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Ryan Amoyles
Every generation has had young entrepreneurs succeed. Now it’s his Gen Z turn to start an innovative startup out of his bedroom and move into the boardroom.
Trading is something Ryan Amoyles has been doing since high school. His passion for dirt bikes goes back even further, when he was four years old. Combining the two of his gave us the following idea. MX lockera P2P marketplace for buying and selling motocross riding gear, bike parts and dirt bikes, which he launched right out of college.
Amoyles said: “I was always fascinated by buying and selling, especially e-commerce, and the ability to reach customers around the world. At school I sold everything from sneakers to snapback hats. I was always at the post office and shipping boxes. That ended when my parents stopped me from selling sneakers almost full-time and focused on going to college.”
He went on to study marketing at the University of Florida, but never gave up on his entrepreneurial ambitions. He is still a serious dirt bike rider, but knowing from his personal experience how expensive his gear and equipment can be, he decided to apply what he learned from selling sneakers to the dirt bike industry.
he says: “My dad would never buy me the best bike boots, so I made it my goal to buy them. I knew companies sponsored many of the top athletes in the industry and they would store their gear after the season and then sell it. Just like with sneakers, I looked for bulk buying opportunities on eBay and sold a couple of sets for a profit. The idea for the MK Locker was born when I realized that there was
Upon graduating from college in 2020, Amoyles’ parents gave him a year to run his fledgling business or find a job. He teamed up with his college friend Andrew Walker, a computer science graduate, and together they built a new e-commerce platform. The following year they launched the MX Locker.
According to Amoils, the biggest challenge on the startup’s journey was hacking supply and demand. “If you don’t have enough traffic, sellers aren’t going to sell on your platform, and if you don’t have enough sellers, buyers won’t find your platform,” he says. “It was pretty small, about 200 items, but it helped that we had our own supplies.”
They found their business had traction when they started making $100,000 in revenue a month. Walker joined the business full-time and within two years he had grown MX Locker’s user base from his 7,000 to his current 160,000. Registration as a seller is free and you earn 11% of each sale.
Lack of experience in marketplace operations was also an issue. “All I had was a basic knowledge of how money flows between users, how the checkout his process works, and how the sales process works as a merchant,” Amoyles says. “We have learned a lot over the past few years to perfect our model. Basically, it is about listening to our customers, getting their feedback, and building tools that allow them to create their own mini-websites within our platform to help them succeed online.”
The business was completely self-sufficient until last year when Amoils raised a $750,000 pre-seed round with the help of family, friends and business angels. He’s turning to venture capital for his next funding round.
MX locker
The global off-road motorcycle market will reach $103.53 billion in 2022, Expected to reach $151.8 billion by 2030, MX Locker is moving into a new growth phase. In this business he has a team of 6 people and a growing global community with users in the US, Europe and the Far East. New projects include shipping dirt bikes sold via the marketplace and expanding into the crossover market.
“Our users don’t just ride bikes; they are into many other sports,” says Amoyles. “Given the market that we have created, it makes sense to be part of this crossover industry.”
While Amoyles’ entrepreneurial success is highly self-directed, it also enlists the backing of cycling business legend Jeff Emig. One of the top motocross and supercross riders in the 1990s, Emig has partnered with the industry’s top brands for decades as a racer, ambassador and influencer, making him the ideal mentor and advisor for Amoils.
Emig says: “MX Locker fills a huge void in the motocross product circulation chain. For decades, people had limited options to sell merchandise, used clothing, parts and motorcycles. I have no doubt that will become one of the most important consumer retailers in the motocross industry worldwide.”
Meanwhile, Amoyles’ best advice for other young people with business ambitions is to be bold and take risks. he says: “It’s tough, but you have to be willing to take risks. If you have a clear vision, you have to focus on it, but first you have to get something out there for consumers and the world to make sure it works.”