Ok heres one for the newbies and jsut for general discussion for all those owners of Audio or Auto retail shops out there and suppliers what did or do you look for when deciding on a shop and OWNERS how did you get your start and how did you start your business? and what made u open ur OWN store

EG : working in sales for many years then decided to open up your own shop

Also how did you go about getting your suppliers on board did you jsut ring them or what? do you have any "LOYALITY" brands (Dont name them) jsut how you go them to be your "LOYAL" brand?

Did you have finacial backing or just a good business plan>?

I ask this becuase im sure there are heaps of people out there who would like to one day have their own shop or be a manager of a shop and wouldnt have a clue on how to go about it so i asked our QLD rep if it was ok to post something like this to get some feed back from OWNERS on how they started out it should be a good topic to watch and see how we got started...

Please stay on topic
Thanks for your input

Start out hustling across the columbian border, get some cash up, come back and build a store. Simple. Its how all the pro's did it

In all seriousness, i would be interested to hear how hard it is. I imagine securing big-name accounts wouldnt be TOO Simple. Pioneer might take beef with you selling Alpine in the same store (as a theoretical example, nfi what really goes on).

send me an email and I'll explain it when I have time.

email sent

Any other businesses out there or suppliers? cmon tell us your story

i am also very interested.

as i wouldnt mind starting my own installation shop. for starters
hopefully i will do. start my own, work out of home for now, build a rep up, and eventually i would like to be able to supply and install and if i got enough support i would open an actual shop.

so any detials on how to get into the game would be good.

if both of you will send me a DIRECT email (via my site) I'll answer any questions that you may have.

one point though- if you haven't got 10-12 yrs of experience in this game - don't bother. it takes a LOT to set up on and keep it running. in some cases a 6 figure sum if not more.

accounts - hard to get.

bump anyone else?

????

[quote name='Liquidity' date='Mar 23 2006, 12:24 AM' post='631845']
Start out hustling across the columbian border, get some cash up, come back and build a store. Simple. Its how all the pro's did it

That's funny, because its true

Any other retailers out there care to comment on this topic ?

Please its will be a good discussion

PM if need be

why dont you post it up on here?

"Accounts - hard to get"
Well, who needs to?
....*bites tongue*
AAAAAAAAhahahahahahahaha.

Amen to that brother I haven't bothered yet alot of head aches like ABN, naming rights etc and its not cheap!

Its not what you know its who you know!!

Agreed.

last time I explained all of this it took 35 min on the phone. believe me its easier to explain directly than to type a 3 page essay.

Ahh but then you only type it once

And we could put it in the tute section.
Then again, dont do it, it gets addictive

nah I'll stick to explaining it

marc,

you and I both know how much of a bitch it is to keep these things running smoothly..

If you really want to start your own shop be prepared to dedicate nearly every waking hour to car audio
if you just want to do installs and do it properly you will need $30,000 to set up an install shop
speaking from 30 years exp in the trade and 16 years owning my own business.
As audio express said you really need a minimum of 10 years exp b4 you start
Starting accounts with the big brands is extremely difficult as you need to prove to them
1 you now what your doing
2 show that you can do it properly
3 show them you can look after the product
4 show you can look after your customers
And above all have a good reputation (see minimum 10 years exp)
At the end of the day car audio manufactures want see sales results and the product installed correctly

3 important things to remember
1 work hard
2 work hard
3 work harder

When you see how hard you guys work to get into the business in the first place, and how the manafacturers put you through the ringer to even sell the damn product, it sure does make you realise that when you buy retail (as opposed to online), you really do have a lot more to fall back on IF something went wrong.

I myself am thinking of setting up an online store and only sell a few brands. Other than the PC which i already have, costs will be next to nothing!

if its audio - good luck. there isn't enough money in it to support a fulltime job as a online shop.

as long as you think so

- Stooge007 out

nah this wont be full time just for the extra cash while im at uni

don't bother then. the costs to set it up maintain it and do stock supply properly will take a LOT of time to do.

I agree, its not as easy as that. I have my own online business, another field of course. And it doesnt bring in that much, i think with the indusrty being so big people would prefer to go to a local audio shop and buy.
But good luck, no harm in trying.

Well, I started my own shop after contracting myself out to manufacturers and distributors to build thier demo vehicles. Alpine Canada, Orion Canada {Linear Marketing Corp}. {1985 >1991} I got my start in the business in 1978 as a fitter and worked on the fitting floor until 1991.
In that time I achieved GAIT diplomas and a cirtificate from Mobile Dynamics as a workshop instructor.
I opened a small shop called AMP Audio. It was somewhat successful {it paid the bills} [1991 > 1992] but I was more interested in the development of the industry and opened a car audio training company. I sold my share to my partners and opened a company called ProClass Audio. Modelled on the success of Mobile Dynamics of Canada and USA the school focused on High End. In 1993 I was contacted by a business here in Australia and flew here for a 7 week training program. At the end of the program I was offered a position in that firm. I admit I fell in love with the place and moved my family here in 1995.
I have to say that owning a car audio shop, while exciting, is less than $ rewarding. Its bloody hard work, long hours and you must give of yourself far beyound what you might expect. As a business owner I have learned that the rule about lost sleep is real. EG for every hour lost you have to sleep 10 extra is a very real thing. I am still catching up.
Cheers