i'm thinking of starting my own car audio store and hope to carrry products that are "Underground" but perform better then mainstream, For example i hope to carry treo and RE (offering dealer prices to you guys) instead of the jl alpine and rockford which are all stores around here carry. I would assume alter will chime in hrere, but has anyone else tried this or put togeather a business plan? i sent b an email about it because it seems like he maybe attemting this too. If you guys have any suggestions on things to do reguarding advertising or products to carry i'm open to suggestions
to start off i plan on it just being me as the sales person, and maybe i'll do some installing, but just me and an installer to start off with. My uncle does high end security systems wih all the bells and whistles so i got that covered, and i have a pretty good idea of what to do
any suggestions on companies so far i was thinking of contactings these companies- Treo RE- Acendant audio- Auto tek Crossfire US amps Kicker- Eclipse Pioneer premier- Alpine Clarion Directed PPI Hifonics Orion Rockford JL CDT infinity
ok...i dont think u will be able to sell ascendant audio like that...they make there woofers when u order them because they are there own store. but im pretty sure u need MECP certification to own ur own store
ya i dont think acendant will sell through a dealer because that is how they keep their cost low. I just listed them there because that is what im running. Why would you have to be mecp certified to own a shop? I understand to be an installer, but own it?
alright thanks, i appreciate it. Do you guys think taht if i started a website allowing buyers to purchase from tehre that it would be worth it or should i stick with store front
alot of those companies wont let you sell online and if they catch you selling for really cheap they will stop supplying you. also its not as easy as you think to become dealers. alot of companies make sure you do professional installs because they dont want there stuff looking and sounding like crap. i know for a fact treo and dynaudio do that, not sure what other brands.
ya i didnt think i was really gonna do any big business online. So how would i go about getting a business started up? This is my first store so obviously i haven't had any professional installs done at my store, so how would i go about carrying a product like treo?
Ecoustics tought me all i know lol i'll definatly hook you guys up
im in hte process of looking for one, that is store front with a garage incorperated, and im also looking for a prime spot i dont wana be stuck on a back road
how much money do you have to start this company? idk what land is like over there but here, it would cost you around 500k to start up something you want
well i wouldnt buy the building i would pay rent, and i really dont know how much it is going to cost me, it depends on how much of each product i need to purchase to start up, i plan on taking out a business loan and using some out of pocket cash. It depends on how many products i carry, how many employees, how much rent is, and how much business i do o start up
yea, but a prime spot you have to put alot down, fix up the place, pay rent get product, orginize, situate things... it will cost alot... but by all means DO IT!
i hope too plus i have utilities expenses and other things along those lines. i just talked to re and hopefuly somethingh will work out with that. i am on the phne with treo right now
hahahhaha shaine it does NOT cost 500k to start your own business i only needed around 10k to start mine and my dad owns two more. But mathew youre wanting to start a car audio satore so it will be not even close to 500k though
might cost 15 because believe me its hard to find a prime location n' if u do i garauntee the seller knows its prime n' will be chargin a pretty penny.. also the start up n' salaries of ur installers will be high plus security, products, cleaning, organization, all this is money. MOST IMPORTANTLY: make sure ur installers r people u know and trust.. dont hire some out of town person jus cuz they say they r good. surround urself with successful ppl u have no place to go but up.. good luck
i dont have a business license at the moment yet or anything foirmal, the treo dealer said that to start off i have to get the license then i have to buy 2000 dollars worth of merchandise, and the more products i sell the bigger discount i get. they do research the internet and if they find that i am selling on the internet or out of my domain the dealer license will be revoked. TO becoome a dealer i have to go through alot of ormalities first. so depending on how long you wanna wait for your treo i may not be open for business for at least a couple more months
do yourself a favor and spend a LOT of time researching first. i know everybody here likes to walk in a shop where the people REALLY know what they are tlaking about. familiarize yourself with all of the products your going to carry. research sepcs and performance of all of them so you can guide your customers to the product that suits their needs best. remember customer satisfaction is most important. make sure you have everything to have good business. your liscense, key location, etc. btw where are you located? i know in my area it would be a good idea to rent now, as were just coming off a boom and in like a year or two own your own building when prices go down. also, im not saying this is the best idea, but if could be a good idea depending on where you are. you could get a VERY small place in a great location to keep cost down, and have your install shop be at another location. they can buy from the small place and then if your installing it simply just tell them to go there on their install date.
just a little advice form my young but adventurous mind lol.
i appreciated the advice. I was actually thinking the same thing. I dont plan on buying the building yet because the cost of buying all of the initial merchandise is going to be extreme enough. I am located in massachusetts. The lower part right on the Rhode Island line. I am going to need a place that is a key spot, but also has a big enough area to store the product. I'll let you guys know how it goes step by step and hopefully i'll be able to hook you guys up with everything you need at prices that you can't beleive.
