business plan for motorcycle parts

If you want to start a line of unique products, then you have two basic options: you can make them yourself, or you can find a manufacturer to work with that creates custom formulations for their clients.

I knew that I was trying to build a larger-scale business and that the home-made model wasn’t right for me, so I had to find the right manufacturing partner. It took a lot of research, phone calls, and emails before I found the laboratory that met my needs.

I wanted to create unique products (as opposed to private label), so I worked with the manufacturer’s chemist who specializes in skin care formulations. This process takes some time!

First, you have to tell the chemist what kind of product you’re looking for , the ingredients that you want to include or leave out, and what you want the final product to look like/feel like/smell like, etc.

Then, the manufacturer sends you the first sample , you try it out or give it to others to try, and then provide feedback for revisions. In my case, the first two products came together fairly easily because I only needed to make small changes to stock formulations.

There are many, many rules and regulations around cosmetics and skin care products. If you want to sell products that contain FDA regulated ingredients then you have to register and get a permit.

My products aren’t FDA regulated, so I didn’t have to go through this step, but I did have to be aware of the many guidelines and standards around labeling and safety warnings. Some people hire a lawyer to help them through this process, but my manufacturer was able to guide me through the regulatory process.

The entire process, from researching labs to work with to having the first finished products shipped out to me, took around six months.

Purchasing Inventory For Your Motorcycle Parts Business

When first starting out, it's important to start small with your overhead to get a gauge for what people want.

Just remember - if you order a line of items that don't sell, it's nearly impossible to recoup the money lost.

Buying the right inventory takes research and planning in order to get it right.

Pro-tip: It's easy to become biased based on your own fashion preferences on what types of shoes/apparel to purchase. This is where a lot of fashion businesses go wrong. It's important to base purchase decisions on current buyer behavior, trends in the market, and specific to your niche.

Erin Hooley, founder of Bailey's Blossoms tells us how poor inventory projections led her to lose over $2M

When we first launched Peyton Bre we did so in a social or direct sales model.

Through poor inventory projections we were forced to change models but only after losing $2 million dollars.

It was a devastating time for us and one we were not sure we could survive.

I have since become very intentional about the way that we project our inventory needs and we continue to refine that quarterly and even monthly. We have created a KPI for the cost of goods sold to help us hold ourselves accountable.

Ultimately, the better we manage our inventory the less we have need to discount and the healthier our profit margin becomes.

This is, of course, a very high-level overview of the importance of inventory control.

To see the full breakdown on how to manage inventory, check out my guide over on my blog. .

🚀 How To Launch Your Motorcycle Parts Business

Build A Website

Building a website is imperative when launching your business, and with the right tools in place, this can be a simple task to check off the list (without having to hire someone).

To learn more about how to build a stellar website with little stress, we give you all the details on this step-by-step guide .

Once you have chosen the domain, web hosting, and platform, it's time to get started with the design phase.

Themes are a great way to produce the fundamental style and identity of your website - this includes everything from your font design to your blog post styles.

One of the best ways to get started is to simply explore the various themes (free or paid depending on what you're looking for) and test them on your site.

If web-design really isn't in the cards for you, you may want to consider outsourcing a web designer to help bring your vision and brand to life.

Launch Strategies For Your Motorcycle Parts Business

There are various different ways you can launch your motorcycle parts business successfully.

Here are a few different strategies to get customers excited about your motorcycle parts business.

Here are a few popular sites to launch on:

Learn more about how to launch your business successfully ➜ here

Justin Pflanz, founder of TAB Performance dives deep into the process of launching the business:

We were very fortunate, in that we had a lot of knowledge and support to draw on from our parents. However, probably one of the most important and helpful things I found was going through the process of filling out a business plan.

Going through and filling out each and every aspect of a good business plan template really helped us organize and prioritize the things we needed to do to get started. The SBA has a lot of great resources to help with business plans and much more.

Funding was of course one of the biggest hurdles to overcome. For us it was important to maintain complete control and ownership of our business which meant taking out bank loans, which is not an easy task when not everything you’re looking to borrow money for is a tangible asset. This again was where a good, well researched and put together a business plan really came in handy, and ultimately helped us secure the funding needed.

Make Sure You Get The Package Design Right

The way you package your motorcycle parts business is often the first impression your customer has - so it's important to get it right.

You may want to ask yourself these questions:

If my product is on a shelf next to hundreds of other similar products:

There are hundreds of tools you can use to help with packaging and design:

Sheets & Giggles explains the motive behind their "Premium Unboxing Experience"

I had a particular vision for our packaging centered around one goal: because we were a DTC company and wouldn’t do physical retail in year 1, we needed to focus entirely on an incredible unboxing experience that made the product feel as premium as possible.

Outside: a white box, nice wax coating, logo front and center with no other copy, easy to open, nice and sturdy.

Inside: make people smile from the get-go, have a social call-to-action, include free extra surprises (a knapsack that wraps the sheets and an eye mask), put funny copy all over the place, and add a donation bag that people could use to donate their now-defunct cotton sheets (sheets & blankets are the #2-most-requested item at shelters behind socks).

