Career Goal?

[Lexman]

Guys, what would you say if I said I want to be in the Audio Video business someday? Would you say, your nuts! Would you say, gee Lex, how you gonna compete with the big boys? Best buy, Circuit city, etc...? Would you say, nah, he will never pull it off? Would you say, nah, he won't take the gamble giving up the fairly easy day job? Or would you say, what lines would you try to carry? What markets?

I don't have a lot of answers, all I can say is I have a burning desire to do this! Why? How? When? What? Such questions.

The other thing I considered was being a Manufacturers rep. But I am a sleep in my own bed sort of guy for the most part, so not sure that would work to well for me, or the forum.

Lex





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[SiliGoose]

Can I be your first employee?

Go get 'em Lex! The difference between being really happy and so-so is equal to the degree to which you follow your dreams.




-Sili

[Lexman]

Thanks Sili. I don't know if I should have said anything even, but I just thought I would share my revalation with my A/V friends. Actually, I see this as an opportunity to perhaps make a living, from something that I enjoy and not to have to work for the other guy forever. It would be nice to have a bit more independence than my day job provides. Actually, I am considering another venture as well, but am not at liberty to say anything about that yet.

Lex

[John Holmes]

Lex,
I see only positive things when one is trying to be happy at there job. If this is something that you feel you want to do, I say go for it.

I probably woudn't be able to afford your products but, I'd support you none the less:B




"I came here, to chew bubble gum and kickass. And I'm all out of bubble gum!!!" My DVD's

[Bing Fung]

That's a great Idea Lex! you may as well try something you are interested in, it usually equals success with a bit of hard work.

"If you say you can, You are right. If you say you can't, you are also right..."




Bing

[ThomasW]

Not trying to be a "wet blanket" but here are somethings to think about. The market is fragmenting. Low-mid Fi dominated by CC, BB, SoundTrack (in the west). And ultra hi-end, that's very quickly turning into full blown very high dollar installs. This is what people like Dennis Erskine specialize in.

The mass market products from CC and BB make working there not much different than working in a grocery store. The ultra high-end (true HT's) are a nightmare of coordinating with suppliers, contractors, builders, and people with big $$$$$ who's egos are usually the motivating factor behind the project.

So think long and hard before trying to turn a hobby into an occupation. If this sounds like a "been there, done that" it is.....




theAudioWorx
Klone-Audio

[MRWILLL]

Lex...


If you like it, I love it. Cover all area's from A to Z.




STOP!!...LOOK!!...LISTEN!!
DVD...Hear it from the people who
mixed and mastered it "LEXICON".

[Robbie]

Lex,

So I guess you've given up on getting that RS retirement. If it feels right do it. (and you have good financial backing) Have you given any thought about operating out of the house. I always thought that would be cool, low overhead and all. And just think of all those systems you could listen/watch when no ones around. Food for thought.

Good luck

Robbie Caldwell

[Lexman]

Keep those cards and letters coming. Great reading. Still absorbing all this

Thomas, I know your right. But there is more than 1 way to turn a hobby into a living. Additionally, with only 1 true high end store locally, and 1 medium end store, I think there is additional market here. I guess time will tell, if I can make this dream a reality. This is a long range plan guys. Might take me 5 years to get there, I dunno. Then again, I might not get there at all! Hard to say, but I will continue to consider this.

Thanks to you other guys for supporting my idea and not being a kill-joy like Thomas, lol.

Lex

[Andrew Pratt]

Silli get in line

Doug if you want it to happen it will

[Markj]

Lexman the places I go to buy my audio/video stuff are fun places to go. The staffs are happy to see my family and me. I think if you have the will you will find a way. What makes a store successful is how the customers are treated. You have a love of A/V which I think makes you a prefect candidate for running an A/V store.

[Matt Broeska]

sounds like a great idea! i can't tell you how many times i've walked into a store and known more than the salesman helping me. or worse, have the salesman tell things that don't make sense.

how many people here are "boogie nights" fans?

"see now this is hi-fi. high fidelity. that's the HIGHEST QUALITY... FIDELITY."

"you don't get that kinda sound without the tk-421 conversion. we do that right here!"

etc...

[John Holmes]

Matt,
That was a funny line. I have not seen the movie since it was hot but, I remember those lines. Hi-Fi, It still cracks me up!




"I came here, to chew bubble gum and kickass. And I'm all out of bubble gum!!!" My DVD's

[P-Dub]

I would say coool. What a great way to incorporate a hobby that you love with a business. Plus I'd ask all those other questions as well. Although I would imagine this would require quite a bit of startup cost.




Paul

There are three kinds of people in this world; those that can count, and those that can't.

[Lexman]

Yes Paul. I am counting on a couple of things happening. One, I know I could do though it would take some big harry cahoonas(sp?) to do it. That is to refinance my home. Not sure about the latter thing that would need to happen, but I do have an alternate business plan. One that could get me to my ultimate goal perhaps by creating income. Or who knows, maybe it even becomes the ultimate goal! :B

I will revisit this thread tonight to answer any questions I missed, or whatever.

