I have a small wholesale/retail business.(not bike or sports related) More often than not, particularly in these times, that gig at Target is looking better and better. Capital to run the everyday operations of the business is always in short supply. The price increases from vendors are coming monthly now, sometimes more frequently than that. I'm not talking 1-5%, either. It's 10-30% across the board. Good luck with working on new business. The vendors have everyone on allocation based on past usage. Then there are the backorders. 3-5 months, 6-8 on certain products. I used to keep around a 2 week supply of the fast moving products. Now it's a 2 month supply or more and I still have to pay for it. Current customers come first. Some no name walks through the door with a boatload of money wanting to buy something because he can't find it anywhere else, too bad. I can't sell it to him if it will disrupt my supply for my regular customers. That's the way it is currently from top to bottom in all sales/product industries.
If you have a real passion for cycling, then get a part time job at a shop. Make your living in some other form of business. Otherwise, that passion will be gone/replaced by the responsibilities of running a cycling shop instead of being a cyclist.
BTW, the only reason I even have the business is because my parents got sick at the same time. I had to quit what I was doing and take over my father's business. That was over 20 years ago. I didn't really have a choice. Unless you own the land/building/and have a lot of assets, most small local businesses aren't even worth much money. Too many things you can't control.
On Monday night, I got price increase letters from my 3 main vendors. That will be the 4th price increase since the first of the year. Average increase of 9% with some popular products increasing by 25%. Now I have to contact customers yet again and work something out. Even worse, I have to find a way to pay for the stock while it's waiting to be sold. Fun times. That's the reality of being an owner.
Last edited by seypat; 04-29-21 at 08:02 AM.