Let's talk about starting a business and making a living in car audio.

[germanyt 10+ year member]

There are numerous people who've managed to turn this wonderful hobby into a profitable business. Obviously there's Meade but there are also people like Ben Milne from Elemental Designs (bad example?), Justin Price, the starters of SSA, etc. You can see by my join date that I've been at least mildly involved in car audio for a long time. I've never really done the competition gig before but I've recently been inspired by people like EXO who make great YT demo vids and tutorials as well as the people of Car Audio Fabrications who offer great installation ideas. I'd like to lease some space to have small showroom and a good sized garage bay so that I can sell in house as well as ship to the US and Canada and start off with relatively small installations. I'm great on theory of acoustics but there's a lot I have never done. I've never built a wall before, never designed a 6th order, and I'm not great with fiberglass. All of that I can and intent to master, of course. Most of my experience so far is advising peopel on setups and rebuilding enclosures for people who've have bad installs. Friends are always amazed how how much louder and better their existing equipment is after I design and build them a new enclosure. I'm at square one though and don't know where to start. Anyone else have dreams of becoming a business owner or tips on how to start? I'd love to hear ideas and experiences.

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[hispls 5,000+ posts]

There's a distinct shortage of good and reliable box builders who ship these days. If you do good work and can figure out how to ship cheap that's probably your best bet to actually make a living. Actually doing installs is more being a mechanic than knowing anything about car audio. 99% of your business will be head units, door speakers, remote starts, and tint and likely not 1 in 1000 customers will ever be willing to pay for any custom fiberglass or wall builds or the like.

In general you'd best do your homework and make sure there's enough demand in your area to support your business and be sure you have enough money to keep the thing afloat for 2-4 years until you can get established and start turning consistent profits.

 

[germanyt 10+ year member]

True. Most people just want a basic install down with a head unit and a prefab. I'd like to think I have a different approach. Say a customer walks into another local shop and says "I want 2 15s in my trunk." Many shops would just be like "okay great a sale on 2 15s" and do a ****** install. I would rather explain that perhaps porting a single 15 or going with 12s to better suit the speaker requirements is the best option. Even if it means they spend less money.

And I could certainly look into shipping boxes. And offer extras like kerffed ports, aero, vinyl, etc. It's nice to be able to keep it cheap if you need to have the options if you want.

 

[SounDrive Pro Seller]

There are plenty of people who ship boxes, the issue is the prices of said boxes due to shipping. I run an online audio business but you really need to have a unique product. The market for everything is extremely saturated and the target market is small for "underground" audio. As hispls said, most of the customers are going to come from installs.

It's all in the target market. Figure out who you can target locally, and cater to them. Don't focus on huge wall builds if no one around is interested. Most businesses fail because they target the wrong market segment.

 

[germanyt 10+ year member]

There are plenty of people who ship boxes, the issue is the prices of said boxes due to shipping. I run an online audio business but you really need to have a unique product. The market for everything is extremely saturated and the target market is small for "underground" audio. As hispls said, most of the customers are going to come from installs.
It's all in the target market. Figure out who you can target locally, and cater to them. Don't focus on huge wall builds if no one around is interested. Most businesses fail because they target the wrong market segment.

I'm in a relatively small city with a less than wealthy population. I'm not in Baton Rouge anymore but I'm just 40 minutest away in Hammond. Also 1 hour from New Orleans. I wouldn't think that I could survive on local traffic alone. In my mind I expect to have to build a sick demo vehicle and hit the shows like Price. Then let online sales generate much of the business. Is that realistic? Is there solid money to be made in sales or is the profit minimal?

 

[fasfocus00 5,000+ posts]

as someone who is an installer, this is not a business for people who like the 12v industry. you have to love it and it has to be a real burning passion for you to make money from it. i get guys all the time who think that the industry is just connecting wires, cutting wood, and placing stickers. I also get guys who want a job as an installer but aren't willing to learn anything. I'm a very versatile installer and I'm willing to learn anything I can. I can install radios, amps, subs. I can build boxes, pods. I can install alarms, remote starts, and tint. I have several businesses around me and most have been around for a while. while a few others have just recently popped up. about half of them don't understand retail or MSRP pricing. a lot of the buying public for 12v think that any company charging more than dealer cost is a rip off. their are too many businesses that just operate to make a quick buck while others actually try to remain in business. making money has left the audio part unless you can offer OEM integration on a high level. money is in tint and remote starts. if you can't tint or do remote starts, than you'll fail no matter what.