Get Press Coverage For Your Motorcycle Parts Business

The more buzz around your brand - the more the phones ring, the more traffic to your website, and the more customers as a result.

Here are a few ways you can get press for your business:

Press releases:

Press releases are a great way to share big announcements or news, but in order to get any traction, you'll need to find a way to make your press release stand out amongst others.

Try to convey a story that really matters, not just to you, but to the reporter and to their audience.

Here are some things to consider when submitting a press release:

Email is one of the most effective and preferred way to send your press release, so as long as you keep your pitch brief, interesting and personalized (no cold emails), you should stand a chance!

Get Press Using HARO

HARO, otherwise known as "Help a Reporter Out" is an outlet for journalists to source upcoming stories and opportunities for media coverage.

The best part is, HARO is free to use! There are, of course, premium versions you can purchase, but the free version is still an accessible way to get press.

Once you set up an account, HARO essentially will email you based on stories (that are relevant to you) that need to be covered where you will then have a chance to essentially "bid on the story."

Here are some tips when crafting your pitch:

Plan a Publicity Stunt

Planning a publicity stunt is an effective and quick way to raise awareness for your brand and gain some traction from the press.

If you're looking to plan a stunt, the objective should be to be bold and create something memorable

However, being bold has a fine line - it's important that you consider the timing of your stunt to ensure you don't come off insensitive or unethical. For example, timing may not be in your favor if you plan something during the general election, or in most recent cases, a global pandemic.

In order to measure the success of your stunt, it's important that you first determine your end goal, for example:

Here are a few tips for creating a great publicity stunt:

To learn other strategies on how to get press, check out our full guide here .

🌱 How To Grow Your Motorcycle Parts Business

Consider Selling On Amazon

In addition to selling your products directly on your site, you may want to consider selling on Amazon to reach a wider audience and attract new customers.

Here are some pros and cons of selling on amazon:

Follow these instructions to get your product listed on Amazon or check out the video below on how to get started:

Cory Stout, founder of Woodies ($250K/mo) provides us with specifics on how to rank better on amazon:

Our main product is walnut wood sunglasses that I sell for $25 on Amazon and Woodies.com.

I dedicated myself to becoming an Amazon expert. I listened to all the podcasts and read all the blog posts I could find. Shoutout EcomCrew I took the basic fundamentals that are out there and I added a couple of my own twists.

Amazon brings me, 100 brand new customers, every day for very little acquisition cost. If I tried that on my own, it would take a TON of work and it wouldn’t be nearly as effective as Amazon, so I took the easy road on this one.

Here's an article I wrote on how to rank better on amazon (30+ Tips):

5/5: ESSENTIAL

4/5: Pretty Friggin Important

Consider Working With Instagram Influencers

Partnering with like-minded influencers (within your industry) is one of the most effective ways to grow your social media organically.

Industry influencers already have an established and loyal following. With one post, your product immediately establishes a connection with a brand new audience. It's that powerful.

When finding influencers to promote your product, do your research and make sure that their following will actually be interested in your product.

It's easy to be blinded by any influencer with a huge following, but if those followers don't resonate with your product, there may not be any value there... so make sure you do your research!

Evan Marshall, founder of Plain Jane discusses how "micro-influencers" have impacted his business:

Influencer marketing has been huge for us. Our approach is pretty simple. We give out samples of our products and ask people to post about us on social media aka a micro-influencer strategy.

We really like this approach because we get authentic stories and content. We cannot really control the messaging so the product has to speak for itself. We don’t really take product photos at all. Our customers take the photos and we ask to reuse them.

With any influencer strategy, you have to be very sure you’re targeting the right people and engaging with them. You can make sure you’re targeting the right influencers by looking through their posts and then looking through the profiles of their engaged followers.

It takes more time per influencer but the payoff is certainly worth it. Make sure their followers look like your existing customers.

It takes a ton of time and work to grow a social media following this way but it’s worth it. Other accounts have tried to grow themselves through botting or other manipulations. As a CBD company, we didn’t want to give Instagram any reason to shutdown our account so we’ve done everything through content and real engagement. It’s not magic to make this happen. You just have to post consistently and then reply or like every single comment you get. It takes months but it works

Improve your SEO

SEO is not just about driving traffic to your site, it's about driving the RIGHT traffic to your site , and ultimately, converting leads into customers.

One of the most important aspects of SEO is understanding what your customers are searching for, otherwise known as "keyword research."

Here are some tools that can help you choose the right keywords for your motorcycle parts business.

Publish Great Content

Finding keywords is an important piece of the puzzle, but Google also ranks your site based on the actual content you produce, as this is what your customers are reading and engaging with.

There are various different "forms" of content that you may want to consider diversifying on your sites, such as blog posts, articles, studies, and videos.

So let's discuss what google considers "good content:"

Another element of creating good content is creating consistent content.

If (and hopefully you are) publishing content frequently, it's important to stick to a schedule - this helps build brand trust and easy user experience with your customers.

Planning out your content with a content calendar is key to staying consistent.

Here are a few great content calendar tools that can help you:

If you prefer to keep it simple, your average spreadsheet is just as useful!

