Motorcycle Shop Business in GTA

Ideas for a Motorcycle Shop Business in GTA

Do you recognize this shop?  Its Westdyke_Autos, a shop that, (well), doesn't sell motorbikes!  You just walk in and steal any of your choice. But wouldn't it be nice to actually be able to legally buy a motorbike, or even run the shop?



Selling motorbikes that you have acquired at a lower cost, via docks-importers.  Perhaps, even have a stolen vehicle or two mixed in (whether or not you know about them, can lead to some interesting shenanigans):-  and even have second-hand / repaired crashed damaged bikes for sale!


 Round the back of this business, I'd have a deliveries bay, that could temporarily store and be for unpacking of new machines that come in wooden crates from the manufacturer, (or out of a container transport).




Again, as with most of my ideas for businesses in GTA, you would have a few routes to owning a business. One is where you just buy-in (legally or illegally), or muscle your way in via underhand methods, (perhaps), various ideas being kept under wraps for now, (but could include kidnap and extortion).

A second way in to owning a business, is to work in the industry, or specific business. This is the best way of course, because the protagonist in our story is trying to go straight and earn money legally.  It is just that his old life won't leave him alone to get on with it!  (This is so like real life, more than you might think - lets say no-more for now).

When you go via the 'work-in-the-industry' route, you learn about all sorts of things, that you would otherwise have to struggle to gain access to, or have a harder time trying to discover the best ways to do things. I want to keep as much of these ideas secret from you, so that it doesn't spoil the game for you, if it ever gets made.

I am open and listening to anyone who would like to comment or if they have any ideas to include in this game. I'm looking for collaborators and 'ideas-people'. (You cannot say 'Ideas-Man' these days can you).  

Anyway, I wouldn't want to cut my source in half by saying 'man', when we all know that women really make the world go round! 

(If ideas are used, I will give credit where it is due. Maybe we will see our names in game credits in the future)?

Now, on with the ideas;
I said I wouldn't reveal all, but I want to give you something, so that you know where I'm coming from. In the Motorcycle Shop Business in GTA, how do you get the contacts for overseas manufacturers?  This is a real world problem!  How do you contact them?  Who do you speak to?  Do you even speak their language?

Would you know where and how to go about buying wholesale Japanese motorcycles in the real world?  I don't think you could just walk into a potential competitors shop and ask for the details and contacts. Would you know the prices, the cost of transport, import fees, taxes, what to charge and the legal side to all this.  Not to mention the actual physical side to collecting the payload and getting it delivered to your shop or storage area!

I'm not saying that all these things are going to be in the game!  I am just pointing out all the possibilities to play around with!  i.e, If you bought into the business, as part of a hostile take-over, or even forced your way in, then you might possibly not get in touch with the personal contact that the original owner had. A relationship, where he could get a better deal on the wholesale price for the merchandise!

Perhaps this is also the case with the transport of the goods, (whatever they be, as I have various posts planned about many other business types also). You might make your profits via learning about taking larger deliveries that lowers the wholesale cost, and in comparison to the cost of storage and transport of the goods, makes the profit per sale better!

In the business of Motorcycle Shop Business in GTA.
You could have a van for single deliveries and running about. Collecting crashed damaged vehicles and repossession of hire or sold vehicles, which can all be aspects of the business.
You might only use hire vehicles or delivery lorries, for main order receiving,

The business might have an owner / partner, that is a sleeping partner who only has a financial interest in the business and receives 40 % of the final profits. 

The business usually needs a salesman (or woman. Lets face facts, most blokes buy a bike to impress a woman, so a gorgeous sales woman might make better business sales tactics). This person stays in the shop during opening hours.

The business needs a secretary (man or woman), who pays bills and wages from the office. The office would be upstairs perhaps, above the shop. The office would also handle credit cards and cash or cheque's to be put in the safe or deposited at the bank.
 
The owner would probably have his (or her), own private office.
I would expand the shop to have a forecourt, (perhaps covered with an awning to keep bikes dry in the rain). This would improve the selection of colors and vehicle models available and be another job for a shop floor man, who has to put bikes out on the forecourt before opening time and put them back into the main shop for security after closing.

