Opening a Bike Shop!

My husband and I have decided to take the plunge and live our dreams. We are opening our own bike shop! The shop will be in Livonia, MI within riding distance of Hines Drive and Rouge Park, so if you're from the area, stop in and say hello. Our target for the grand opening is April 9th. My husband will be running it while I bring home the bacon with my current job, at least unitl it becomes profitable :)

Check out our website:

http://www.cycletofitness.com/


Everything is brand new, so there isn't a whole lot of content up there yet, but check back every so often and we'll will try to have some new tidbits up there. We're really excited about it, this has been a dream of ours for quite some time.

We're also planning our frist group ride on Sunday March 19th. It will be a mountain bike ride on the road with free food afterward. If you're interested in joining, PM me and I can fill you in on the details. All skill levels are welcome, it's a no drop ride.

A big congratulations for following your dreams! http://QB.smugmug.com/photos/49063422-Ti.gif

So many people let their dreams wither and die, it's refreshing to see someone willing to take a risk.

Wow - Congtatulations!! I wish I lived in your area, I would be there!! My DH and I are both owners of our own businesses (separate businesses) and it can be challenging at times. But there is a freedom to it that you don't get otherwise - especially if it involves something you love.

Again, congratulations!!

COngrats Salsa! That is so very exciting for the both of you. I Love your website so far and I loved the little notes you've put in to show it's an "under construction" site! Wishing you both the best and of course I'll keep checking back!!

You are less than an hour away! I will be there for sure!

I commend and congratulate you on your endeavor! :D My DH is from MI so when we visit his parents and friends, we will be SURE to come and say hello!!!!

Again, congratulations, that is SO AWESOME!!!

Tracy

It takes courage to take the entrepreneurial route. May your store do well and may working with your spouse be pleasant.

:)

Wow thats fantastic. Wish I lived closer.
Best of luck with your new business.:)

Congratulations!!! What's the doggie's name? S/he's beautiful. Looking forward to more to come. Lise

Wicked! :D All the best with this, and add me to the list of those who'd totally come visit it if I lived closer.

Refresh my memory. Where is Livonia in say relation to Saginaw or Detroit?

Thanks
Martha

Good luck with the new store! The website looks great! My husband and I have always wanted to open a restaurant, but never had the guts to do it. Kudos to you for taking the leap! If I'm ever in the area, I will make it a point to stop in and say "hey"!

If I am ever in the area, I will stop. May you leave the day job behind quickly.

Thank you for all the positive thoughts! We debated doing this for some time and finally decided now is better than never. It gets a little scary, but our current living situation (me with a stable job and no children yet) makes it a TON easier. The business plan has me working for the bike shop full time in 2008/2009, so hopefully we'll be able to make that goal :D

Livonia is a suburb of Detroit, it's about 20 min west of the city. Oh, and the pup is named Toni!

Congrats from California too! I look forward to hearing about your grand opening and how you progress in such an ambitious endeavor! Much luck to you and your DH!!:) :) :) :)

WOW!!! :D :D :D A dream come true. A dream with a huge amount of work attached, but who ever said dreams were easy?? :rolleyes: I hope it all goes well for you and your DH. I admire your go-for-it attitude!

annie

That's no pup. That's a retired greyhound. (Right?) And none too young. (Right?) Sweet looking dog, s/he looks loved.

One suggestion (made with love and support): Go back to your site tomorrow with fresh eyes and proof read. Have the person that did NOT type it in do the dirty work - they'll catch more. I noticed a few (rather minor) glitches. What can I say, that's what I do for a living.... {shrug} You do want to put your best foot forward, though.

Gosh I wish I lived closer, I'd go riding with you...

Very cool! That is my husband dream too and he is an awsome bike builder. And Can make really good bikes for not much money. Let me know how it goes.

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Originally Posted by MomOnBike

That's no pup. That's a retired greyhound. (Right?) And none too young. (Right?) Sweet looking dog, s/he looks loved.

One suggestion (made with love and support): Go back to your site tomorrow with fresh eyes and proof read. Have the person that did NOT type it in do the dirty work - they'll catch more. I noticed a few (rather minor) glitches. What can I say, that's what I do for a living.... {shrug} You do want to put your best foot forward, though.

Gosh I wish I lived closer, I'd go riding with you...

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Yep, she's a retired greyhound and is 6 years old.

Thanks for the feedback on proof reading. Trust me, I am more than willing to take that type of feedback (positive/negative about content, grammar, etc). I'm definitely a math minded person, so grammar is a weak point and like you said, we want to put our best foot forward!

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Trust me, I am more than willing to take that type of feedback (positive/negative about content, grammar, etc).

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I was hoping you'd be OK with it. People tend to kill the messenger on things like that. So often I'm the messenger. :rolleyes:

Anyway, I do like your site. The layout is understandable to me. And I still wish I lived closer...

