shopkeeps, check in

[Miles]

i've just stumbled my way into a possible source for some start up money to start a business, and i'm half debating starting a shop here in good old lakeland.

main reason: there's no shops around here that sell anything other than bb/cc brands.

my thinking is, with the massive influx of yuppies coming from the new ritzy mall on my side of town, i should be set for customers if i bring in some actual quality to the area. what i'm worried about is this: A) finding manufacturers that don't require ridiculous sales quotas or make me sign contracts pertaining to such things, and B) is this town really ready for a decent shop? i'm not looking to do anything silly, install-wise. to start out with i want it to be a fairly basic operation, with products ranging from cheap-o to absurd, and tasteful installations, naturally i'd be offering custom MDF boxes and amp racks and what not (and glass as well if i can find someone worth a damn at it).

what brands would you guys recommend i look into? i've already got a line on DLS, and i'm liking what i'm hearing so far from them... they seem to be extremely small shop friendly, and they also have an entire line of products suited to just about every budget. i need to find a head unit manufacturer (i'm thinking kenwood or clarion... but again i know nothing about their stance on small shops) as well as a couple of other good all purpose brands that will offer amps, speakers, subs, etc. just for some variety (something along the lines of arc audio, image dynamics, RE, etc.), alarms, usual shop stuff.

any other info/suggestions/horror stories you have to share, feel free to post it up.

[SickVette]

Your best bet is to hook up with a distributor like Lesco or Audio America. Between those two you will have a large selection of products.

[Miles]

Your best bet is to hook up with a distributor like Lesco or Audio America. Between those two you will have a large selection of products.
are they just basically wholesalers? i mean in the sense that they don't give a shit what you carry or how much of it you sell? after poking around lesco's site, i'd love to have easy access to clarion and metra without having to deal with any of the big retail BS.

[1stGen7]

so your on the south side of lakeland over by race track gas station? there isent any audio shops over there that i know about. i moved from behind goodwill on south florida about a year agaio and i never seen or heard of any shops. so one opening over there will be grate.. where i live now we got 1 shop and there pretty crapy and dont do things right they ghetto rig everything... me and my freind where talking about opening a shop over here and do shit right LMK how it gos if you open a shop ill come and check it out when i get my ranger..


phillip

[SickVette]

Lesco and Audio America are wholesalers. You will have to provide them with business lic, tax id, and a few other things to get an account. Some of the products they carry you can order at anytime. So require you to be an authorized dealer. Like Pioneer is bought only through Audio America and you have to qualify with Audio America to be a dealer. Alot of manufactures are using distributors now instead of selling directly to the retailer.

[TJElite]

Lesco and Audio America are wholesalers. You will have to provide them with business lic, tax id, and a few other things to get an account. Some of the products they carry you can order at anytime. So require you to be an authorized dealer. Like Pioneer is bought only through Audio America and you have to qualify with Audio America to be a dealer. Alot of manufactures are using distributors now instead of selling directly to the retailer.

I use Audio America. They do have a variety of brands, but most of the better ones (Pioneer, MMats, Beltronics, etc.) require a seperate dealer agreement. They will want to make sure you aren't real close to another dealer. The Pioneer agreement even requires someone to be MECP certified. The dealer agreements will also have things like minimum advertised price requirements, etc, and most also have stipulations about minimum yearly sales...they won't necessarily cut you off if you don't make the numbers, but if another shop comes along, and wants the brand, you could lose it.

There are some other, umm...different, distributors that will sell you lots of stuff without becoming an authorized dealer, but a) you'll pay more and b) its not exactly on the up and up, which could make warranty and the like more difficult.

Opening a shop is a huge leap, especially if you don't already have a clientele (like from working at another shop). Its a lot more work than people think...things like taxes, licenses, OSHA and fire inspections, insurance, etc, etc. Oh yeah, and it takes a fair amount of money. Plan on being able to bankroll the whole thing for at least a year. It might not take that long to have positive cash flow (it might also take longer), but better safe than sorry.

I've learned a ton in the year or so I've been open. If you want to stop by sometime, I'd be happy to talk about it with you.

