Picking up on trends when they’re in their infancy is a skill not every entrepreneur can say they have. However, Nikol Ioannou noticed that demand for bike rentals was increasing in Cyprus and knew he had to capitalize on it. They started Aspire Cycling in 2018 and have used Booqable from the very beginning to manage inventory, bookings, and payments.
Aspire Cycling
In late 2018, Nikol and his team were investigating the sports holiday industry sector in Cyprus. During this process, they realized the cycling niche and demand for bike rentals was growing rapidly. It quickly became evident that they had to offer a similar level of service and experience as other competitive cycling destinations like Mallorca and Gran Canaria.
While planning the launch of their bike rental business, the opportunity arose to become an official partner of Canyon. From there, it wasn’t long before they purchased their first fleet of 50 carbon road bikes - ideal for cycling tours and camping trips in Cyprus. Soon after, Aspire Cycling was born, and they began attracting visitors worldwide.
Aspire Cycling’s primary customer base includes amateur cyclists who are active travelers. This manifests in a wide range of users, such as travel groups, cycling clubs, corporate event participants, adventure tourists, and sports event participants. While new to the cycling travel scene, they have nurtured customer trust and provided outstanding experiences, gaining TripAdvisor several awards
Using Booqable from the beginning
Aspire Cycling is “among the lucky ones who employed Booqable from the very beginning,” says Nikol. He claims he “cannot imagine not having it” to manage inventory and bookings and share critical information within the team. Using Booqable, they avoided many pitfalls starting rental businesses face, like double bookings and communicating effectively with customers.
Nikol and his team use the inventory management and product availability features to prevent double bookings. The dashboard provides a clear picture of their daily schedule, allowing them to allocate resources effectively. In addition, Custom Fields have enabled them to make notes about essential information shared between the sales and operations teams, resulting in a consistent customer experience.
Meanwhile, preventing last-minute bookings and enabling padding time on products ensure the technical team has enough time to perform bike maintenance. Similarly, the management team can closely monitor bookkeeping information with the reporting feature. Finally, the sales team can follow up on draft bookings and increase their closing ratio thanks to booking management.
Doubling the fleet
Over the past few years, Aspire Cycling has established itself as the leader in bike rentals in Cyprus. They are now planning to open a second location in another city and double their fleet size. In addition, they would like to establish satellite service stations in rural and mountainous locations, allowing customers to explore even more of the beautiful landscape Cyprus offers.