Backlinks are an important piece to SEO, as they allow for other websites to link to your content.

Search engines recognize that other sites are essentially "verifying" your content and essentially rank you higher because of this.

Of course, some links are more valuable than others and can affect your site in different ways.

For example, if a highly valuable and credible site like the New York Times links to a page on your website, this could be remarkable from an SEO perspective.

Aside from organically getting mentioned from other sites, there are other ways that you can increase and earn backlinks:

Learn more about the fundamentals of SEO ➜ here and check out Neil Patel's 3 Powerful SEO Tips below

Build A Blog

One of the most effective ways to build brand awareness and grow your business is through consistently blogging.

We've outlined some useful tips for you to consider when creating content:

Consistency and Quantity

Quality is important, but it should be the standard for any content you publish.

What’s more important is consistency and quantity.

Consistency is as simple as committing to publishing and sharing a certain number of posts per week. For me, that’s three per week right now.

This kind of commitment is key, because one day, a random post will blow up, and you will have never expected it.

Oversaturation

The easiest mind trap is to think "I’m posting too much", and “I need to give my readers/audience/this platform a break”.

This is nonsense.

There is no such thing as oversaturation. Well, there is, but it is just someone else’s opinion.

For every person that tells you you are posting too much, there is another person that wants even more of your content.

You should ignore people’s opinions on how much you post.

Patience & Persistence

Keep posting, keep trying, and keep putting out good content on the regular. Your time will come, and when it does, it will change everything.

The only thing you have control over is your content.

You can’t control how people will react to it. You can’t control pageviews, likes, or shares.

So the only metric you should focus on is how much content you can put out in a week, month, etc.

Where to share your blog content

Mailing List

I know it sounds obvious, but the best places to share your content is on your mailing list. It is guaranteed traffic and it is a great way to get rapid feedback from your most loyal readers.

Send newsletters often. I have done once a week since starting, and I’m moving to twice a week soon.

Work on increasing your mailing list as well. Look into ways to increase your conversion rate to your mailing list. I added a flyout popup thing to my site and now I’m collecting ~30 emails per day.

An email newsletter is one of the most powerful assets you can have and it is worth its weight in gold.

Reddit is one of my favorite places to promote content.

It is a very scary place because you will often get banned or heckled, but it can really pay off.

Create social media accounts for your blog, the main ones I use:

Twitter Facebook Instagram LinkedIn

Set up Buffer and share all of your blog posts to all of your accounts. All of these little shares really do add up.

Automate this as much as possible. I automated all of my social media for Starter Story.

Facebook Groups

When I started out, I put together a spreadsheet of relevant Facebook groups for my niche, and I would post to these groups whenever I had a big story I wanted to share.

Grow Your Email List

The more engaged list of emails, the more engaged customers, which ultimately leads to more sales.

One of the best ways to start growing your list is by providing your customer with something free (or discounted) in return.

This could also be anything from:

Learn more about how to grow your email list and improve email marketing ➜ here .

Dylan Jacob, founder of Brumate states their email collection tactic that is proven to work:

We use Spin-a-Sale for this (you spin a wheel for a discount code in exchange for subscribing to our email list). This has been the best email-collecting tool we have found because the customer truly feels like they won a prize rather than just a coupon code.

Even if a customer doesn’t convert right away, if we have their email we have a 19% chance of converting them into a future customer whether that is through future promotions, new releases, or simply just sending an email at the right time for a purchase to finally make sense for them.

We also have a return customer rate of over 14%, so one out of every 6 people we convert will end up buying from us again with an average order value of over $60.00.

Add an exit-intent popup to your online store

A great way to double, or even triple, your email opt-in rate and to grow your list is to add an exit-intent popup to your site, and offering a discount or content upgrade for subscribers.

Here's an example of what that might look like:

One thing that I spent years NOT doing, that I now kick myself about, is adding an "exit intent pop-up" to our site, which lets people enter a sweepstakes to win a Xero Shoes gift certificate.

That one idea has added over 100,000 subscribers to our email list, which is one of our most effective marketing channels.

Improve Your Email Marketing

Different types of emails

Here are the most common types of email campaigns you can send to your customers and their benefits:

Here's a great resource for finding curated email designs, for all types of email campaigns!

Abandonded Cart Flow

The abandoned cart workflow is one of the most effective strategies for turning your lead into a customer, and a powerful tool to have if you're an e-commerce business.

Think about all the times that you went on a shopping frenzy only to add items to your cart and then either forget or realize nows not the right time to pull the trigger.

Then, minutes later you receive an email saying "Hurry up! Your cart is waiting - and we want to provide you with 20% off your order."

Maybe that's the special touch (and discount) you needed to pull that trigger.

Implementing this workflow can automatically trigger this for your business every time a customer abandons their cart.

Here's a great example of an abandoned cart email from Brooklinen :

Things they do well:

Experiment With Pay Per Click Ads (PPC)

Pay-per-click (PPC) is a performance-based marketing method that allows you to show specific ads for services or products oriented to a very defined target, with the goal that the user visits your website or landing page.

Here are some tips to consider:

PPC advertising can be a very important lead generator as long as it's done properly. Your PPC campaign is intended to drive traffic to your website and help the business scale.

