Bicycle Rental
Start-up cost: $7,500–$12,000
Potential earnings: $50,000–$80,000
Typical fees: $12–$15 per half-hour rental
Advertising: Flyers/brochures (give some to the chamber of commerce or travel agencies), Yellow Pages, banner ads on travel or local chamber of commerce Web sites
Qualifi cations: Knowledge of bicycle maintenance
Equipment needed: Fleet of bicycles and repair kits; may need storage space
Staff required: No
Hidden costs: Liability/theft insurance
What You Do
Remember the days of the bicycle built for two, when tourists rented bikes to explore island areas where cars either didn’t exist or were blessedly limited? Th ose days are still here—but the majority of bicycle rental businesses are now clustered around crowded tourist spots such as Michigan’s Mackinac Island or Florida’s sandy beaches. Many bicycle rental shops are now featuring Rollerblade rentals as well, especially in places like California. Regardless of what you decide to off er, you’ll be amazed at how much money can be made in this relatively easy business.
Each day you’ll take a fee for short-term rentals, off ering the possibility of instant repeat business or a large number of daily rentals. And since most bicycle rentals are cash transactions, you’ll have instant money. What could be easier than that?
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What You Need
Your main costs stem from the fact that you must buy a good fl eet of bicycles, typically twenty to twenty-fi ve of them at a cost of $300 or so each. If necessary, you can also rent garage space for $100–$300 per month. If you invest in only used bicycles, your maintenance costs could potentially be high. Considering that you’ll be earning $12–$15 per half-hour rentals, you could make a sizable amount of money very quickly in this business if you’re in a tourist area (especially one that doesn’t allow many