Lex





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[John Beavers]

The older I get the harder it becomes to focus in on those activities that are not interesting to me. And the more I question why it is I except doing what I don't want to do. Lifes to damn short you know Sure there's good money to be had for doing what you don't enjoy, and with a wife, there's her security to take into account, but still, the thought of working in an area of extreme interest to me like Audio & Video is very tempting.

Reality then intrudes upon my visions of audio video glory No way could I compete in the mid-fi market place. It's all about volume and discount. The already established players in that area have name recognition and the mfg. support. High end requires big bucks to start. Your clients are usually people who care more about the looks and ease of use of their expensive home theaters than anything truly "enthusiast" in nature. It's also a small market and unless you were the first in your area, and your area had affluent communities it would be a hard road to hoe.

The one area where I see that is lacking, at least in my metropolitan area, are used audio video stores. With all the upgrading that goes on in our hobby, and all the stuff you see being sold on sites like Audiogon, for some pretty low sell prices, I can see where you could make a nice profit. You'd need good advertising and word of mouth, but audiophile quality gear, albeit older models, at affordable pricing would be a draw, I would think.

[AndrewM]

Now I think you hit upon something John, although you would still need a fair amount of capital to get moving, but I think you could cover what could amount to a fairly sizeable niche market. Take an area like where I'm at in SE Florida, there are a lot of high-end shops around here, and they will all take in used gear. And I bet that they all hate having to deal with it, if you could strike up a deal with them I bet you could keep a good amount of stock coming in. You may have to offer some type of a guarantee, like a 30-90 day to instill some customer confidence that you aren't going to sell them a DOA piece. You would need to advertise like crazy, do something online and keep up with it. Hmmmm....

Now the downsides I could see, it would be a long road to breaking even I think, plus you would have problems picking up used gear from people, for example if a guy knows his amp will sell on Ebay, Audiogon, etc for $1000, why would he sell it to you for $500-600 so you can resell it for the same amount he could get? So I don't think you would get many people selling to you, plus then you become to much like a pawn shop and have to deal with that whole thing.

Some other ideas, if you did this long enough you could slowly build yourself a name (not to mention capital and such) that you could start offering some of the lower end of hi-fi such as Denon, Marantz..etc. Along with selling all new cabling and things like that.

I bet it's possible, but would be a lot of work and unless you are already financially secure would be a big risk financially either way.

Andrew

[Lexman]

Guys, I can't say that you are not right. But you know, people who basically are just working people go into business every day. It seems that anything you do requires money. I don't know if I can come up with the necessary cash. But wouldn't it be fun trying?

My goal would be to make such a difference with service after the sale, that I will build repeat business, and people will come back again and again. In other words, build customers and not just sales. That might mean, I get ISF certified, and give them a racehorse deal on calibration. Heck, maybe include it with front projectors! I am not talking about a business that has 10 employees. I am talking about a small business, that I work hard with only maybe 1 other person to help. At least until things get off the ground, even my additional help would probably be part time. But again, this is a dream. Not one I expect to come true any time real soon.

Lex

[Tibor]

HI Lex

There alot of people out there that buy audio grea and don't know how to use it or set it up right . Like my boss who had a kid come over from Soundtrack and install all his great and ajust picture and sound 30 min to an 1hrs worth of work $100 bucks . Something to thing about maybe not sell but just install and do custom home theather .
Just my 2 cents !!

[KennyG]

I've got a friend (sort of) who did this, he carried solid HT brands (Denon, Acurus, Mission) car audio, and started doing custom home installations, the in store HT section has gone by the way side because he can't compete with circut city, 99% of the people just don't care about buying the better sounding more expensive gear over the cheap stuff, they are also dropping the car audio, they make money, but not alot, again circut city. What is working for them is the custom HT systems they put together and install.
They are now getting a small building downtown, and are going to do appointment only custom installations. Still seems cool to me!

[Ken McDaniel]

One way I see for individuals to get into the business is in the arena of HT consulting work. I have been considering this myself for when I retire from the Army at the young age of 43.

Consulting requires relatively little start up cost. What it does require is connections and a thorough knowledge of all-around HT design. Find a good architect who has HT experience and contract out. Find a couple of custom installers willing to do some extra work on the side. Find yourself a good electrician on the side. Having an ISF technician on the side helps. Also a relation with a general contractor helps for jobs requiring remodeling.

You aren't required to keep inventory on hand. At least not at first. Start small. Let's face it you don't need a contract with a supplier to get gear. Gear can be found via internet these days at little over wholesale.

I've seen ads for a couple of these guys in Austin in the paper, phonebook, and internet. They seem to be doing fairly well. If the economy continues, consulting could be stable for a while. The beauty that you can start without quitting your dayjob.

Just something that's been bouncing around in my head for awhile.




Ken

[Lexman]

Yeah, the consulting is a good idea for part time work anyway. At least at first. But I think I really want something a bit more concrete myself. I like dealing with real products. The other thing is, becoming involved in custom installations could require more expertise than I currently have. In other words, if you contract to do a job, and things don't go as planned, you could get into a jam very easily.

Yes, it could work. But I would feel much more confident entering this area after having real A/V store experience. Especially on front projection.

Lex