Industry News

Interview with: Daniel Pak, CEO, Flyscooters.

Tell us a little about your business and how you got started:
Well here is the long and short of it in a newspaper style heading. Two college friends looking for a change in pace from corporate lifestyle see opportunity to create a business off of scooters. 
In all seriousness, here goes. 
Leon was teaching English in China.  When he returned, he didn't want to be in the corporate world.  He thought scooters may be a good item to sell.  I was in the corporate world working in banking.  We went from apartments, to my house, to subletting spaces, to our own office, to now our own warehouse and office space. 
About the business: 
We focus our business on providing quality products at an affordable price.  We pride ourselves on our parts availability and support for dealers and customers.  We only had 3 models for several years because we knew we could support them with parts and service relatively easy.  Since then we have grown to sourcing from several different factories in several different countries. 

What types of vehicles do you sell?:
Our scooters range from 50cc-150cc 2 and 4-stroke models. We have 250cc fuel injected motorcycles, scooter hybrids as well as a supermoto motorcycle.  The Flyscooters side of the business primarily concentrates on scooters with retro styling.  The Flypowersports side of the business concentrates on sporty styled scooters/motorcycles. 

What models were your most popular in 2008 and what do you see as being your "hot" model for '09?:
In 2008 our most popular model was the Flyscooters Il Bello.  For the 2009 year, we think that the Il Bello will continue to be a hot model as well as the Flypowersports GTR200 (scooter hybrid) and one product that has not officially hit the press yet (but will soon). 

How has the merge and acquisition of the CPI brand been for your company?:
The deal to work with CPI to produce products for us in USA was driven by our desire to have a "premier" line of scooters to offer to our dealers that could also compliment our Flyscooters lineup.  The Taiwanese company CPI has produced quality scooters that we are eager to get to consumers in the US.                                                                               
What do you see as a trend in '09 in the imported power sports industry?:
We believe that sales in the scooter market and small displacement motorcycles will continue to grow for a variety of reasons – people need to get around but are not buying cars as they are costly, gas prices are going back up, and general consumer awareness is increasing around the benefits of two wheels.

Your company has a good reputation for OEM parts warranty and support.  Please tell us more of how you were able to set Flyscooters apart from other brands in this area of your business?:
Since inception we have always believed that having parts readily available is a key component of making our business successful.  This is one of the main reasons we only had 3 models for almost 3 years.  We are upgrading our parts/inventory system every year whether it be through bar coding, decreasing shipping times (most parts are shipped out within 24 hours), or assigning and organizing our parts according to "bins." 

However, one of the main reasons we have done well is our dealer base.  We only work with brick and mortar stores that have mechanics on site.  Their mechanics ensure that if our products do have a problem, we can get our customers back on the road as soon as possible. 

A lot of our new and existing dealers ask us "who we think is a reliable supplier". We've always felt confident referring them to your company. What are possible ways that you see Partsforscooters.com benefiting your business and customer base?:      <<<Continued on right>>>