There’s nothing better than getting first-hand insight and tips from successful bike rental businesses. So, we thought we’d speak to some of the world’s best and ask them the questions everyone in the industry would love to know. Our first interview is with Jim Gaffney, Co-Owner of Oneplanet Adventure based in North Wales. The is the first episode of many.
Welcome to ‘How we run our bike rental business’! Enjoy…
1. Tell me about OPA and what makes it unique?
Oneplanet Adventure was set up in 2005 by close friends and passionate mountain bikers, Jim Gaffney & Ian Owen. They operate the visitor facilities at Coed Llandegla Forest in North Wales which comprises of an award-winning cafe, bike shop, workshop and a mountain bike rental business. The business has grown over the years to now receive more than 150,000 visitors per year, and the hire fleet offers high-quality mountain bike rentals for use on the 40km+ of purpose-built mountain bike trails that the business has developed onsite. The trails range from routes suitable to absolute beginners through to technical trails for experienced riders only. The hire fleet reflects this broad cross-section with bikes ranging from children’s, hardtail mountain bikes through to top-end carbon full suspension bikes.
2. Which hurdles did you face when growing and how did you overcome them?
As a destination business, one of our biggest issues has been predicting demand and ensuring we are able to offer every visitor the best possible experience, even when demand for our services is much higher than we had expected. One of the key areas this affected was our bike rental business. Efficiently managing the booking of bikes and the maintenance as we grew became a very time-consuming job, and mistakes would happen. We were using a specific bike rental booking system, but it really didn’t fit our requirements and was leading to more and more issues as the fleet grew. We had been looking for an alternative solution in the market place for a long time before we came across yoyo. To say it was a game-changer for our rental business would be an understatement. Having a system we could really tailor to our specific needs was fantastic. Not only did it make our lives much easier, but our rental revenue grew considerably once we began using it.
3. As a bike rental business, what’s your biggest challenge?
Our hire fleet is always changing. As new models are introduced, we retire older bikes and introduce the latest models to the fleet. This can be very difficult to manage, however with the ability to monitor the usage of each individual bike in our fleet yoyo has made the process much more streamlined, allowing us to make much more informed decisions as to which bikes are performing well for us, and which bikes we need to replace next. It means we can always be confident we have the right bikes in the fleet for our customer’s needs.
As a mountain bike centre, our hire fleet gets a much tougher life than many other hire fleets. This means our maintenance regime needs to be equally rigorous. yoyo allows us to quickly identify which bikes require maintenance, and once completed, keep an accurate record of all the work that has been undertaken on any given bike in the fleet. Not only does this mean our fleet can be out on the trails more often, but it also means we have the records to back up our procedures.
4. What are the common myths about bike rental and are their specific roadblocks to watch out for?
I guess on the face of it, running a bike hire business is quite easy. Buy some bikes, then rent them out, right? The reality is quite different, ensuring you have the right number, sizes and types of bikes for demand on a particular day can be very difficult indeed. Using yoyo allows us to take the guesswork out of this and helps to make sure we meet those demands day in day out. It helps us decide when to expand the fleet, or identify where there may be new opportunities for us to expand the fleet.
5. What tools could you not live without?
Our staff will always be our most important asset within the business, without their enthusiasm for what we are trying to achieve, we would never get there. But only by making sure we give them the best tools possible are they able to perform at their best. yoyo is certainly one of those tools we wouldn’t want to be without. The mechanics rely on it to ensure they can perform maintenance work efficiently ensuring that customers have the best possible experience out on the trails, and our front of house staff rely on it to know what bookings are going out ahead of time. This means they can be ready for customers and focus on offering the best possible service when they do arrive, safe in the knowledge that the right bikes are ready and waiting for them. After all, a great first experience on one of our hire bikes can often lead to a bike sale.
6. What are you curious about right now?
One big change we can see in the bike hire business at the moment is the introduction of electric bikes (e-bikes). Demand for e-bikes is growing rapidly, and understanding how and when to increase our fleet is something we continue to monitor. yoyo helps us to see how our current fleet is being utilised and when the right time to increase certain types of bikes. By monitoring bookings and revenue, we are able to better understand demand and react accordingly.
7. Is there anything I should have asked, but didn’t?
For our customers, the ability to book bikes easily online 24/7 has really helped to improve their experience. Often, booking a hire bike will be a customer’s first interaction with our business and its vital that its a good one. yoyo allows us to tailor the booking page to our customer’s requirements, making the whole process much more streamlined.
To learn more about Oneplanet Adventure head here: oneplanetadventure.com
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