Electric bikes are quickly becoming an essential tool in a wide variety of industries, providing business owners with a highly efficient, eco-friendly, and cost-effective alternative to traditional transportation options. The dramatic shift towards e-bike adoption has far-reaching implications for businesses across a range of sectors, from logistics and delivery to hospitality and tourism. In fact, a quick look at recent news headlines tells you everything you need to know about where the industry is headed:
- Amazon Continues Expansion of E-Cargo Bike Fleet in UK
- MN Housing Inspectors Swap SUVs for Rad Power E-Bikes
- San Francisco to Provide Free E-Bikes to City’s Delivery Drivers
- UPS Testing Four-Wheeled Electric Delivery Cycles
- Amazon to Begin Electric Cargo Bike Deliveries in London
In this blog post, we will explore the potential of commercial uses for e-bikes and discuss how twenty different industries can leverage the power of micromobility solutions to enhance productivity and boost a business’s bottom line.
20 E-Bike Business Startups With the Potential to Thrive in 2023
1. Photography or Videography Business
For those looking to start their own photography or videography business, an e-bike can be the perfect solution for transporting your gear. Not only are electric bikes relatively inexpensive compared to cars, but they’re also eco-friendly and allow you to quickly access areas that may otherwise be difficult to reach. With an electric bike, you’ll easily be able to transport all of your equipment from shoot to shoot without breaking a sweat!
Electric bikes come in many varieties and sizes, so finding one with enough cargo space for all your equipment shouldn’t be difficult. Most photographers and videographers carry their gear in a backpack, and you can use a cargo rack to haul larger items such as lighting and stands.
2. Event Planning
An e-bike could also be used to start a thriving event-planning business. A convenient and cost-effective way to zip around town for client meetings, parties, weddings, and corporate events, electric bikes are easy to maneuver through heavy traffic and crowded streets. E-bikes are a great way to showcase your commitment to sustainability and can be a great way to network or generate word-of-mouth advertising.
3. Catering
While starting a catering business can be difficult, an electric bike can make it easier than ever. An e-bike can provide the necessary means of transport for your growing business and allow you to take on more clients.
For a busy caterer, electric bikes offer some unique advantages over traditional bicycles or vans. The power assistance from an e-bike makes getting around so much easier, and you can go faster and climb hills without breaking a sweat. E-bikes are also more efficient in terms of energy consumption, as they use stored battery power as opposed to burning fossil fuels like gas or diesel. This results in fewer emissions and lower maintenance costs than you would typically see with vehicle ownership — all of which will contribute toward increasing your bottom-line profits.
4. Florist
Electric bikes are becoming increasingly popular as a way to start an eco-friendly business. Florists can take advantage of this trend by using electric bikes to make deliveries and run errands for their shops. With the use of an electric bike, florists can quickly reach their customers without having to worry about traffic, parking, or running out of fuel.
An electric bike is cost-effective compared to a traditional vehicle and much better for the environment due to its zero emissions. Not only will you be saving money on gas, but you’ll also be able to carry more items than if you were traveling on foot or with a regular bicycle.
5. Mobile Pet Grooming
With an electric bike, you can easily start your own mobile pet grooming business, bringing the services of a pet groomer right to your customer’s doorstep.
In addition to requiring no licensing or insurance coverage, an electric bike offers unmatched maneuverability in tight spaces that might be difficult to navigate with larger vehicles such as cars or vans.
Focusing on the mobile, on-site business model will eliminate the costly overhead of a brick-and-mortar location and allow you to completely sidestep expensive infrastructure and leases. There’s far less risk involved with a mobile pet grooming business and an e-bike can provide an economical way to get your startup off the ground.
In terms of services provided, there are a wide variety of options available, including bathing, brushing, nail trimming, and haircuts.