The shop floor-man, would be like the main operative, perhaps delivering vehicles that need to be delivered, being there to unpack or receive goods-in and find a storage space for them, or put them on the shop floor. Maybe also take vehicles for repair or respray if damaged, either ride the bike to the garage or spray shop, take a taxi back and return for it later in the works van to prevent further damage or wear and tear to the bike.

These are all things that are in the real world and are interesting enough to do at least once, then train an AI to do the work if you are going into the business via the 'working-in-the-industry' route. All sorts of vehicle trading in the game can take a similar route, barring size and cost issues, lot size and space etc.

For example, in the car sales businesses, (I think mentioned in another post somewhere), there would be three different dealerships. High end motors, selling luxury cars and sports cars.  A mid price-range car sales, (I think I called it Mid-Town-Motors), selling mid price range cars, saloons and vans. and a bargain basement car lot selling vehicles that are well past their sell-by date.

Add to this either new or second-had sales at the luxury and mid-town-motors lots and of-course all the cars on the bargain basement are second-hand. You can have the full business empire and own all of the lots eventually.  Alternately, other AI's start out owning the car lots.

The car lots and bike shop would also have lots of spin-off trades that get work from them, like the car-transporter, can get delivery jobs and also can work for the council taking crashed and dumped cars to the recycling center or scrap yards etc.. (Explained else-where in another post).

A spin off from this Motorcycle Business, can be arranging road races and selling tickets to events in the big arena for a weekly event for enthusiasts to enter to win cash prizes put up by the business / other motor related businesses.  (Re advertising your business gets you more customers and sales).


This post might still be expanded further, so call in again for an update from time to time!

Other areas to discuss:-
Having more than one shop, so that there is competition. (Maybe you cannot ever buy it, just to keep things interesting and keep you fighting to stay competitive)?

Old used - opened shipping crates to tip or bin - poss for re-shipping to export of motorcycles?
Perhaps need old crates taken to tip or recycle center.
Bins emptied. (bin day).
Scrapping of Motorcycles.
Wages day,
Business attacked, broken into.
Office hold-up, gun point robbers.
Security staff, day and night.
Selling to fleet - ie Pizza delivery scooters. (All same color and sign written for clients business).

Advertising your business for more sales, billboards, newspapers, radio and TV.

 (You go down to the studio - Vice-City style, to make a hot video with busty talented girls in order to sell more bikes).

That video was just a bit of light relief, since just about every one I talked with about this advertising idea, said 'What Film Studio?'  That was the most relevant video to my story, finding the girls to play roles in the TV advert.  But, the mission wouldn't pay off like it did in the video! (It was $1,000).  The pay-off would be via more regular sales and more of them, whilst the video was being screened, (aired at a cost per advert). 

Many people have said that, the idea of running businesses in GTA is great. I know it would be fun, and the way I'd have it, you would be to dip back in as the owner / manager and re-do any of the jobs or missions, to try and improve your time and quality of work.

Like explained elsewhere, about when you train an AI to drive a delivery route, keeping it legal, keeping the vehicle and goods safe and undamaged, whilst also making good time. It would be a challenge that you could perfect, and if the driver is killed, sacked, leaves or whatever. You have to retrain another driver, or you can leave the task of training to another AI or just the AI himself, but this will just produce an average work output and you can always do better by giving it the hands on personal touch.

There are lots of ideas for AI workers for this business and other business types. I have had a lot of fun recently playing road haulage games and transport simulations. Fork lift truck sims, stocking warehouses for businesses and am even now playing a Farming Simulator game, where you prepare fields with various vehicles you purchase, to produce foods, milk and rear cattle.  This would have been great on the farm in GTA San Andreas!

Of course, in true GTA fashion, there would always be a quicker and riskier way to make money within each business, if you do the odd bit of criminal activity. But the art is in keeping your actions under the radar. Not just from the police but also by not peeving-off the opposing gangs or competition too much and starting a turf-war!



Have a great day! Niko.

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TAGS: Motorcycle Shop Business in GTA, GTA, GTA-Motorbike,