Already shared this with Alpha, but thought I put it up here if anyone else is considering doing something similar
Well, sounds like your ideas are right along the lines of what we were trying to do. Our goal was to have a place to work on/build or customs, do some restorations, and offer repairs. We also wanted to offer folks a place they could work on their own bike, either a short time, done in hours or less, or longer term. We had kinda wanted it to become more of a "community" for like minded folks.
Like you already know, the builds are time consuming and cash flow from them isn't consistent enough to pay the monthly bills. Its the repairs that do that. Not sure what type of bikes you want to service, but we only do classic/vintage bikes. Any era, any country of origin. We don't really do any American V-twins. We are in a small town, halfway between Kalamazoo and Battle Creek. There are at least 10-12 "Harley" Shops within a 20miles radius.
Also there are virtually no dealerships in the region that will work on the old bikes. In fact some of the local dealerships refer people with old bikes to us. What we quickly found out was that there was a significant demand for service on the old bikes, so much so that from late April to late October we run a 2-3 week backlog on repairs. Needless to say, nothing gets done on the customs! It does however pay the bills well enough to get us thru the long winter.
As far as equipment/space rental, we have had minimal demand for that. Several factors I think contribute to that. One we are in a small town/rural area, basically. Most people have someplace they can work on their bike. Another thing is that those who are into the old bikes/customs are folks that not only have a garage/shed/barn they can work in and they do their own work. Of those who have taken advantage of it, it seems to be two groups. Kalamazoo has a fairly large college population who are to a large degree apartment dwellers and don't have anywhere to work on a bike. The other group is the do it yourselfer who lacks a special tool or equipment or the knowledge/skill for certain tasks.
I'd say in the last year, we have maybe had 8-10 people take advantage of this, other than those who use the tire changer. We also offer an assistance program where for half our hourly shop rate, we will work with/supervise the person. As for the tire changer, we have a three tier charge system. One price if we do it, another if we help them do it, and a third if they just come in and do it on their own
THe other thing we found is that some of folks who want to use the shop facilities think you should let them use the space/tools for a song and dance. They seem to think it should be more like going over to a buddies place and borrowing his lift/tools, etc. and you just pay him with a 6-pack instead of going to a business that has expenses just to keep the doors open and things like we have to pay to dispose of tires and store and properly dispose of their used oil.
For that portion of your business plan to succeed, I think a lot will depend on your location. Around a major metro area where folks don't have a place to work on a bike and there are a significant number of them, it might be more successful.
As for insurance, it was ridiculous. Would have to have doubled our rates just to pay the insurance!! And there weren't many who were even willing to consider such a policy. We ended up just having all customers sign waivers of liability.