Additionally, if the campaign is not having the desired results, you can make the necessary changes immediately to improve them.

Ryan Schortmann, founder of Display Pros talks about their investment in PPC Ads:

My name is Ryan Schortmann and I’m the founder of Display Pros. We are a custom trade show display booth company offering easy to use portable display “kits” for small and medium businesses wanting to get into the trade show game.

It did not take long to come to the realization that to compete at any reasonable level, we were going to need to take the plunge and invest in Pay Per Click ads and display.

From experience, I know that it is important to give Google’s hivemind some time to settle in before each campaign starts seeing consistent results (this is largely dependent on budget).

A certain amount of PPC budget must be viewed as a “marketing research” expense and then you can look at the analytics data and make informed decisions on where to refine, tweak or plain scrap an idea.

Google Shopping was an entirely new concept for me. You can’t assign keywords to products so at first, I was asking myself “How the hell do you refine these?”. Then I found some good reading material and courses and learned of some advanced methods that the pros are using. It turns out you can utilize negative keyword lists combined with the priority setting on each shopping campaign to “shape” the keywords that are coming in and how much you are spending on them.

To learn more about PPC Ads and Google Shopping, check out this video to learn everything you need to know!

Social Media Advertising

Social Media Advertising is one of the leading ways to get the word out when it comes to motorcycle parts business.

There are various different Social Media platforms available to you. Some may be more critical for your marketing efforts than others, however, it's important to have an understanding of what's out there and available to you.

Let's talk about a few of the main platforms and what makes them unique:

It's important to first define your goal/objective so that you don't waste time and money into the wrong platform:

Here are some different questions to ask yourself as it relates to your goals:

From there, choose the platform that targets your audience best and start experimenting!

Learn more about social media advertising ➜ here .

Founder Andy Hayes talks about mastering FB ads and the pixel:

The biggest bang for your buck will likely be mastering Facebook and it’s platform - which we all know is pay for play, so you’ll have to come up with a small amount of budget to start for marketing.

We’ve spent countless hours (and paid numerous coaches) before we cracked the code that works for us on Facebook, but it is working really well for us now.

Some of the most important things to know when it comes to FB Ads:

🏃🏼‍♀️ How To Run Your Motorcycle Parts Business

How To Retain Customers For Your Motorcycle Parts Business

Retaining customers is one of the most effective ways to grow your motorcycle parts business.

Oftentimes, it's easy to find yourself focusing on generating new customers, vs retaining your current ones.

Look at it this way - you are 60-70% more likely to sell a new product to an existing customer than you are a new customer.

That's not to say that finding new customers and revenue streams is not important, however, the easiest (and most inexpensive) source of new revenue is right there in front of you.

Here are some ways you can retain customers for your motorcycle parts business:

To find out more tips and tricks on retaining customers, check out this article ➜ here

Justin Pflanz, founder of TAB Performance dives deep into the process of attracting and retaining customers:

We’ve tried a LOT of different marketing channels since we’ve launched. The big things we’ve learned boil down to the following points.

Digital marketing may not be right for your business or product, but in our experience it’s pretty hard to beat. Especially with marketing platforms like Google and Facebook, where you can target geo specific locations, demographics and interests. The goal of marketing is to get your product in front of people that potentially want to buy your product. So for example, we may want to target our marketing efforts towards people who own motorcycles, which is very easy to do with today’s digital marketing platforms.

Many of the marketing points I mentioned above apply to sales channels as well.

For example we currently sell through the following channels:

These are the ones that we’ve found work best for our business and products, but there are many, many more out there. Even within the sales channels we use, not all of our products are listed on every channel.

For example, we’ve found Amazon to be a poor channel for a lot of our products. We found that some of Amazon’s rigid restrictions and rules meant to keep things consistent for their customers was actually confusing many of ours and was leading to poor customer satisfaction compared to the rest of our sales channels so we pulled a lot of our products.

However, we have other products that Amazon works great for, so you really want to make sure you’re looking at things on a case-by-case basis.

Diversify Your Product Line

Adding new products to your business is a great way to expand into new markets and grow your business.

It's important to note that adding new products and diversifying may not be in the cards for you right this moment, and that's okay. You can always consider it down the road.

Here are some reasons you may want to considering adding/diversifying your product

Provide Great Customer Service

Providing exceptional care and creating relationships with clients is a great way to build your reputation and retain customers.

Whether you are an online business or a physical business, it's highly important to communicate with customers and make them feel like they are the priority.

Just remember: customer service represents your brand, values, vision and YOU as a person.

Authenticity

As a brand, you want to deliver an experience that authentic, honest and transparent.

Don't make the mistake of giving your audience less credit than they deserve.

Be Authentic

If you go around chasing every trend and only focused on yourself and money, you’re going to lose very quickly.

There have been many times where we have been tempted to do this but stayed true.

Sure we sacrificed sales, but we kept our integrity, played the long game and people saw and appreciated that, and really began emotionally investing in the brand.

Build a Referral Program

Word of mouth is one of the best ways to get the word out about your business and acquire new customers. Especially when you are starting out, it’s important to build a solid referral program to encourage existing customers to help you find new ones.