6. Pet Sitting
If you’re an animal lover, starting a pet-sitting business might be another perfect money-making opportunity to start with your electric bicycle. An e-bike provides a quick and easy way to cruise to your clients’ homes, and you’ll be offering a valuable service for busy professionals and vacationing pet owners. There are a variety of ways you can go with this type of business, such as dog walking, doggy playtime, and longer-term pet-sitting services.
7. Tour Company
Starting a tour company is an exciting business venture that can be incredibly rewarding, and an electric bike is a perfect way to explore your local area. E-bikes provide several advantages for tour company operators, such as affordable startup costs, low-maintenance, safety, and fun factor. Electric bikes will give you an enjoyable way to conduct both local and long-distance tours, allowing you and your customers the freedom to move around in a quick, quiet, environmentally friendly way. Additionally, it’s super easy to customize tour routes with an e-bike since they’re far more agile than other motorized vehicles and are easier to ride for longer distances when compared to traditional pedal-powered bicycles.
8. Personal Training
With an electric bike, personal trainers have an opportunity to bring their own unique style of fitness directly into people’s lives — no matter where they live or work. In addition to providing a cost-efficient and convenient way to travel to your client’s home or office, an e-bike that’s equipped with a cargo basket or rear rack will also make it easy to bring along basic fitness gear for your workouts.
9. Restaurant or Cafe
If you’ve ever dreamed of opening your own restaurant or cafe, an electric bike can be the perfect thing to launch your startup. An e-bike is the ultimate way to bootstrap a business of this type, as you can focus first on building clientele and delivering orders to their homes or businesses. Once you’ve developed a passionate fan base of repeat customers, you can reinvest the profits into your business and open a physical location.
10. Farm-to-Market Produce
Starting an electric bike business centered around providing farm-to-market produce deliveries can be an excellent way to make money, support local farmers, and promote sustainability. An e-bike is the ideal delivery vehicle for this type of business as it’s great for getting around town quickly, has low running costs, and doesn’t produce emissions.
To begin this venture, you will need to take some time to plan out the best routes. To ensure you are able to deliver fresh produce in the most efficient way possible, try plotting three or four routes that cover different areas in your locality.
11. Farmer's Market Vendor
Starting a business as a local farmer’s market vendor has never been easier than with an electric cargo bike. Cargo e-bikes are the perfect way to transport fresh produce, supplies, and other necessities you may need in order to get your business started. Not only are they affordable, but they offer a more eco-friendly alternative to traditional motorized vehicles.
The possibilities for how you can use an electric cargo bike as part of your business plan are endless. Whether you’re growing and selling organic vegetables or creating artisanal jams and jellies, a cargo e-bike is an efficient means of transporting your goods from farm to market. With its large carrying capacity, it can easily handle all of the items necessary for a successful booth set-up — from tables and chairs to signage and display materials — so that you can focus on providing customers with quality products.
Bakfiets are also major attention-getters, so you can generate additional exposure for your business by advertising on the bike’s large cargo box.
12. Plumber or Handyman Services
An electric bike is a great way to start up a plumber or handyman business. It offers an affordable, efficient option for entrepreneurs to get around the city and visit their customers’ locations. With its compact size, low cost, and extreme portability, an e-bike can quickly become an integral part of any handyman’s toolkit.
Electric bikes are easy to ride and maintain, making them ideal for handymen who need reliable transportation when working in tight spaces or busy streets. When fitted with cargo racks, they also offer entrepreneurs the flexibility of being able to carry heavier loads such as tools and supplies with ease.
13. Retail Store
An electric bike is an ideal way for entrepreneurs to expand into a retail space, as it offers greater efficiency and capability for deliveries compared to traditional bicycles. Not only can riders traverse greater distances faster, but they are also able to carry larger loads, making e-bikes ideal for making customer deliveries.
