College-Town Bike Repair
Open a bike repair and refurbished-bike shop in a college town where half the students ride and nobody fixes bikes cheaply. Price a tune-up, refurbish used bikes, and staff for the September rush.
Twenty thousand students arrive every August needing a bike, a lock and a flat fixed; by May half the bikes are abandoned at the racks. The one specialty shop in town sells $3,000 road bikes and books repairs two weeks out. The market is wide open for someone who fixes things fast and sells a decent used bike for $200. The decisions: what to charge for a tune-up and a flat, how many used bikes to buy and refurbish ahead of September, how many mechanics to train, and whether to go after students, commuting residents or the weekend road riders who spend the most. It teaches capacity and seasonality in a trade business — the rush you staff for, the quiet months you survive, and parts as a cost of every sale.
$5.00 a seat · 3 simulated years, decided quarterly · by SparkTower.