Arriving at the Cost of the Work Stand
- At Standard Bike Repair, we believe in being as Open as Possible, it is fun to Stuff Keywords, and things that are interesting make for “great blog posts.”
- Case Study: How much did the Avery Brewing Work Stand cost Standard Bike Repair?
Story:
Yesterday, Ryan visited Alex at 40 North Designs. The idea is to find a builder that works with wood and metal, can make a quality Work Stand in a “reasonable time” for a “reasonable cost.”
- Theoretically, a business such as Kyle’s, could field a phone call for ‘one or more’ Standard Bike Repair Work Stands.
Where are we now?
- We had a $1000 budget for the Avery Brewing Work Stand.
- Ryan knew from the beginning, that if he built this for Avery that it would have to be “the first of multiple Work Stands,” or else, it might not make “financial sense.”
- Ryan spent about $1K on tools such as a DeWalty table saw and 12″ mitre saw.
- Total: about $3200 spent to make one bike repair work stand.
- We have yet to sell a second Work Stand.
- If/when we do, we plan to build it off-site.
- 40 North Designs can build the work stands from scratch.
- We think we can sell a second and make a profit.
- They will be built to order.
- All options will be considered; there will be a customer questionnaire or a conversation with Ryan to find the right solution for the work stand needed.
Pictures to Illustrate: Where we Are; Small Bike Shop Trying to do Big Things
- For those that have not been here, take a look at these shop pictures embedded from Instagram.
In Summer, it will be almost impossible for Ryan to service bike repair clients if the shop acts as a manufacturing plant.
- Sometimes, the shop looks like this:
Isn’t that pretty?
When Avery’s Work Stand was “in the way” during the entire month of December, the looked like this:
And at it’s best:
Manufacturing
- Ryan has to learn in this arena. Picture shows the beginnings of a “manufacturing line” of the Standard Bike Repair Work Stands.
Research and Development
- Building the one at Avery Brewing had cost-over-runs.
- For instance, the R&D budget included things like the Metal Ferrule Clamper that were not used in the final project at Avery.
- Tooling, the “fancy word” for tools, was expensive. Case in point, the DeWalt table saw was $400. The 12″ mitre saw that was needed instead of the cheaper 10″ chop saw, because a 10″ can’t cut a 4″x4″ in one-cut.
The Lanyards Problem
- Ryan chose to “do it a different way.” By using carabiners, he reasoned that a user of the work stand would never suffer the dismay of tangled metal cords. She/he could easily unlatch the carabiner from the work stand and use the tool in whichever angle and turn that they need.
- Result: It is expensive to make the tools “extremely accessible.”
- Tools that are “easily accessible” are easily stolen.
Conclusions on Lanyards:
- For Small Scale Settings, such as a company office, where everyone is accountable on a multiple levels, a carabiner or “no-lanyards” system can be effective.
- Lanyards add expense, thus cost to the buyer.
- We haven’t figured out exactly how to approach a public version of the Standard Work Stands. Ideas include:
- Lanyards could be made retractable.
- Lanyards can be metal.
- Locking carabiners can reduce theft.
- We could have the users “check out the tools at the desk.”
- We could take the tools in at night.
At this point, every Work Stand made is “custom.” Thus, the specific situation would have to be approached differently.
To make sure that Ryan understood every possible “thing that could go wrong,” he pitched the product to the entire 8,000 members of the PBMA Facebook group (Professional Bicycle Mechanic’s Association).
- It ran through the mill of hardened veterans in the bike industry and came out relatively unscathed. There is “reason to believe” that this simple Work Stand design is sell-able and functional if the right options are chosen for the right situations.
- For the full recourse of what PBMA thought of the Work Stands, click this link here.
Tools: We can Use Greater or Lesser
- Easily Adoptable to All Sorts of Situations
- On Ryan’s to-do list is to create a 8-Tool, 16-Tool, and 30-Tool Version.
As you can from the Google Spreadsheet below:
- Material Cost for Avery Brewing was close to $1600.
- Our pre-agreed cost was $1000
- We estimate that “the next one” if it is the Simple Version with few tools and no metal base, that we could have the materials cost at less than $500.
Conclusion:
- Second one sold at $1000 will be enough to cover the labor costs of 40 North Designs to build it, the materials cost and add money, instead of subtract money to Standard Bike Repair’s checking account. Wish us luck. Or contact Ryan to have one built for your company.
- ryan@standardbikerepair.com
- (720) 837 – 8984
Google Spreadsheet about the Work Stand costs are linked here.
Work Stand in Progress: See Clamps and Clamping
- Tighten those corners.
A Standard Bike Repair Stand is Highly Functional:
Look at those Sweet Labels!
That Base is Strong
The Cuts and Drills were Not Easy
Late Winter Afternoon with no Snow
Morning with Snow
- In other words: the Reason why Standard Bike Repair needs to sell something other than bike repair during non-Summer months.