Toby

[Miles]

I use Audio America. They do have a variety of brands, but most of the better ones (Pioneer, MMats, Beltronics, etc.) require a seperate dealer agreement. They will want to make sure you aren't real close to another dealer. The Pioneer agreement even requires someone to be MECP certified. The dealer agreements will also have things like minimum advertised price requirements, etc, and most also have stipulations about minimum yearly sales...they won't necessarily cut you off if you don't make the numbers, but if another shop comes along, and wants the brand, you could lose it.

There are some other, umm...different, distributors that will sell you lots of stuff without becoming an authorized dealer, but a) you'll pay more and b) its not exactly on the up and up, which could make warranty and the like more difficult.

Opening a shop is a huge leap, especially if you don't already have a clientele (like from working at another shop). Its a lot more work than people think...things like taxes, licenses, OSHA and fire inspections, insurance, etc, etc. Oh yeah, and it takes a fair amount of money. Plan on being able to bankroll the whole thing for at least a year. It might not take that long to have positive cash flow (it might also take longer), but better safe than sorry.

I've learned a ton in the year or so I've been open. If you want to stop by sometime, I'd be happy to talk about it with you.

Toby


i'd kind of assumed i probably wouldn't turn a profit for around a year, i figured that would be a safe number. i know all about the licensing and inspections and most of the other BS that goes along with business ownership (well, i know i need to deal with all that stuff anyways. there's nothing better than the 3 week wait for inspectors to come through and tell you you've got the wrong color caps on your wiring).

when dealing with audio america, what's their service like? i'd really only need 2 or maybe 3 product lines from them (metra, infinity and directed probably... possibly jvc or pioneer, but i'd rather carry their premier line than just the standard stuff, and who the hell knows if i can meet their quotas as a new shop), but somewhat easy access to all the rest would be nice.

what kind of numbers do you keep around inventory-wise? i've got a number in my head but i'm not sure if it's realistic.

anyone have any personal experience with lesco?

[SickVette]

You are better off opening an account with AAMP of America in Clearwater for your dash kits and install supplies. AAMP is the company that owns Stinger and Peripheral...two products you can move alot of and make a good profit on.

[Miles]

what's the story on insurance? like should one of my installers fuck something up on a car, particularly a nice one, i'd like to avoid paying for all of it if possible :lol:

i know at best buy we've got it but i wasn't sure if it was a standard thing for smaller shops.

[TBSpyder]

I've worked with a few installers who had tried their own shop and all of them either went belly up within 2 years or gave up because the work to profit ratio was so unequal. It's a huge sacrifice, a ton of work and no money. The only guys in car audio making big bucks are the ones who own these larger shops, who sit back and let everyone else work for pennies under them. That, or get in good with the drug dealers...but that's a whole other story.

The majority of customers are going to go to BB and CC....just because of the name. Those who know a little more about the field are going to be the ones who usually shop at the smaller shops, but they're only going to shop at the places with a proven reputation. And then the rest of the people are just going to buy online and try and do a hack job themselves. This leaves very little room for a new shop. When I first got into car audio, I was all about opening my own place someday...until I started talking to people and seeing first hand the huge pita the field in general is.

Bottom line, you'll never make it unless you're extremely well educated already in the field and have a decent client base. You can expect to be doing most of the work yourself and putting in grueling hours being you probably won't have the income to pay additional employees for the first year or so.

[Miles]

Those who know a little more about the field are going to be the ones who usually shop at the smaller shops, but they're only going to shop at the places with a proven reputation.
this is why i want to open something here in lakeland. there's only one shop with an even decent reputation as far as i can tell, and it's in winter haven. i'm well aware that good brands alone won't do dick for a shop, that quality and customer satisfaction should be job one. i'm also HOPING that i can make it running the sales side of things and bringing on one installer for the first few months of operation. this would all be at least a year off in the future anyways, i'm just trying to get my head around whether or not this is something realistic or worth my while to go into... because from what i keep hearing, there's only about a 25% chance i'll be able to avoid utter failure as a new shop.

and hey, if i go under, i can always run drugs.