A great way to do that is by offering a reward (ie. credit on your service or cash) to customers that refer you to their friends and family.

A fantastic referral program will help with clout, credibility, and establishing yourself in the space.

Word of Mouth

The most tried and true way to grow a motorcycle parts business is through word of mouth - some entrepreneurs would say it's more important than all social media.

Why you should focus on word of mouth:

Learn more about word of mouth in our guide: 30 Ways Founders Grow Their Business ➜

How To Crush The Sales Process For Your Motorcycle Parts Business

You may find yourself in a spot where you're ready to hire a few (or many) salespeople to support the sales conversion process.

Regardless if you have one or thirty salespeople, it's critical that you assign them specific roles and responsibilities to nurture the client and provide excellent support.

Mike Korba, co-founder of User.Com walks us through the entire sales process and which teams are responsible for what:

User.com Sales Process

Each user and account is qualified with a specialist. For business leads, they are handled by the sales team, and if they are qualified we give them a demo, more than often at the end of their fourteen-day trial. If they’re happy they’ll add a payment, and get an account manager, so a customer support and success team who will help implement the solution and to use the technology.

Sometimes, users will convert naturally on their own, after using the freemium product and finding it to be something that they will find beneficial.

After they convert, we help with onboarding , give them some personalized tips for their specific business or industry to grow plus all kinds of support, for whatever they need - something we take huge pride in.

The team is right now more than 30 people, with more than half working on the IT and product side, and the rest are in three teams: Support, Marketing, and Sales who all work together very closely.

We put together the best resources on the internet to help you start your motorcycle parts business.

Web Resources

Case Studies

Hey! 👋 I'm Pat Walls, the founder of Starter Story.

Get our 5-minute email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.

I'm Pat Walls and I created Starter Story - a website dedicated to helping people start businesses. We interview entrepreneurs from around the world about how they started and grew their businesses.

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How Do I Make My Motorcycle Parts Business Better?

Differentiating yourself from other motorcycle businesses so you stand out in the motorcycle industry won’t be easy.

While there is a lot of competition and other motorcycle businesses online, there are things you can do to gain a reputation as a reliable seller. The happier your customers are with your online store and its products and service, the more they will come back to make repeat purchases and refer you to fellow bike owners and mechanics who are repairing or customizing bikes. Here’s what you can do to make your motorcycle spare parts business better.

Sell on the Top eCommerce Website

You shouldn’t limit yourself by selling on only one sales channel, like your website. The best sales strategy involves selling on top ecommerce platforms, like eBay, Amazon, and Walmart, where you gain access to a wider audience. These sites have massive customer bases and boast millions of unique visitors each month. They also have categories dedicated to the buying and selling of parts and accessories, which explains why these motorcycle sales platforms are popular online shopping sites for motorcycle enthusiasts.

Use High Quality Product Images

You don’t need to hire a professional photographer to take photos of your spare parts business products. Smartphones today have amazing cameras. The trick is to use good lighting and a plain white background. Remove any distractions that may take the focus away from the actual product. Natural light is the best; it’s also free. If you don’t have access to it, you can use artificial lighting. Make sure the light hits the product evenly and doesn’t cast any shadows. Whatever camera you use, don’t use the flash. The last thing you want is an unflattering glare of light reflecting off the product.

Shoot multiple angles to get as much detail as possible. Zoom in on any features that you think will be important to the customer. Don’t over-edit the images. It’s best to keep their original level of saturation so as not to mislead customers of the product’s real color.

Dedicate Time to Customer Service and Marketing

Potential customers may have questions about your products. And when you don’t attend to their queries fast enough, they may move on to another seller and end up losing the sale. The truth is that many customers are impatient and won’t be willing to wait very long to get a reply, especially if there’s an urgent need for the part. So while it’s great being your own boss and deciding your own hours, it doesn’t mean that you should only reply to customers when you are available.

Make time for customer service, and it will help you gain a reputation as a helpful, reliable seller. When customers have a good experience, they will likely come back for more and refer you to their friends who are fellow motorcycle enthusiasts.

Your motorcycle shop business plan should also include your marketing strategies. To reach a wider audience and improve visibility, you may consider social media marketing, such as Facebook ads . You may even leverage video marketing by starting a YouTube channel. Whatever your business plans, ensure they’re driven by providing the best customer experience and journey.

Commit to Quality Service

Beyond having a business name that is memorable, the keys to success will depend on your dedication to making your bike parts business better. Business owners who fail to commit to their company vision and mission are often the ones that fail.

When you first decided to start your own business and began writing your business plan, one of your primary goals should have been to find the gaps and fill the needs of the market. Your business plan should also detail how you intend to bring your business ideas to life and reach your target market and motorcycle organizations in a positive way.

On platforms like eBay and Amazon, sellers that provide outstanding service gain top seller status. As a Top Rated Seller , you become recognized as a trustworthy source. You can achieve this status by providing the best shopping experiences, which result in high ratings and positive reviews.

