ForumsInternet/eCommerce

I'm working on the Business Plan now - Got the template from the SBA website.

The business we want to open will be in TN and we currently live in GA, so no, we don't have an Accountant or Insurance Agent yet, but I've spoken to several over the phone. I thought it would be best to have someone local to the area. We have some face to face meetings set for next week so hopefully that part will be settled very soon.

What is "SCORE" - I've never heard of that?

Yes, we have a name - That was the easy part!

This is great - I really appreciate your input!

We are leasing the building from someone and I'm doing research now on where and how to get a decent amount of inventory to start out. We want mostly "generic" items that ALL bikers can use, like leather jackets, chaps, rain suits, do-rags, etc. ... and a small amount of "name-brand" items like Harley, Honda, Ducati, etc. We pretty much know the items we want in the store, and now I have to figure out where to get them. Any ideas on that?

Thanks, Max ... You've been very helpful.

I found one place online that I like, but I want to research them a little more before I put my money out there .. It's called foxhillfarmwholesale.com, and they seem to have just about everything!

Thanks again for the advice!

Absolutely - I thought it was a great idea, and now you've confirmed it

We found out from the local stores that tourists seem to love t-shirts and hats with the name of the town as well as the name of your business on them, so we are definitely going to include those too.

It's a real "hot-spot" for riding motorcycles - some of the best scenery in the country, so the logos and pictures will mostly be the type that they (we) would buy .. "I survived the Dragon Trail", for example.

Thanks for your input - I appreciate it!

Regarding the foxhill website, do check witha lot more sites and the actual distributors of famous rather than third party wholesalers. This will reduce your cost further and will also give you more marketing depth.

In reference to T-Shirts, I have a friend in the Clothing business for over 20 years and manufacturers for very large names like Nike, Wal-Mart etc. Be careful about the T-Shirt business, it is very competitive. Also the quality of T-Shirts is very important. Bikers are good paymasters and want good quality for themselves. As far as the website is concerned dont go overboard. The blog is great once you have a client base after a number of months. There are a number of people who will develop a good site for $500. Web hosting for a Linux site should be $10.00 per month and a good Windows based site should be $15.00 per month with all the perks with your own business mail address and complete control of the site. Avoid developers who create a site where you are reliant on them for changes and charge you an arm and a leg for these changes

I love this website - I've had great responses and suggestions - Thank-you!!!

I really like the idea of putting our business information out there now, and I definitely will do that.

One of the most popular cabin rental companies in the area (renters are 90% bikers) has agreed to give every renter a flier announcing our grand opening in March. In exchange, we will have their fliers in our store, and will refer folks to them. We also plan on having a live (local) band and a raffle the day we open - The winner of the raffle will get a free weekend in the best cabin they have, which is a 1.9 million dollar cabin and is awesome!! (They're "donating" it to us ...in exhange for us referring people to them.

This is a really small town and the barter/trade system is still big there. We're using local vendors, bands, etc. whenever possible. The local band that will play on our opening day is really good and they've agreed to play for just tips!!

Our first biker ride will be for the Volunteer Fire Department - yep, they only have a volunteer department - can you imagine?!? Many of the locals we've met have told us that if we do things like that for the fire dept., the animal shelter, etc. that we'll be "in" ...

Thanks again for your suggestions!

Signed ...

Proud owner of Cherohala Biker Gear!!!!!!!!!!!

I will definitely check a lot more sites for inventory before making a decision, and going to the actual distributors is a great idea.

I know what you mean about the t-shirts. Being bikers ourselves, we do buy t-shirts and sweat shirts from different places we ride, but only if they're good quality. As I'm looking at inventory I'm always asking myself if this is good enough quality that WE would buy it.

I have a friend who develops websites and she's going to do ours for free and set us up with a good web-hosting site, so I think we're in pretty good shape on this ...

Thanks!