Thinking of opening my own car audio shop.... gimme input!!

[scoutdawg]

plmk what you think if you have had any experience in this buisness and also what are the best vendors?
thanks

 

[Hokie]

Good luck... TOP NOTCH customer service will be your biggest seller (its what has kept my former employer ~ Crutchfield ~ open for all of these years). From what I've read, carry brands like Memphis that don't allow internet retailing. eBay and internet wholesalers are going to make your life difficult.

 

[airkevin23]

Phoenix Gold and Image Dynamics are also very good. I know PG doesn't have any authorized online retailers and I don't think Image does either.

 

[scoutdawg]

thanks for all the great input

 

[Redrig]

if you do you must have lots of experience and good knowledge. ill come visit you.

 

[expo5.0]

i don't own a shop, but i have always loved car audio and have recently started WATTS UP! CUSTOMS (which is what i call my installation company) and have begun to do quite a few installations

i can't give you advice on where to buy from or on running a real business- but i have learned alot about dealing with people and what they like.

in my experience the demo vehicle is the most important thing (lol- although i probably just say that because its all i have for a shop). but for real though- having lots of pictures and/or physical representations of your work is very important.

i have found that the way i am able to get a job instead of the big name places around here is to offer better speakers at the same price point (duh). but its actually easier to do than you might think. most big name places don't carry focal, or mbquart, or eclipse etc. and by offering brands such as those to my customers i have been able to keep them away from the big retailers.

besides that- it will be very hard to start a "real" small business these days. as someonen else mentioned the online places will kill you because everyone will want you to match their prices (which are quite often a high as your cost will be). also, small businesses are losing ground constantly to the big retailers- and no matter how much customer service you give it will always be a battle. i know this because my family owns a small sporting goods store in a town in which superwalmart and target have recently moved in. what has allowed the store to stay above water has been diversification. if we had stuck to the normal sporting goods stuff we'd be sunk by now. rather we anticipated their arrival and branched off into specializing in hockey, and screen printing. you will need to do something to set yourself and your work apart from the stuff that someone can do and buy at walmart (they sell some pretty good stuff there actually- i saw a pioneer 6500 there yesterday) or best buy. the trick will be finding customers who have enough money and imagination to allow you to do the sort of work that sets you apart (that is one area i've been very lucky in so far). without a few deep pocketed customers or the $$$ to make a show stopping demo car you'll struggle to succeed.

all in all- best of luck to you- and i hope you go through with it.

 

[scoutdawg]

as far as installing i have been doing it off and on for around 8 years just when i feel like it and when a friend might want it for his show car
as far as the buisness i have a friend that owns a tinting buisness and wants me to get in with him and expand so i may do it
as far as the pricing,if you talk to alot of people they question the quality of work that these bigger retailers do so thats where i hope to put there mind at ease and do the best quality work there is
and then they wont mind paying for the quality

i do have one question though its about selling product, how far away does another retailer that sells the same product brand name like jl audio,rockford,etc. have to be away from you?like mileage?
pleae let me know
thanks

 

[X~FACTOR]

My only advise is that you have to make an extra effort to be very friendly to your customers. Make them feel like they're getting their money's worth and your giving them your best professional job available anywhere else. I know that's how I keep coming back to my Audio Guy.

 

[MONMIX]

As a guy who owns a business, first have a REAL business plan. Drawn out on paper saying your goals, how you are gonna finance your start up costs, ( which can be quite large ) Location, operation plans and procedures.
Where you are gonna draw your sales staff, and your instalation staff.
Don't forget stuff like liability insurance, workmans comp.
Contact a business attorney and run things legit.
Do it legit. It is SO WELL worth the extra effort.
Do it legit. C.Y.A.
Get a few books on owning and operating a small business. Don't plan on hitting big bucks any time soon.

Oh and one tip. Do not hire friends of family. That can get messy.

 

[Hokie]

Doing custom installs is great, but the money comes from having all bays filled with radio and speaker installs... this i know from working at Crutchfield as an installer. On the big installs, you tie up sooo much time in your bay that its hard to be very profitable. There is an car A/V magazine that I always used to read around crutchfield... Mobile Electronics? Its for dealers and has lots of tips on running small car A/V shops.

As for being different, there is a local chain across the street from Crutchfield (yes, they have 2 stores) and down the street from Circuit City that has managed to do well by offering high end stuff like Macintosh, JL, and Eclipse.

GOOD LUCK!

EDIT: And the tinting idea sounds good... Crutchfield was actually considering that when I left.

 

[Soundguy01tx]

Sounds like a fun endeavor... just remember that running your own business can be a pain. Heck, even being a manager of a location was a pain. But hey, if you enjoy it, go for it... if you want it to happen bad enough, itll work out, and if not, its not because you didnt try.
--Bryan

 

[DarkFox1]

IMO, definatley carry image dynamics, try and land eclipse, maybe autotek, soundstream, memphis zapco, heh, might be a few too many, but they are all good brands.. but you probablly already know that if you're considering opening a car audio shop

also.. I'm not exactly a business major (yet) but I've been told by most of the guys I know that own shops, that cheapest is their biggest sellers, so you may wanna toss in a few lower end brands for people who want boom w/o spending a buck, one guy sold pyramid, thats alittle low IMO but he said they sell a lot of em.

customer service is a HUUUUUGE part.. I know someone else said that so I figured it'd be best to renforce that (sp) theres a shop here that I will NEVER even set tire in their parking lot cos of the attitude, friendly always gets return customers

good luck!

btw if you ever feel like giving explorer forum members a discount

 

[karl_burns]

Brands aside

Another thing to remeber is this business will be YOUR business. Don't think it's 40 hour per week. Well, you can think that way if you don't really want to succeed.
Plenty of pictures, representations, and testimonials will do wonders. And also, the mark-up on your products is not where you will define yourself, or make your money. It will be (from what I've read and what I've encountered) the custom, quality installs.
FYI- JL Audio doesn't allow internet sales, and Focal wants to see a plethora of SQ trophies before they trust you with their license / warranty (no internet sales either). Eclipse is about the same thing, but I hear they will be sold in Best Buy before 2006.
I wish you the best.
Karl Burns

 

[scoutdawg]

thanks for all the great input and responses i will be taking them all in and starting something up in the next week or so
im already in contact with alot of dealers
thanks everyone