WOW! how very exciting... when you're so big that you need to hire a Director of Human Resources... let me know! :D LOL... then I could come live the dream with ya! Huge congrats and may your opening be better and smoother than you expect... :)

Wishing you much luck to both you and your husband. I think it is great that you were able to make a dream come to a reality. I look forward to hearing the updates.

~ JoAnn

Hey Salsa,

From this side of the world and downunder, BEST WISHES!!!:D :D :D

How cool to be able to work in an area that you're passionate about. I think it's also very sensible that you're staying in your job, while you're establishing the business. I also own a small business, and am an accountant as well. The important thing is to make sure you have access to capital (so stay on good terms with your bank manager!), and watch your cash flow. It's the bane of all small businesses esp in the beginning.

BTW, I love the website, and the functionality, ie to be able to book a service, reviews, and the bike riding group is a definite winner.

Good luck!!!!

Hey salsa,

If i ever make to your part of the US, i'll make a point of visiting your shop...!!! I wish you and your hubby all the best in your endeavour and hope you encourage folks to get out there n ride.

Btw..your greyhound is sooo cute. The eyes!!! Give her a big hug.

Cheryl

Pleae please tell me you will be able to stock good womens clothes!!! I know that vendors can be difficult when you are first opening up, but it would be great if I had a go to store for my clothes and stuff intead of just the internet.

Way to go Salsa!!!!

Like Kiwi and others here who live so far away from you, know that if I lived within cooey, I would def come visit and support you...

Looking forward to hearing about how it all pans out as time rolls forward...
all the best :)

If you ever get to the point of offering goods over the internet - I'm sure the ladies here would buy lots of stuff!

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Originally Posted by Barb

Pleae please tell me you will be able to stock good womens clothes!!! I know that vendors can be difficult when you are first opening up, but it would be great if I had a go to store for my clothes and stuff intead of just the internet.

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Sorry I didn't respond quicker, things have been busy, busy busy! To start off with we'll carry Louis Garneau womens apparel. We plan on having a good selection and of course have plans on expanding it as time goes on!

I'm so happy for you for following your dream! I hope you are overwhelmed by success and support in a good way!

One note about the site.... I do like it, but do think that when a person clicks on the Contact tab, that the mail should open in a new window, so they can still see your site! It should be an easy alteration to the page source.

Good luck and have loads of fun!
~T~

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Originally Posted by LBTC

I'm so happy for you for following your dream! I hope you are overwhelmed by success and support in a good way!

One note about the site.... I do like it, but do think that when a person clicks on the Contact tab, that the mail should open in a new window, so they can still see your site! It should be an easy alteration to the page source.

Good luck and have loads of fun!
~T~

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Hmmm...would you mind clarifying what happens when you click on the tab? Right now, on my computer it automatically opens an outlook email with the "To" field filled in. Do you not have outlook? I didn't even think about what would happen if someone was using a mac. Maybe we'll have to rethink this link. So what exactly happens when you click on the tab?

Thank you for the feedback!!!

Salsa - BEST OF LUCK!! I have deep respect for anyone who has the courage to pursue their dream :) And to think, work will be something you and your husband love. It doesn't get better than that.
I can't believe it but your dog MIGHT have more toys than my girls. haha. Of course, I have three dogs so I have an "excuse" for all the toys. Just kidding, of course. One cannot spoils one's best friend too much, in my opinion.
I like your site, too. It looks like you found a good space. What color are you painting it? What about the floors. When you start stocking some stuff w/your logo, let me know. I'll want to buy a water bottle from you to add to my collection.

I use mozillar firefox, and my default mail program is gmail. When I click on the link, it opens gmail, with the to field filled in, but it opens it in the window I was using to view your site, therefore....your site is no longer there for me, without having to fancy dance back to it....

Since people could be running any number of web-based email programs as their default, this could happen to a fair number of people....but it may not be as high a priority to fix as I'd originally thought! I would hope the code would be pretty simple.

Still a cool site, and I'm very proud of you for taking the big leap!

Namaste,
~T~

So awesome, that is great that you are enjoying life to the full capacity of your lifetime dreams. Life is short, ride long! We plan to open a shop someday too, but it will probably happen in 10 years after he retires from Gov't. 10 years is not really all that long. Guess I could map out and change things along the way to get prepared for our big day as well. How long did it take you to plan things out. How you wanted to run things different to stand out above the crowd of other cycling shops in area, etc. ?

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Originally Posted by AutumnBreez

How long did it take you to plan things out. How you wanted to run things different to stand out above the crowd of other cycling shops in area, etc. ?

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It took us about 2 years to work everything out. To get the business plan finalized etc. It was a lot of work, but hopefully be worth it. Our shop will hopefully stand out because of our focus on mountain bikes and families. We plan on having seminars in the community about cycling (safety, mainenance, types of bikes, etc) and hope in the spring/summer to try and have family rides. Our shop is really focused on educating our customer/community on everything about cycling.

Also, if you're from the area, check out our website again. We've updated it with our grand opening specials!

Hey you think you wll have mail order?