NBDA’s blog, Outspokin’. David also provides business consulting through the NBDA’s P2 Consult Program.

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post Expense Creep – Victim Or Victorious? appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Along with this consolidation of choices, many retailers who may have carried several good brands have become ambassadors for one main line. The positives of this route are that streamlining of brands leads to increased efficiencies, better product representation, (hopefully) more knowledgeable staff, and stronger relationships with that vendor. The downsides are obvious. When the vendor you have chosen runs out of key product when you need it, with no alternative to drawing from you can really suffer a sales hit. When your main vendor perhaps fails to develop compelling products to keep themselves and ultimately your store relevant you will suffer as well.

The biggest issue in my personal opinion however is the loss of control on your business’s profit margins. Initially you commit to a larger and larger percentage of product to maintain your margins, but from what I have experienced and witnessed those margins continue to dwindle even when you have given complete representation to those vendors. I carried two major brands and balancing those two brands’ demands was NOT easy! The hardest part was that we felt we had developed a reputation as the store to get both of those brands. Even when the overall margins achieved between those two brands became positively weighted towards one brand to the tune of nearly 8%. I would constantly try and calculate the increased profits (we were already highly profitable), should jettison the less profitable brand and on paper it made sense. BUT, what if we ran into those problems above? What if we lost customers we had sold heavily into that dropped brand products? We felt the weight of a decision that made sense on paper but held many perceived or real pitfalls if we dropped one brand or the other.

I have seen my own financials of course, and those of other stores. I have looked at a business that was very similar to mine but their margins on bikes were lower by enough to account for about $50,000 difference in profits – this is based on two relatively “average” sized stores. I don’t know about you but at that kind of difference, perhaps all retailers should at least do some basic calculations and run scenarios in their minds about the consequences or benefits of holding onto a vendor out of sheer inertia or the perception of time invested versus the potential profit upsides of making a change.

There are enough variables in this thought process to begin dozens of offshoot conversations. I would love to explore those thoughts further and hear from others about this topic. As an industry, we have learned so far into the mono-brand retail model my gut instinct is that things will at some point begin to swing back to a model that rewards quality product, available when you need it, and delivers margins that are once again in the low to mid 40’s on “bread and butter” entry-level product. Is this a fantasy or what we simply need to bring many retailers back to fair levels of profitability? Expenses continue to rise, yet margins continue to dwindle, particularly on the higher-end products, and while that product delivers overall higher gross dollars, it also requires a much more capital intensive commitment. There are no easy answers, but the topic is one that deserves more attention. Please leave comments below, or if you feel more comfortable by all means email me at david@nbda.com and we can chat that way. I would love to develop this thought process further and hope to learn more about your businesses and how you feel about this topic. Have you experienced success with a single mainline model that would have not been possible otherwise, or do you feel carrying several brands is the route to take for positive results?

Words by David DeKeyser

David DeKeyser and his wife Rebecca Cleveland owned and operated The Bike Hub in De Pere, Wisconsin, for nearly 18 years. In 2018, they sold the business and real estate to another retailer based in a nearby community. David now writes the Positive Spin series on Bicycle Retailer and Industry News and he writes articles for the NBDA’s blog, Outspokin’. David also provides business consulting through the NBDA’s P2 Consult Program.

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

The post Single vs Multi-Brand Model appeared first on National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Most retailers started with a strong desire to be in the bicycle industry due to a love of cycling and the great feeling of being in the bike shop. When I began my upward path from mechanic to sales, then management, I felt that I was building on a skill set. When it came time for my wife and me to open our store, we felt very confident in the skills we would bring to the business. Many retailers think they are doing their best work as a mechanic, or a salesperson, perhaps even by being the local go-fast racer type. If you are not as good or better at the financial side of your business as you are at the mechanical, sales, or actual bicycle riding part, you will not be nearly as profitable as you could be. 

As we opened our business, I immediately began to realize one skill I had not honed was the financial side. Thankfully my recently retired Dad stepped in to give us a large hand with our bookwork. After a few years and a ton of learning, I took over the reins of the back end of our business entirely. At first, I was not real happy about the instant change in my time available to work on bikes and help customers. The almost instantaneous effect, however, was my mind began to see the business VERY differently. As I walked through the shop, inventory flashed dollars signs invisible to all but me. Employees fiddling with their phones had time clocks clicking away pennies each second in cartoon bubbles above their heads, and they were my pennies! Vendor programs became dreaded reading as I watched margins drop a point or two each season unless more floor space and dollars were promised to go their way. Doing payroll, paying taxes, paying bills, etc. made it feel like all we did was like other people’s and businesses’ pockets. Expenses for many businesses equal or outweigh income. It is a simple fact, and everyone can think of the companies that have closed or retailers who seem to do great on the surface. Still, their expenses are crushing their profits one month’s lease, cool shop van payment, or overinflated payroll period.

So, that brings us to P2 Consult. This is a program I lobbied the president of the NBDA, Brandee Lepak, to let me run with. The NBDA has a great peer to peer group called the P2 Program, which “is made up of non-competing dealers who meet to learn, compare, network, examine and analyze specific data from their business to help and support each other in business operation and strategy.” You owe it to yourself to look into the P2 group if you have any curiosity. The overwhelming feedback I have heard is incredibly positive, and it has given many retailers a significant boost in their businesses and confidence. P2 consult is different in that it is one Program to help you understand your business better, at your speed, and can be used on an as-needed basis for only $120 per hour.

Who should consider P2 consult?

1. Anyone who does not have a firm grasp of their business key performance indicators and how to read their profit and loss statements and balance sheets. These are the keys to understanding your business’s health, much like a doctor checking your heart rate, blood pressure, and fundamental analysis of your blood to get a baseline for your health.
2. Anyone who wonders if their vendor relationships are as profitable as possible could be and discuss ways to increase margins. 
3. Anyone who wants to open a new store, or explore what routes you may have available for closing or selling your store.
4. Anyone who would like a confidential assessment of issues you may be experiencing in your business. These could range from anything such as employee retention or pay points to only needing to know if what you are experiencing is normal. It is really hard sometimes as a retailer to find someone who can help you that isn’t a vendor or family member or friend who may have biases or motives that could cloud their advice. Simple solutions can often be overshadowed by issues that have become unrealistically large or been put into a negative feedback loop for too long. A set of impartial eyes is often a great way to break through the barriers that have been erected mentally.

The best part of this Program, is the ease of getting going, affordability, and your ability to use the service as little or as much as you like. I believe that any retailer that learns how to assess their business’s health by demystifying the financial side of their business will begin to make better decisions that ultimately lead to increased profits. The keys to profitability are quite simple if you know how to understand the numbers, maintain your margins, and work within the learnable parameters. I would love to help you become more profitable by improving your business knowledge or helping you work through issues you may be experiencing in any facet of your business. 

Links: P2 Consult

          P2 Program

          Cost Of Doing Business Studies – Required reading!

          Podcast – How to Run a Profitable Bike Shop w/ David DeKeyser

Words by David DeKeyser

David DeKeyser and his wife Rebecca Cleveland owned and operated The Bike Hub in De Pere, Wisconsin, for nearly 18 years. In 2018, they sold the business and real estate to another retailer based in a nearby community. David now writes the Positive Spin series on Bicycle Retailer and Industry News and he writes articles for the NBDA’s blog, Outspokin’. David also provides business consulting through the NBDA’s P2 Consult Program.

The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.

Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year. 

Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.

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