Maintain Your Physical Inventory Properly

First, do the research and determine which motorcycle parts are in greatest demand. You’ll want to avoid dead stock, which will weigh your business down. Not only does deadstock take up warehouse space, but it reduces cash flow.

Motorcycle parts that get damaged and replaced the most often are footpegs, handlebars, and levers. Filters, chain drives, belt drives, shaft drives, tires, and spark plugs are also parts of the motorcycle that suffer from wear and tear and need often repair or replacement.

Stock items in quantities that you know you will be able to maintain properly. The goal is to keep them in good condition. The last thing you want to happen is to forget about your inventory and allow it to deteriorate from being stocked for too long. Customers will not be happy to receive motorcycle parts that are damaged, dirty, or rusty.

If you don’t intend to stock inventory, make sure you have a reliable supplier. To protect your own reputation, you should trust that the supplier maintains their stock and will only deliver items that are in the best condition possible.

Provide Clear, Accurate, and Complete Fitment Data

Whether you are selling motorcycle parts on eBay, Amazon, Walmart, other ecommerce platforms, or your own website, fitment data is critical to improving the customer experience. Fitment or compatibility refers to vehicle type and its make/model/year.

By providing complete fitment data, you enhance the online shopping experience for your customers. Fitment information takes away the guesswork of whether the motorcycle part fits the bike. It also lessens the need for potential customers to contact you directly and ask for more details about the part to determine if it’s compatible with their motorcycle. When you skip including fitment data, you disrupt the buying experience and decision process.

Optimizing your motorcycle parts website with fitment filters also helps you gain reach and increase your visibility, which helps increase sales. When you don’t list all the bikes that a part fits, you could miss out on sales opportunities. With complete fitment data on all your product listings, you maximize your search exposure.

For example, when people search for a part for their motorcycle, they may not realize they don’t have to limit themselves to their bike’s manufacturer. While OEM parts are all-original and brand new, they can be quite expensive. Fitment data allows customers to discover aftermarket parts that are compatible with their bike.

If you’re selling on Amazon, you can send fitment data directly and indirectly. Amazon uses ACES (Aftermarket Catalog Exchange Standard), the industry standard for automotive catalog applications data in North America. ACES data is comprised of two components, the date and the XML delivery specification. The direct method of sending fitment data involves submitting ACES to the Amazon Merchant Transport Utility (AMTU). The indirect method of sending fitment data involves using a third-party fitment data provider.

On eBay, you can set up fitment compatibility by adding fitment information to your listings on eBay Motors. Fitment data, known as Parts Compatibility on eBay, takes the form of EPIDs (eBay Product IDs).

Setting yourself apart from every other online motorcycle shop will be challenging. Start by making sure your online motorcycle parts business has a presence on the top platforms for motorcycle parts and accessories. To make your business better, ensure your product images are high-quality. Attractive and professional-looking photos that showcase multiple angles and details of the product will get more attention. To stand out, you need to provide superior service. You can achieve this by answering questions promptly and providing complete fitment data.

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How to Start a Motorcycle Shop

Hitting the open road, with nothing but a motorcycle and a few essentials, has long been a favored American pastime. Those active within the motorcycling community regularly require maintenance and repair on their motorcycles and enjoy spending their hard-earned money on accessories that enhance their riding experience. From selling new and used parts, to bike repair and rebuilds, motorcycle shops offer a variety of goods and services that fit the immediate and long-term needs of bike enthusiasts.

Ready to form your LLC? Check out the Top LLC Formation Services .

Learn how to start your own Motorcycle Shop and whether it is the right fit for you.

Start a motorcycle shop by following these 10 steps:

There is more to starting a business than just registering it with the state. We have put together this simple guide to starting your motorcycle shop. These steps will ensure that your new business is well planned out, registered properly and legally compliant.

Exploring your options? Check out other small business ideas .

STEP 1: Plan your business

A clear plan is essential for success as an entrepreneur. It will help you map out the specifics of your business and discover some unknowns. A few important topics to consider are:

How much can you charge customers?

What will you name your business.

Luckily we have done a lot of this research for you.

What are the costs involved in opening a motorcycle shop?

Veteran motorcycle shop owners recommend a budget of approximately $55,000. This number could vary significantly, depending upon the inventory you choose to carry and services you intend to offer.

Initial investments should include:

If your intention is to manage a larger dealership, your start-up budget should be significantly higher. Prior to writing your business plan, focus on building relationships with wholesale retailers. They set the prices and can offer valuable insight into what your initial and ongoing investment should be.

What are the ongoing expenses for a motorcycle shop?

As a repair and retail establishment, you will be facing a number of ongoing expenses. In addition to the standard rent, utilities, phone, and Internet, you will need to budget for the following:

Established shop owners indicate a break even budget of $16,000 per month.

Who is the target market?

Men falling in the 18 - 25 and 40 - 65 age brackets represent more than 80% of motorcycle sales. While your shop will generate revenue from novice bikers, the bulk of your marketing campaign should be geared towards experienced bikers.

How does a motorcycle shop make money?

Your shop will generate income based on the goods and services offered. Some businesses operate on a local level only, while others sell goods online, expanding their reach to a much broader audience.