 

[germanyt 10+ year member]

Interesting. A local shop tried an OEM install on a 2015 F-150 recently. Dont' know exactly how but the installer blew all 6 airbags when he hit a wire or something. I hear he crapped his pants. Ford said no warranty claim.

 

[fasfocus00 5,000+ posts]

Interesting. A local shop tried an OEM install on a 2015 F-150 recently. Dont' know exactly how but the installer blew all 6 airbags when he hit a wire or something. I hear he crapped his pants. Ford said no warranty claim.

just curious but was the installer MECP certified? money is that he isn't. not saying that MECP certified installers don't do these things but it's less likely

 

[SounDrive Pro Seller]

just curious but was the installer MECP certified? money is that he isn't. not saying that MECP certified installers don't do these things but it's less likely

MECP means next to nothing. But it is better than nothing I suppose

 

[SounDrive Pro Seller]

I'm in a relatively small city with a less than wealthy population. I'm not in Baton Rouge anymore but I'm just 40 minutest away in Hammond. Also 1 hour from New Orleans. I wouldn't think that I could survive on local traffic alone. In my mind I expect to have to build a sick demo vehicle and hit the shows like Price. Then let online sales generate much of the business. Is that realistic? Is there solid money to be made in sales or is the profit minimal?

Money is in installs not sales. Building a demo vehicle like price isn't very profitable either in itself unless you're a big company. Notice how most online company owners still have a regular job too.

It's possible to make a living with audio if you do it right, but most people don't do it right. And as mentioned in another post other things like remote start and tint are really going to be where the money is. A local audio shop that used to compete and what not in the early 2000s now does next to no audio installs and tints 5+ vehicles a day because it makes a ton more money.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

All of the good shop owners that want to do things right don't stay in business long unless they have a good number of high paying customers. Ex. Octave, Sonus. Not everyone can afford their work but people will send cars there from across the country.

 

[SounDrive Pro Seller]

All of the good shop owners that want to do things right don't stay in business long unless they have a good number of high paying customers. Ex. Octave, Sonus. Not everyone can afford their work but people will send cars there from across the country.

Exactly. And it's very hard to get to that status, you have to expect to go in the hole for a while to get your name out their and really go above and beyond with quality. Sonus isn't in a small town either, it's in one of the larger cities of TN and close to Fort Campbell as well. I had them install my alarm and will probably have them do some cosmetic work on the ambulance once I have it walled.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

You can Start making great quality youtube channels, build a following on instagram/facebook, be involved in every place car audio and really use every piece of social media to your advantage for networking/getting your name out. Business will come and if you have over 50k subscribers, you can start monetizing off youtube. Meade makes about $8k - $12k every 4 months (depending on his video output and how many people actually watches the ads).

To make it big, you need good video editing, video recording tools, good charisma, good knowledge and great looking work/builds. You gotta look like you have a passion along with entertaining people and doing it well.

 

[germanyt 10+ year member]

You can Start making great quality youtube channels, build a following on instagram/facebook, be involved in every place car audio and really use every piece of social media to your advantage for networking/getting your name out. Business will come and if you have over 50k subscribers, you can start monetizing off youtube. Meade makes about $8k - $12k every 4 months (depending on his video output and how many people actually watches the ads).
To make it big, you need good video editing, video recording tools, good charisma, good knowledge and great looking work/builds. You gotta look like you have a passion along with entertaining people and doing it well.

I agree 100%. EXO is a great lead to follow in this department. I dont' have his charisma and excitable personality though. I'm more of a technical guy. I really like Car Audio Fabrications videos. I've recently made a few vids on the 4th order I built. 7 total IIRC and picked up a dozen subscribers. Just need to keep at it. I'm willing to give away labor just for the extra experience and publicity.

 

[fasfocus00 5,000+ posts]

MECP means next to nothing. But it is better than nothing I suppose

not calling you out but a lot of people talk trash about MECP but the shops that require MECP are more likely to stay in business b/c people trust someone who shows some effort in knowing about their profession. I am pretty sure MECP installers act on the side of caution more than your kid at the corner sound shop. just wanted to point that out.