Due to my redundancy earlier this year and several months subsequent unemployment I've been looking into the idea of setting up a bike share business. I have no personal experience of running my own business, but you have to start somewhere....

Its basically a bike time-share - you pay an annual membership fee which entitles you to a number of points which equate to bike use over the course of the year/riding season. There would be a selection of bikes to choose from.

There are quite a few supercar clubs where you pay an annual fee and get the opportunity to drive a range of top-end cars without the associated costs of ownership but there is potentially a gap in the market and as far a I know there is currently only one bike share club in the UK that does this, they are based in the Midlands:

http://www.spyderclub.co.uk/index.php/1/home/


The benefits of membership obviously need to be sufficient to attract potential customers. I see these as:
- the opportunity to ride the latest cutting edge sports bikes (or perhaps adventure bikes, tourers or even Harleys).
- the ability to choose what and when to ride and the number of days use required (this could be done through a tiered membership).
- not having to cover costs - outright purchase, tax, insurance, servicing, running costs (tyres, chain and sprockets, brake pads etc), repairs and depreciation (plus the time and hassle associated with sorting these issues out).
- not having to worry about storage - garage space, security etc.

The major issue as I see it is insurance, the cost of which may be prohibitive. It will be a balancing act to make cost of membership attractive to potential customers whilst still being a viable business. There would need to be a significant excess on the insurance which the member would have to pay in the event of an accident etc. There may also be a requirement for members to have an existing no claims bonus - this counters the potential for members who don't own bikes or who haven't for a couple of years (I would guess these are the largest potential member group). I am working on how to overcome that one.

If annual membership is in the region of £2000, many people would say "I could buy a second-hand bike and run it for that". This would be missing the point and those people aren't the target market. I would be looking for people with a large disposable income who want to ride (or be seen on!) the latest bikes but for whatever reason don't want to be bothered with the hassles of ownership. Surely such a person exists? Maybe not the type who frequent this site? But everyone must know someone who fits into this category. There are a lot of wealthy footballers not a million miles away from here - they would be ideal 'members' if only their contracts allowed them to ride bikes. The question is how to target this market.

My plan is to start small with low overheads, test the market then expand gradually. I will be undertaking other business interests at the same time in the first year to ensure a regular income, so a break-even in the first year will be acceptable. My first step is to speak to some insurance companies which I am in the process of doing as well as undertaking some market research - this is as valuable a forum as any for that.

I am aware that this isn't the market place for such a business, as we are all committed to and passionate about the Superduke. The idea doesn't attract me personally as a member either as I would always want to own my own bike and I have a tendency to keep them for a while.

But everyone here must have friends who are into bikes generally and have a licence but don't own one for whatever reason. Perhaps given the right incentive these people would become members. We all know folk who go out and buy the latest bike, fancy leathers etc then wobble round occasionally at weekends 'posing'. These are just the sort of people who would benefit from this kind of venture.

I would be interested to hear people's views here; all discussion is good and there is a wealth of experience here in the world of biking.

I've just been trying to find the website but been unsuccessful.
There is a company that turns up at some trackdays with bikes for customers, runs bikes on the road for them much in the same way: customers buy points packages and the bikes are delivered for use serviced ready to go. They have quite an impressive fleet as far as I remember (I had an email from them at one point) they have 1198S, the Japanese 1000cc superbikes plus Triumph Daytona 675Rs, BMWs and other stuff like Ducati Diavels etc.
Not saying you shouldn't give it a go but you'll have to do your market research to understand what you can do to compete and understand how big the market is (whether there is room for more than one of you) plus you'll need a significant amount of money from somewhere to fund it.

If it was me I'd have a serious look at race school/riding school bikes and tuition instead: requires much less capital to get started and there can be a significant value add over the cost of rental of the bikes.

It may well be the same company that you're thinking of -Spyder Club that does the track bike hire:
http://www.spyderclub.co.uk/trackbikes/ ... ack-bikes/

There is also Ladysnoots:
http://www.ladysnootsltd.co.uk/

Yes, market research - its endless!
I'm not ruling out any options at the moment - even daily rental if I can get suitable insurance.

I had a few friends who set something like this up in London about ten years ago. Lost touch with them a bit over the last few years but I could find out what happened to the business - seem to remember there was a bit of a flaw in the way it financed itself. I will find out for you - what they learned, whether positive or negative would be really useful I guess.

That would be very useful thanks Bic

Good luck, I hope the format you settle on is succesful.

Sounds like a good idea. Now you have to find people that are not hindered by the economic times.

You should get in contact with Freestyler who used to frequent this forum, his mate (cant remember the name) ran a bike hire business. Talking to him, insurance wasn't the obvious killer because cover was only paid when the vehicle was under hire. I'm not sure your business model of a subscription fee is sustainable, it puts your client base in a niche of a niche. Consider more innovative models like EasyJet's, where the further ahead you book the better the price is. These bookings cover your costs while the later, more expensive booking provide your profit.

Finding your customer is going to be one of the biggest hurdles, it is for most businesses, especially start-ups. Gen up on all the low cost mediums and low friction routes of promotion, basically social media, websites and forums such as this should be on the broad end of your sales funnel.

Market research, find out what people want, it wont be what you think.