Velobar

1. RECIPIENT: University students (bike commuters) — Tbilisi State University / Free University SUBJECT: Your derailleur is probably one click off Hi [Name], I counted six bikes locked outside the TSU main building last week with chains skipping gears — that's a five-minute barrel-adjuster fix, not a new drivetrain. We're opening Velobar, a repair cafe in Vera where you bring your bike, borrow the tools, and a mechanic on shift shows you the fix for 15 GEL/hour instead of paying a shop 60 GEL to do it for you. Want a free 10-minute tune-up the week we open, no strings, just so you know where we are? — [Your name], Velobar --- 2. RECIPIENT: Expats and digital nomads — Digital Nomads Georgia / Vake-Saburtalo renters SUBJECT: The bike you bought for 150 GEL on Facebook Marketplace Hi [Name], Half the secondhand bikes traded in the Tbilisi Expats Facebook group need new brake pads or…

Velobar is a repair cafe for bicycles in Tbilisi: a single storefront where cyclists bring their bikes, order a coffee or a natural wine, and either fix the bike themselves at a communal workbench with tool access and a mechanic on hand for guidance, or hand it over for full-service repair while they wait, work, or socialize. The model borrows from the repair-cafe movement common in Western Europe but pairs it with a proper cafe (espresso, khachapuri, local wine) so the space earns revenue whether or not anyone's bike needs fixing that day. Location target: Vake or Saburtalo, near the Mtkvari riverside cycling path and within a 10-minute ride of Tbilisi State University and the Vake Park loop, both of which see steady bike traffic from students and commuters. The customer is threefold. First, the growing commuter and expat cycling population in Tbilisi — drawn by the flat riverside paths and a lack of reliable bike shops that speak English or take walk-ins same-day. Second, budget-conscious owners (students, delivery riders on bikes rather than mopeds) who want to fix their own bike cheaply using shop tools rather than pay full labor rates. Third, casual cafe customers who come for the food and drink and become repair customers later — the classic third-space flywheel. Revenue comes from four lines: (1) full-service repair labor, priced per job (flat tire ~15 GEL, tune-up ~60 GEL, drivetrain overhaul ~120 GEL); (2) parts and accessories sold at standard retail markup (30-40%); (3) workbench access for self-repair, sold as a day pass (10 GEL) or a monthly membership (60 GEL) that includes tool use, a stand, and a repair-log system tracking each bike's service history; (4) the cafe itself — coffee, wine, and simple food, targeted at 40% of total revenue once the space has foot traffic independent of repairs. A secondary channel is corporate/NGO fleet maintenance contracts (embassies, delivery startups, bike-share operators) billed monthly per bike. First concrete steps: (1) Lease a ~80-120 sqm ground-floor space with street frontage and a rollup door in Vake or Saburtalo within the next 30 days — talk to myhome.ge and local brokers this week. (2) Source a used workbench, 4 repair stands, and a core tool kit (roughly $3,000-4,000 total) from AliExpress bulk sellers and local secondhand tool markets (Eliava). (3) Hire one experienced mechanic on a revenue-share basis for the first three months to validate demand before committing to a salary. (4) Register the business as an Individual Entrepreneur (IE) under Georgia's small business tax regime (1% turnover tax under ~500,000 GEL/year) — this is the fastest and cheapest legal structure to get operating. (5) Soft-launch with a single Saturday "fix your bike, we'll pour the coffee" event promoted through Tbilisi cycling Facebook groups and Instagram, to build a waitlist and gauge pricing before the full opening.