For Fairmount Bicycles boss-lady Shelly Salamon, it really is just like riding a bike

By: Sarah Punderson

The Philadelphia Electric Company (PECO) should be counting their lucky stars that smiles can’t literally light up a room, because Shelly Salamon, owner of Fairmount Bicycles, would be living utility-free if that were the case.

Salamon, who has called Philadelphia her home off and on since 2000, has been doing a lot of grinning since opening her bicycle shop in 2010 after spending much of her professional career in the restaurant industry. The story of her gentle pedal into small business unfolded before me as I sat down with Salamon at a West Philadelphia coffee shop recently.

Fairmount Bicycles is at 2015 Fairmount Avenue in Philadelphia.

SP: How did you enter the world of entrepreneurship?
SS: I got my start when I was 19 with my roommate and friend Chris Harne, making printed CDs. We got a big printer, advertised online and made some money. After that, my next genius idea was an auto detailing business when I was 22. I did it along with a friend and we used the van that my band had. We bought a shop vacuum, cleaning supplies and put an advertisement in the newspaper. We got one job.

SP: Did you go to college and if so how did that help prepare you for starting up Fairmount Bicycles?
SS: I went to Temple (’04) and graduated with a degree in film and media arts. I had never taken a business class in my life. Luckily, I signed up for a 10-week class that helped small start-ups, through a group called Entrepreneur Works in Philly. That class gave me much of the groundwork to get the business up and running.

SP: When did you conceive of the bike shop idea?
SS:  Chris was fixing up bikes at our house in West Philly in 2006 and he started to buy bikes in the suburbs, fix them up and resell them in the city for a higher price. He’d work two days a week, make enough money to cover rent and beer, and then stop working. I told him that was cool, but then asked him what he thought about turning his idea into a real business?

SP: So what was the next logical step?
SS: I knew this was a successful idea and that there was more potential for it. The light bulb really went off when I was visiting Montreal and didn’t have a bike, so I bought one there for 20 dollars. I brought it back to Philly and sold it for 80 bucks. I was at a point in my life where I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next. I probably would’ve worked at White Dog (Café) my whole life. So I told Chris we needed to get a warehouse to expand the business and really do it. Like not have a boss do it. So we worked out the kinks and did it. But we didn’t have a written plan, which was a bad idea in retrospect- but we were fortunate enough to work through any problems we faced early on. The warehouse was in the Kensington section of Philly, and we stayed there for about a year. After about nine months of that, I took that business class I was telling you about.

SP: How did you decide upon the location of Fairmount Bicycles?
SS: I live in West Philly and was biking to Kensington to the warehouse all the time. I’d discover new ways to take the ride and found this nice wide street to bike on- Fairmount Avenue. I couldn’t find any bike shops near it. Once I saw there was a market that needed a bike shop, I knew I had to figure out what was involved.

SP: Once you had realized this great idea, did you feel protective of it?
SS: Yes! But in the business course, I learned to debunk some of those thoughts because most people won’t realistically steal your ideas and follow through on it. The course taught me it was not only healthy- but encouraged me to talk to people about my idea.

SP: So you had your idea, raised the money, now all you had to do was what?
SS: Once I secured the Fairmount location, I asked Chris (Harne) if he wanted to be a partial owner. He chose not to. He did want to work in the shop though. Otherwise, getting set up was pretty easy, just some painting, buying bikes and setting up slat walls with the help of friends. We rent our space, so there wasn’t any real estate involved in the startup.

SP: Let’s talk finances, how did you come up with the coin needed to start?
SS: Many of my friends invested. There aren’t loans, everyone pays into the company as an investor and then shares in the profits. Having investors has forced me to be very, very sure about any business decision I make. I do a lot of research.  I like the idea of people investing because it’s a reciprocal relationship. I like knowing that my friends can make money off of my success.

SP: Do investors get any immediate benefits when they buy shares?
SS: Yes and that was a priority for me, I wanted investors to get something tangible, a short-term benefit. They get things like store credit and free tune-ups.

SP: How much money did you need?
SS: When I was in the planning stages, I thought I would need $35,000 to start up and hold the business afloat for the first few months, assuming the worst case scenario was that no one walked in the door.

SP: Did you create a formal business plan?
SS: My business plan was a paragraph long. The real work was done in a cash flow projection. I like numbers. (Chris) Harne has crazy ideas and we balance each other out since I’m more of a numbers person. Proposing the idea to investors, I’d show them the projection. The projection said we probably wouldn’t make money for the first few years and here’s what we’ll need to get started and this is the potential. I also contrasted their investment if they put it elsewhere, to show them what kind of return it would make in a less risky environment.

SP: How did you decide what business structure to use?
SS: For me, a corporation made sense. I decided on an S-Corp. An S-Corp is a corporation that has received the Subchapter S designation from the IRS. It means there are less than 100 employees in the company. We have five. The S-Corp meant that our investors would own a percentage of the company and the profits are then paid out through dividends. It’s up to the individual investors to pay taxes on the profits. We do have a shareholders’ agreement. This is where it does get really formal and wordy. If someone doesn’t want their share, it’s on them to sell it.

SP: When did you know you were confident in your decision to start up Fairmount Bicycles?
SS: If I ever had any doubt, that was a before I was educated (through the business class). Once we had the storefront there was no doubt in my mind the shop would at least break even. I had such a good feeling. If knew if we did it right, we could make it work.

SP: How could you afford to start a business, did you work?
SS: My hours when we first started weren’t too crazy, I was working full time at Nodding Head Brewery (as a server) and then putting in 25 hours at the shop on top of that.

SP: Did you have any mentors while going through this process?
SS: Ali Castellini, a friend of mine, was a great help. She’s super connected (she used to work at local radio station 88.5 XPN) and we’d go out for drinks and she’d give me great suggestions. As for people already in the business, I didn’t know anyone when I started.

SP: What is your actual title at Fairmount Bicycles?
SS: As a corporation, I’m the owner and president. I own just under 75 percent of the company. I personally invested about half the money needed to start up.

SP: So how have you progressed in your first two years?
SS: The shop is profitable. We’ve expanded into the back apartment, which we turned half into a bike workspace and then kept a partial living space to rent out on AirBnB.com. (If you didn’t know, AirBnb is a website that allows individuals to rent out their homes/apartments/rooms online for any set period of time, ranging from days to months). This helps offset some of the rent and since it’s not always rented out, there’s a kitchen and some room to lounge.  

SP: Any plans for the future of Fairmount Bicycles?
SS: Last year the big project was expanding the shop. This year I’d like to start doing bike tours, which is one of the reasons I wanted to start this business. Otherwise, I just want to sustain the shop, get a little more space eventually-but I love our storefront and our location. I don’t have any plans to open another shop right now.

SP: Any advice for would-be entrepreneurs?
SS: Our business instructor suggested we ‘hire friendly because you can’t teach friendly’.

SP: What do you like to do in your spare time?
SS: I got to travel for almost a month this past summer. I like the idea of having this thing, my baby, but trusting my staff so that I can be gone sometimes. I’m simple when it comes to basic needs- I enjoy living in West Philly and biking to work. I work a lot and save up for travel.
Just two years into this venture, Salamon knows that it’s worth it.

SP: So what’s your favorite part about your job now?
SS: I haven’t ever dreaded going in, I like my job. It doesn’t feel like a job. Someone asked me recently if I drink coffee and I said no. Then I realized, oh wait yes I do, at work. I mean- at Nodding Head. I don’t think of the bike shop as going to work.