Strider Bike UK

When Karen Wood bought two Strider balance bikes back for her children from the US in June 2010, other parents would stop and ask where they could get them. Spotting a gap in the market, she contacted Strider's UK distribution chain and became an authorised dealer. Acting as a pre-bike, children push along with their feet, later mimicking pedals and mastering balance, negating the need for stabilisers. Karen started by selling to her own toddler parent group, but has quickly built strong online. From a standing start less than a year ago and an initial investment of just £121 for the first two bikes, Wood is now purchasing several pallets at a time, substantially growing profit margins up to 45% on sales of £55,000 to date. Wood is still running the business on her own, even knocking up a website overnight with no prior experience. She promotes direct under new company name Strider Bike UK and also has a seperate agreement to recruit other outlets to sell Strider bikes.

• Entirely new product in the UK
• Impressive profit margins
• Selling through other retailers as well as direct