Thinking of opening my own motorcycle parts shop? what does everyone think? good investment?

I was lying in bed last night and was thinking to myself about opening a Motorcycle parts shop, dealing in parts for as many bikes as possible, including some of the older bikes from the 70's if at all possible. I already have a dealership within about 15 miles of me that deals with Kawasaki and suzuki and Yamaha bikes and parts. How good of an investment do people think this is and how can i go about getting started?

Questions to think about:

Have you ever run a business before as an owner or primary manager?

Will your market support a bike store for older bikes? Is the cost of inventory worth the amount of business in the area, or is mail order very efficient?

How will you finance your business? Do you know the approximate monthly cost and the break even point for sales? Do you know how to balance your books and create business plans that the bank will accept for financing?

Do you have mechanical aptitude and experience with older motorcycles? Would you be able to assist your customers?

Why should I, as an owner of an older Harley, come to your store versus mail order or the other bike shop, which I assume could special order my part?

Have you done retail work before? Do you like it?

Have you considered other businesses which might have a better margin? Including electric vehicles, bicycles, scooters, and so on? Do you realize that smaller vehicles, scooters, motorcycles and so on will become very popular as the price of oil continues to soar. (query "peak oil")

In addition to all the other GREAT responses, look in your phone book (also whitepages.com to get a larger radius) to see how many parts suppliers that there already are. Join the local motorcycle clubs and talk to the members and ask them what kind of parts they need, or have most problems finding. You might find that only a certain type is in demand or hard to find and then you could cater to that market (it is hard to compete w/ dealers as they get bulk pricing on the most comon items). Look for a niche market - you will find it when you do your Business Plan effort. vroom vroom!

Nobody here is going to be able to tell you. You need to write a business plan to prove that your idea is valid. Go to http://sba.gov , http://score.org or http://bplan.com for sample business plans and instructions on how to write a business plan.

Then, go to http://www.score.org/ and in the upper left hand corner, enter your zip code. On the next screen, you will get information on the nearest SCORE chapter. Call them and arrange for a free meeting with a SCORE counselor to review your business plan.

SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneur education and the formation, growth and success of small business nationwide. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

SCORE has 389 chapters in locations throughout the United States and its territories, with 10,500 volunteers nationwide. Both working and retired executives and business owners donate time and expertise as business counselors.