Starting a new business

[87chevyboi]

I am starting a new business as i have been doing car audio for about 5 years so i decided i was ready to make money on doing it. I am jw as to how other owners got started, and how they got vendors to look at them. I want to get started and i know it will take awhile for my customers to get built up and companys to start looking at me. But i just wnat some pointers like i said on how to do it.

[skittlesRgood]

vendors dont need to "look at you". get a dealers license and call up some companies you want to stock your store with. the challenge is getting the money to buy inventory.

[87chevyboi]

i am sure i can get a business loan no problem, i just want to make sure i can do it right and get the job done in the most timely manner as well as professionally

[skittlesRgood]

i talked to a friend of mine who owns a shop, just a little while ago. he said he worked at a few shops first and watched closely at how they ran the business. after all, you cant just know audio. you need to know how to make money at it. you need to learn time and money saving tricks as well as what your work is worth and what a fair price is.

[412 CVX]

A good customer base and word of mouth has done me well so far.

[TeamHirshAudio]

craigslist

[IBleedMusick]

Another good tip is to know what the popular brand for the locals is (when I say locals I mean those noobs who think they know car audio but dont know ish). Biggest thing about shops is a lot of business is walk in customers who don't know anything about audio but know they want 4 15's and umpteen watts but it must be Kicker or Powerbass. At the shop my dad works at Kicker, Powerbass, Power Acoustik and Pioneer are king along with prefab boxes and amps kits. You would be surprised how many guys have CVR's, CVX's or L7's just because they think Kicker is the end all be all, but thats a Miami thing. Recurring business and referrals will be your best friend so make sure your work takes 2nd to none, your prices are better than most and you offer any and everything someone needs when it comes to car audio. You really only need 2-3 big system installs showing off good fab work, great innovation and amazing attention to detail to get your name out there as the local shop to go to. For the most part starting off you will only see those who just want a quick speaker, radio, sub and amp install. Do you do alarms? Can you do HID's? Tints? LED's? Anything other than Car Audio & Video?

[varietyguy]

i talked to a friend of mine who owns a shop, just a little while ago. he said he worked at a few shops first and watched closely at how they ran the business. after all, you cant just know audio. you need to know how to make money at it. you need to learn time and money saving tricks as well as what your work is worth and what a fair price is.

A good customer base and word of mouth has done me well so far.

^These^

Wherever you live there is another shop around (even if it's Best Buy) that already has a customer base and word of mouth. This is a small business owners #1 factor to being successful. Most places around here host some form of bass comps. If you run an Iasca, Meca, DBDrag, Usaci event you can advertise it on facebook, craigslist, and anywhere else and the organization will market it for you as well. This will attract a lot of non local competitors. Do some really clean installs to demo at the shows. Local competitors will have an opportunity to see very nice custom builds and see that your shops name is all over it. Also find some friends or acquaintances that likes to show off or does a lot of socializing and offer free installs and slap a logo on the car. You're still looking at a long process but it's a start. Also window tinting is a huge money maker, if you can't do it, outsource the labor and get your sales pitch ready while they are waiting on the tint to be finished.

[getonerd]

get you an LLC, dealer and resale license, tax id

be legal just check with you state on what u need

find you some wholesale car audio

here some wholesale car audio places that i know of

http://www.twhouse.com/

http://www.thunderbolttraders.com/index2.ivnu

http://www.ramkodist.com/

[djphilly]

get you an LLC, dealer and resale license, tax id

be legal just check with you state on what u need

find you some wholesale car audio

here some wholesale car audio places that i know of

http://www.twhouse.com/

http://www.thunderbo...com/index2.ivnu

http://www.ramkodist.com/

Just like getonerd said, become a legal legit business wherever you live. Tax id, DBA, etc. People will be more likely to work with you knowing that you at least have a legit business going wether it be in your garage or in a small to large to store front. I put ads on craigslist and the local free paper and I get a nice amount of business out of it. All of my distributors are within the area and Shipping takes no longer than 3 days for some of the farther distributors depending on equipment and availability. have something to show your work, your own vehicle or at least some pics of some of the work you have done before. Having a demo vehicle is always a plus.