Sure, a road bike with carbon fiber tubes and high-end parts can cost a few thousand at least, but Villy Customs deals in cruisers. "Most people who buy bikes happen to be considered cyclists. We're trying to get people who don't even think about biking, to make a bike that's so cool they want to ride it," said founder Fleetwood Hicks.
Sales of the custom bikes, which consumers design themselves using Villy Customs' online tool, are on track to double this year, and will "way more than double" in 2012, he said.
The secret?
"We offer a product you literally can't get anywhere else," he said. "In a bad economy, you have to sell something hard to find anywhere else. There will always be people who don't care what it costs."
These budding entrepreneurs didn't have to wait for an MBA to get down to business.
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