Watch the beginning episodes of American Chopper Sr Vs. Jr and follow Jr as he is trying to get his shop up and running and do what he does :icon_clapclap:

Make sure you have good hours

If you can't stand the customer suck it up and be nice.

Don't let your favorites or regulars interfere with you interacting with your new/non-regular customers.

Great suggestions above. Only thing I can add is to diversify. Why not offer bobbers in addition to baggers? Also, consider offering some accessories like saddlebags and chrome bits. A simple eBay online store will help generate cash flow when things are slow in the shop. Most importantly, determine the total available market and operating costs before starting the business. Good luck!

Diversify, do more than just baggers and never build the same bike twice. This fad (like all others) will fade in a couple years. Be willing to take on small jobs, special requests. Don't make fun of people with green or pink bikes. Have the equipment and skills to make one-off custom parts.

To go from zero to full blast are 2 different galaxies! The grass is always greener - Unless you have already cultivated a business from the ground up and can support all the expenses, business start up expenses are ungodly. When a part time passion becomes a viable livelyhood is usually when there isn't enough time for both. IMHO - passion and work ethic are worth their weight in gold. Follow your heart and dreams, but do it staring reality squarely down the barrel. Lots O Luck - wishing you guys the best!

Thanks for all the advice. We are definitely going to start small and not limit ourselves to just baggers. I want to start out with drive in oil changes and routine maintenance. I believe the bread and butter will be doing tire changes, but also the biggest expense. A good tire machine is about 5k (don't want to risk screwing up somebodies rim. Once we get a dealership from someone like drag specialties, I would like us to get a website built to start moving parts right away. And always on my mind, good news travels fast, but bad news travels faster.
I will give status updates and let you guys know when we officially open. Keep the advice coming, open minded to take both good and bad.