No-one Likes The Middle Man: The Bikes Online Story | #181

In this episode of Add To Cart, we are joined by James van Rooyen, Co-founder of Bikes Online - or Bicycles Online as they have been known in Australia. Starting out as bike tour operators, James and his business partner Jono, thought they might be able to get bikes cheaper if they ordered them direct from the supplier. One container load and an eBay store later,  Bikes Online was born. Today, they sell bikes to both the Australian and US markets and have 100 staff spread across every continent. In this chat, James shares how they have been able to create a direct to consumer advantage and maintain it with strong supplier relationships - even as competition has increased. We also discuss James’ tips for expanding into the US, how to snap up bargain domain names and why one of his proudest moments was when one of his team members bought a house. Links from the episode:PolygonMaropostShopify Plus and Muscle Nation (sponsored)Packleo (sponsored)Questions answered:How and why did you go from bike tour guiding to bike retailing?What were the biggest challenges at the start of selling bikes online?What’s been your proudest milestone to date?This episode was brought to you by…  Shopify PlusPackleoAbout your co-host: James van Rooyen from Bikes OnlineJames co-founded BikesOnline with Jonathon Allara over 10 years ago and they continue to share the CEO role. BikesOnline is a classic shoe string story. Having started out of the back of a disused electrical substation, and running the entire business from a single extension lead, BikesOnline has gone on to become the largest online retailer for bicycles in Australia as well as a significant player in the USA,  with over 100,000 happy cyclists served each year. You can contact James at LinkedInPlease contact us if you: Want to come on board as an Add To Cart sponsor Are interested in joining Add To Cart as a co-host Have any feedback or suggestions on how to make Add To Cart betterEmail [email protected] We look forward to hearing from you!Thanks to our sponsors, Shopify and Klaviyo, for bringing you the show.Sponsor Add To Cart: https://addtocart.com.au/sponsor/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Subscribe to the Add To Cart newsletter  SMS us to Suggest a Guest Connect with Nathan Bush Join the Add To Cart Community