Fees for maintenance, repair, and bike customization are based on labor and parts. Parts and accessory price are generally marked up 100%.

How much profit can a motorcycle shop make?

Unlike many businesses, motorcycle shops often see a profit in the first year. While the first three years may generate a profit of $13,000 to $17,000, this is a positive sign and sets the business up for long-term growth and success. Total annual profits vary, depending upon the specifics of what services you offer, what parts and accessories you sell, and how you plan to sell them. Annual profits can range between $35,000 to $64,000 or more.

How can you make your business more profitable?

Many motorcycle shop owners report having significant success operating an online motorcycle parts business. Since bike shops are often a place to congregate, offering food and drinks, along with a comfortable seating area, will ensure your customers are comfortable and happy. This is an effective way to increase your profits without a large increase in overhead costs. Shop owners have also realized success by offering airbrushing services, selling second-hand bikes, and offering motorcycle tutorials to educate those interested in learning more about their hobby.

Choosing the right name is important and challenging. If you don’t already have a name in mind, visit our How to Name a Business guide or get help brainstorming a name with our Motorcycle Shop Name Generator

If you operate a sole proprietorship , you might want to operate under a business name other than your own name. Visit our DBA guide to learn more.

When registering a business name , we recommend researching your business name by checking:

It's very important to secure your domain name before someone else does.

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The most common business structure types are the sole proprietorship , partnership , limited liability company (LLC) , and corporation .

Establishing a legal business entity such as an LLC or corporation protects you from being held personally liable if your motorcycle shop is sued.

Form Your LLC

Read our Guide to Form Your Own LLC

Have a Professional Service Form your LLC for You

Two such reliable services:

You can form an LLC yourself and pay only the minimal state LLC costs or hire one of the Best LLC Services for a small, additional fee.

STEP 3: Register for taxes

You will need to register for a variety of state and federal taxes before you can open for business.

In order to register for taxes you will need to apply for an EIN. It's really easy and free!

You can acquire your EIN for free through the IRS website, via fax, or by mail. If you would like to learn more about EINs and how they can benefit your LLC, read our article, What is an EIN?.

Learn how to get an EIN in our What is an EIN guide or find your existing EIN using our EIN lookup guide.

Small Business Taxes

Depending on which business structure you choose, you might have different options for how your business will be taxed. For example, some LLCs could benefit from being taxed as an S corporation (S corp).

You can learn more about small business taxes in these guides:

There are specific state taxes that might apply to your business. Learn more about state sales tax and franchise taxes in our state sales tax guides.

STEP 4: Open a business bank account & credit card

Using dedicated business banking and credit accounts is essential for personal asset protection.

When your personal and business accounts are mixed, your personal assets (your home, car, and other valuables) are at risk in the event your business is sued. In business law, this is referred to as piercing your corporate veil .

Additionally, learning how to build business credit can help you get credit cards and other financing in your business's name (instead of yours), better interest rates, higher lines of credit, and more.

Open a business bank account

Besides being a requirement when applying for business loans, opening a business bank account:

Open net 30 accounts

Net 30 accounts are used to establish and build business credit as well as increase business cash flow. With a net 30 account, businesses buy goods and repay the full balance within a 30-day term.

NetMany net 30 credit vendors report to the major business credit bureaus (Dun & Bradstreet, Experian Business, and Equifax Business Credit). This is how businesses build business credit so they can qualify for credit cards and other lines of credit.

Get a business credit card

Getting a business credit card helps you:

STEP 5: Set up business accounting

Recording your various expenses and sources of income is critical to understanding the financial performance of your business. Keeping accurate and detailed accounts also greatly simplifies your annual tax filing.

Make LLC accounting easy with our LLC Expenses Cheat Sheet.

STEP 6: Obtain necessary permits and licenses

Failure to acquire necessary permits and licenses can result in hefty fines, or even cause your business to be shut down.

State & Local Business Licensing Requirements

Certain state permits and licenses may be needed to operate a motorcycle shop business. Learn more about licensing requirements in your state by visiting SBA’s reference to state licenses and permits .

Most businesses are required to collect sales tax on the goods or services they provide. To learn more about how sales tax will affect your business, read our article, Sales Tax for Small Businesses .

For information about local licenses and permits:

Certificate of Occupancy

A motorcycle shop business is generally run out of a standalone building. Businesses operating out of a physical location typically require a Certificate of Occupancy (CO). A CO confirms that all building codes, zoning laws and government regulations have been met.

STEP 7: Get business insurance

Just as with licenses and permits, your business needs insurance in order to operate safely and lawfully. Business Insurance protects your company’s financial wellbeing in the event of a covered loss.

There are several types of insurance policies created for different types of businesses with different risks. If you’re unsure of the types of risks that your business may face, begin with General Liability Insurance . This is the most common coverage that small businesses need, so it’s a great place to start for your business.

Learn more about General Liability Insurance .

Another notable insurance policy that many businesses need is Workers’ Compensation Insurance . If your business will have employees, it’s a good chance that your state will require you to carry Workers' Compensation Coverage.

Business Insurance for Motorcycle Shop

STEP 8: Define your brand

Your brand is what your company stands for, as well as how your business is perceived by the public. A strong brand will help your business stand out from competitors.