With the rise in online retailing and demand for rapid delivery services, electric bikes are becoming an increasingly popular choice for business owners who are looking to capitalize on this trend. Electric bicycles offer a cost-effective solution that allows retailers to make deliveries quickly and with minimal effort compared to traditional human-powered biking. In addition, retailers can easily customize their electric bikes with special features such as baskets or trailers which will enhance the overall storage capacity of the bike. This added flexibility makes it easy for business owners to tailor their delivery service according to customer needs while still keeping costs down.
14. Landscaping or Gardening Startup
Starting a landscaping or gardening business can be an exciting way to take advantage of both your green thumb and entrepreneurial spirit. But it doesn’t have to include the back-breaking labor of walking from job site to job site. With an electric bike, you can save time, energy, and money while still providing top-notch service for your customers.
An electric bike is an excellent resource for landscapers and gardeners who are just starting out in the business world. Not only is it cost-effective and eco-friendly, but thanks to pedal-assist (PAS), you won’t need to use as much energy when compared to a regular bicycle. Electric bikes also offer a more efficient way to travel long distances without tiring yourself out too quickly — leaving extra energy for taking on larger jobs with greater ease!
15. Housekeeping Service
A housekeeping service is another easy-to-start business that you can launch with the help of an e-bike. Providing an easy and ultra-affordable way to quickly get to your customers’ homes, electric bikes can be fitted with boxes or milk crates to transport cleaning supplies.
16. Dry Cleaning
An electric bike is the perfect mode of transportation for launching a dry cleaning business. E-bikes are ideal for picking up a customer’s laundry order, and depending on the type of garments being cleaned, can also be used for deliveries.
17. Home Inspection and Property Appraisal
Starting a home inspection and property appraisal business got easier with the introduction of electric bikes. E-bikes are easy to operate and require no special license or training. With an average speed of 15 miles per hour, you can quickly ride to different locations and perform house inspections without worrying about running out of time or energy. Furthermore, they are much quieter than traditional gas-powered vehicles which makes them ideal for inspecting properties in areas where noise might be an issue.
18. Property Management
The use of electric bikes for property management is an emerging trend that could provide new opportunities for small business owners.
Property managers are frequently on the move, bouncing back and forth between properties, showing units to potential renters, handling maintenance requests, and more. An e-bike is a cheap and convenient way to tackle daily commutes, and the low-maintenance and ownership costs will add plenty of additional profit to your bottom line.
19. In-Home Physical Therapy
Starting an in-home physical therapy business can be a great way to provide high-quality treatment for patients, and an e-bike can be a valuable asset for PTs who are beginning to offer home healthcare. Providing therapists with an easy way to travel to appointments, electric bikes are an environmentally friendly mode of transport that eliminates the costs of car maintenance, high-priced gasoline, insurance coverage, and expensive parking.
20. Courier or Messenger Service
E-bikes are an ideal starting point for anyone who wants to launch a courier or messenger service. With the rising cost of fuel and the growing demand for greener transportation solutions, e-bikes continue to rise in popularity among small business owners who need to get their companies up and running as quickly as possible. Electric bicycles offer many advantages over traditional petrol-powered motorbikes, bicycles, and delivery vehicles, making them an attractive option for courier operations.
A lower-cost alternative for around-town deliveries, e-bikes are the best option available to urban entrepreneurs who are interested in starting a courier service with minimal risk and startup capital.
BONUS: Mobile Bike Repair and Maintenance
Lastly, another great e-bike business to consider launching is a mobile bike repair and maintenance service. In addition to fixing and servicing regular bikes, you can also offer e-bike repair services. This type of business requires very little startup capital and since you’ll be doing on-site repairs at customers’ homes, there’s no need for a brick-and-mortar workshop or storefront.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, electric bike businesses are an excellent way to capitalize on the growing trend toward eco-friendly transportation and sustainable mobility. At the end of the day, whether you choose one of the startup ideas mentioned in this article or something entirely different, there is no shortage of opportunities to make money in this rapidly growing industry. With a smart strategy and the right approach, you can build a successful e-bike business and help make the world a greener place in the process.