By Elizabeth Goldman
Staff Writer
When COVID-19 shut down everything in March 2020, small businesses and services were in high demand, prompting sophomore Zach Silver to start his own bike repair business.
Silver’s repair business allowed him to find creative ways to spend his time in the midst of the chaos and the confusion of COVID-19. Silver spent his time learning how to fix bikes and launched his business in December 2020.
“I started about a year ago, in March, since schools went out of commission and there wasn’t much going on,” Silver said. “No one really knew what was happening, and I was bored at home.”
Silver decided to start repairing bikes after watching some YouTube videos on it since he thought it was something he would enjoy doing with his free time, according to Silver. After practicing, he now fixes between one and three bikes a day, each taking him approximately an hour.
“I saw a YouTube video, and it looked like a lot of fun,” Silver said. “I heard you could make a decent amount of money doing it, and I already liked working on my own bike, so thought, why not?”
Silver spent about nine months fixing up bikes he bought off Craigslist before fixing other people’s bikes. After working to hone his craft, Silver is now able to experience the satisfaction of helping other people, while also having fun.
“In the beginning, it was slow, and I mostly lost money on buying bikes that were not worth fixing. The issues I’ve run into are with finding out what inventory to stock and how to advertise,” Silver said. “[Now, it’s] rewarding being able to come through for people and fix a problem that no other shop was willing to take.”
When Silver would buy old bikes off of Craigslist, he would take them apart and fix them. After about 30 of those, he had gained enough skills to start fixing other people’s bikes. To get business, he posts weekly on Nextdoor and Craigslist with pictures of the bikes he has worked on, customer experiences and reviews.
“I’ve gotten positive reviews mainly [from] people leaving comments on my Nextdoor posts that I’ve been using for advertisement,” Silver said. “Seeing positive comments feels really good. It’s rewarding to know that you’ve solved a problem that they had and that they’re grateful.”
Silver will do just about anything that needs to be done on a bike, including tune-ups, replacing parts, cleaning and overhauls. His price for each of these services are about 40 percent less than local bike shops, according to Silver. Posting on places such as Nextdoor and Craigslist, as well as word of mouth, have helped him receive a substantial amount of business. “I’ve got probably 10 [customers] a week, [which is] just enough to [spend] any [of the] time I’m not spending on school or hanging out with friends,” Silver said.
According to Silver, not knowing what the issue is or investing time and money in a bike that is simply not worth fixing can be frustrating . However, the challenge of figuring out what the problem is makes bike repair fun, Silver said. He plans to continue his business until at least the end of his high school career, but potentially through college as well.
“I love working with bikes,” Silver said. “It’s a bunch of micro-problems you are constantly fixing, and I like solving problems,’’ Silver said. “I don’t have [many] plans [to expand]. [However, in the future], I do plan to expand my selection of tools and the repairs I can perform with them.”
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