Need wheels? For $20, try a bike
Start-up that offers a bicycle for a year taps college market
April 1 was MyBike's official launch date, but company founders LeRoy J. Watkins III and Cassie Farris say their bicycle rental service is no joke.
For $19.99, MyBike promises anyone living in certain sections of Boston and Brookline the use of a 15-speed mountain bike for one year. The company also supplies a Kryptonite lock, and once a week someone from MyBike stops by to check on it.
''Biking in Boston is fun," said Watkins, 25. ''It's easier than having a car."
The company is targeting the city's throngs of college students and has been distributing fliers and T-shirts on campuses and signing up customers for several weeks.
Watkins, a 2004 Northeastern grad and marketing professional, and Farris, 21, a junior in marketing and entrepreneurship at Suffolk University, say they expect to have 50 bikes on the road by the end of April, 100 by June, and 500 in the fall.
It doesn't take a business degree to figure out that rental fees will not be enough to pay for the bikes and their maintenance, let alone turn a profit. The $19.99 annual fee is less than what some bike rental places charge for a few hours.
Like many businesses these days, MyBike is banking on advertising. The bicycles have ads mounted on their frames. Companies that purchase the mini-billboards also get a spot on the MyBike website, mybikeonline.com, which is where customers go to sign up for the service.
Watkins and Farris say they have already made deals with a number of advertisers, including restaurants, beauty salons, and stores. In one of the advertising packages available, a company can buy ads on four bikes for about $100 a month, according to Watkins, president of the two-person corporation.
Vice president Farris said bikes are effective for reaching college students. ''They are getting really inside the college market. It's a direct approach," she said.
Watkins and Farris met several years ago when they were working at a marketing firm in Malden. ''We became friends, and then we started talking business," Farris said.
They came up with the concept of MyBike by tossing around ideas, they said. ''You take bits and pieces from Hertz Rent-A-Car and Zipcar," Watkins said.
He said they considered making the business a bike-sharing service, similar to the Zipcar car-sharing model, but after some market research concluded that people didn't like the idea of sharing a bike.
Asked if they have investors, Farris deadpanned, ''Yes. Visa. MasterCard." Watkins added, ''Our parents helped out."
The start-up capital is actually a lot less than what is required for a restaurant or many other businesses, according to Watkins. The company does not have employees yet, using consultants to design its website and promotional materials.
The areas where MyBike is available now include much of the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fenway, Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, and the Kenmore/Longwood area, as well as parts of Brighton, Allston, and Brookline.
Renters must agree to leave their bikes in a designated spot -- right outside their homes in most cases -- once a week so that someone from MyBike can come by to inspect it and make sure the advertisement is in place. If there is a problem with a bike, the renter e-mails MyBike and the bike is fixed or replaced.
Dennis Shaughnessy, professor of management at Northeastern's College of Business, said the university is pleased with the venture of Watkins, a recent graduate. He said he thinks the business could be successful, although he does not expect it to become the next
''I think there is a market that could sustain a nice little business," said Shaughnessy, who did not have Watkins in class and has never met him.
Peter Russo, director of the Entrepreneurial Management Institute at Boston University, said the idea of providing a service and sustaining it with advertising is a frequently used model these days. He called MyBike ''an interesting concept."
''It's a unique idea," Russo said. ''It will appeal to some advertisers." Other advertisers, though, will wait to see if the business catches on, he added.
People who see the bicycle billboards and mention them to the participating advertiser will be able to get a discount on whatever they are buying, according to Watkins. For the consumer, there are no coupons to clip.
''All you have to do is mention the ad. It's lazy man's advertising," Watkins said.
Robert Preer can be reached at preer@globe.com. 