yeah you definately need to open a store. i live in ct. bout an hour south from the mass. line and all the stores around here have never heard of anything better than jl. i mention some stuff to store owners and their like "what's a dd, don't sound like a sub to me" and "re, never heard of them, must not be good" sh!t i'll go in on the store with you if it means being able to get good stuff somewhat close to me!
ct mike i hope to be up and running by the end of the summer. I'll let everyone on here know whats goin on with the progress. CTmike you better be my first customer :-D
definately!! let me know the day and i'll be up there, then you can put a pic of my happy a_ss on the wall along with your stores first dollar made, from me of course
HEY, about ascendant audio...they have a thing on their website about dealers, but if you click it...it says "coming soon" so it might be worth contacting them to see if you can be a dealer
haha will do. here is a list of all the companies that i have contacted so far about carrying their products Treo- RE- Acendant audio- Autotek, hifonics, mb quart, crunch- Crossfire- US amps- Kicker- Eclipse- Pioneer premier- Alpine- Clarion- Directed- PPI- Orion- Rockford JL- CDT- infinity- zapco- DLS- Diamond Audio- Digtal designs Audio que Mpyre Audio- jbl- Sound Splinter- Stinger Tsunami raptor lightening audio Chaser aerodynamics (vertical door kits) and hopefully ill get into contact with some rim companies and do window tinting as well. if you guys can think of any more companies input is appreciated
There is a shop around here ALOT like you are talking about having, named Advantage. They don't specialize in audio. They are more of just a general truck customizing place. They do grills, chrome, wheels, tires, exhaust, tinting, lifts and drops, air bags, and other stuff. They have alot of A/V stuff too. They only carry major brands though, and they don't make boxes. They do install though. They only carry major brands though. I don't really go there except for the truck stuff. But they have a prime location, and do all the installs there. They are always super busy. Family owned aswell.
Another shop around here, an audio shop only, is trash. You can only get anything done if you talk to this one guy, not the owner. THe owner is a complete idiot. They also carry only major brands though. I had a cheapo pioneer and some little rockford 4" put in my jeep there. They did a decent job. Also, they have the installs done there. They make boxes, although I've only seen two good ones come from there. Just letting you know about some shops around here.
i also live in ct ... not many good shops around here .. alot of em sell audiobahn,pyle,and legacy and the push all these shittay products on whoever walks through the door ...
ctmike is right .. no owners in ct know anything about a product that isnt main stream ...
a good shop is defintely hard to find .. good luck man
thanks man that is a good idea. I hope to be kind of like the place demon talked about, but he opposite. They do mostly customization and a little a/v where i hope to do alot of a/v and a little or customization. I'm hoping to do mostly audio, but i would also like to get into the video aspect and navigation. I'm looking for a prime location with a garage, but its a hard thing to find. I may end up having a garage in another location. I'm looking at property on route 1. But it my be too expensive. I have some connections in real estate that i hope to use. I may need a big inventory area too if i end up carrying all the products i want to carry. If i become a zapco dealer, They expect $20 000 of sales a year :-O just of thier products. I dont know if i can do that kind of volume with that high of a product. I dont think there is that much of a demand in his area. I will let you all know, and i will hopefully offer deals to the people on ecoutics, but not real online deals.
when i start off, i will have no where close to that many products that i listed. I hope to carry a line of products that can satisfy any person. From the $200 basic type r to the dd9915, and have amps that cover that spectrum too. I want to appeal to everyone, and not have one audience that i am trying to please. I really dont know the market for audio around here, i dont know how many people actually know prodcts other then whats at best buy so i will soon learn after opening my doors what is going on. I will probably start off with a few companies and grow larger as i get myself settled and get some revenue coming in.
i build them, but they are by no means top of hte line. I'm going to need to find someone in the area that can make boxes. The store that i deal with only when im desperate and i cant find something online, Tunes their boxes to 70 hz. and tels me that is the lowest you can tune them.
70....? I wouldn't shop there at all. I have major respect for guys that know about car audio. Most guys that always talk about it have no idea. especially around here. I asked a best buy guy what i would get if i wired a DVC 4 ohm sub in parallel with a SVC 3 ohm sub and he told me "the current of the amp will go to the sub with the most amount of ohms because the DVC 4 ohm would pull more and the SVC 3 ohm wouldnt get any power." HAHAHA, I don't know very much about car audio and I talked to the manager about it and he offered me a job. I turned it down because I do not know anywhere near enough to feel comforatble installing crap for everyone and also I do not feel like going through training. As long as you have knowledge about installs and can make it look good you should do fine.