If you aren't feeling confident about designing your small business logo, then check out our Design Guides for Beginners , we'll give you helpful tips and advice for creating the best unique logo for your business.

If you already have a logo, you can also add it to a QR code with our Free QR Code Generator . Choose from 13 QR code types to create a code for your business cards and publications, or to help spread awareness for your new website.

How to promote & market a motorcycle shop

Bike shop owners who generate the most sales have an established and respected reputation within the community. They are active in local motorcycle organizations and are known for their skills in repairing and/or customizing bikes and for their extensive knowledge on the culture and history. Because this is such a tightly knit community, much of your marketing will be through word of mouth and staying active. An involved and informative social media presence will be critical in reaching potential customers that might otherwise be unaware of your sound reputation. Online registries and ads in motorcycle magazines will also assist you in reaching a broader audience.

How to keep customers coming back

Motorcycle shops often morph into much more than just a place of business. They become social hubs, attracting regular business and, ultimately, like a family. While this is a retail and repair shop, it would prove beneficial to create a space that is comfortable for those who wish to socialize during shop hours. Offering a discount to local motorcycle organizations will also help ensure repeat customers.

Still unsure about what kind of business you want to start? Check out the latest Small Business Trends to help inspire you.

STEP 9: Create your business website

After defining your brand and creating your logo the next step is to create a website for your business .

While creating a website is an essential step, some may fear that it’s out of their reach because they don’t have any website-building experience. While this may have been a reasonable fear back in 2015, web technology has seen huge advancements in the past few years that makes the lives of small business owners much simpler.

Here are the main reasons why you shouldn’t delay building your website:

Using our website building guides , the process will be simple and painless and shouldn’t take you any longer than 2-3 hours to complete.

STEP 10: Set up your business phone system

Getting a phone set up for your business is one of the best ways to help keep your personal life and business life separate and private. That’s not the only benefit; it also helps you make your business more automated, gives your business legitimacy, and makes it easier for potential customers to find and contact you.

There are many services available to entrepreneurs who want to set up a business phone system. We’ve reviewed the top companies and rated them based on price, features, and ease of use. Check out our review of the Best Business Phone Systems 2023 to find the best phone service for your small business.

Phone.com is our top choice for small business phone numbers because of all the features it offers for small businesses and it's fair pricing.

Start a Motorcycle Shop in your State

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Is this Business Right For You?

If motorcycles and their subculture are your passion and you possess both the knowledge and drive to manage your own business, opening a motorcycle shop may be the perfect fit for you. The motorcycle community is a tightly-knit group of people; so entrepreneurs who are well-known and respected within this circle are set up to realize the most significant long-term success.

Want to know if you are cut out to be an entrepreneur?

Take our Entrepreneurship Quiz to find out!

Entrepreneurship Quiz

What happens during a typical day at a motorcycle shop?

You and your team’s daily activities will be defined by the services you offer and how you structure your business. In addition to administrative duties, such as paying bills and answering customer questions, the shop must be properly managed and client’s needs should be attended to. Once implemented, marketing strategies will need to be tweaked regularly, to ensure your target audience is reached. Much of your shop’s marketing will require taking advantage of networking opportunities, such as community rides, fundraisers, and meetings.

What are some skills and experiences that will help you build a successful motorcycle shop?

Those considering embarking on this new business path must possess significant knowledge of motorcycles. You should be educated on parts, repair, various models, and safety, as well as the community and its history. Most motorcycle shop owners have been fully immersed in the culture for many years, having built a positive reputation in the process. Previous experience in repair and sales shops will provide you with the knowledge and experience to care for your customers and maneuver through the obstacles that come with running your own business.

What is the growth potential for a motorcycle shop?

The biking industry has expanded significantly over the last decade, reaching a previously untapped customer base. As the number of motorcyclists increases, so does their need for bikes, both new and used, as well as parts and accessories. Entrepreneurs with strong business acumen should utilize this unique opportunity, expanding their businesses on both a local and national level.

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Take the Next Step

Find a business mentor.

One of the greatest resources an entrepreneur can have is quality mentorship. As you start planning your business, connect with a free business resource near you to get the help you need.

Having a support network in place to turn to during tough times is a major factor of success for new business owners.

Learn from other business owners

Want to learn more about starting a business from entrepreneurs themselves? Visit Startup Savant’s startup founder series to gain entrepreneurial insights, lessons, and advice from founders themselves.

Resources to Help Women in Business

There are many resources out there specifically for women entrepreneurs. We’ve gathered necessary and useful information to help you succeed both professionally and personally:

If you’re a woman looking for some guidance in entrepreneurship, check out this great new series Women in Business created by the women of our partner Startup Savant.

What are some insider tips for jump starting a motorcycle shop?

Veteran motorcycle shop owners offer some valuable advice:

How and when to build a team

Given the family like atmosphere of these establishments, your team will likely build itself organically. As you get to know the skills and knowledge of those within the community, you will be able to assemble a crew that helps solidify your business’ reputation in the industry.

Get more ideas with our Business Ideas Generator .

Check out our How to Start a Business page.

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