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

[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

I really just wanna do quality installations for a living. Local guy owns a Tahoe and wants a wall? I'm the guy to come to. Between big installs do head units and OEM integration with your run of the mill components and coaxials. I could do alarms, tint, and leather I suppose.

Something like Car Toys only not quite as large. At least not at first.

And a shop in the back.

My wife could work the front counter while I'm in the shop.

So you've never done a wall before, but if a local guy wants one, you're going to take his money and try it for the first time??

Also, I wouldn't like to sell people cheap mainstream crap when I know there are better deals online

 

[Massive spl]

The struggle is real! Don't quit your day job

 

[germanyt 10+ year member]

So you've never done a wall before, but if a local guy wants one, you're going to take his money and try it for the first time??
Also, I wouldn't like to sell people cheap mainstream crap when I know there are better deals online

I don't have the slightest doubt in my ability to wall a vehicle.

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

How would you quote a job that you haven't done before? I've heard of explaining up front that the labor must be billed as actual time spent. I've offered an estimate of X number of hours, and if it takes less time I will adjust the ticket to reflect the difference. This is tough to get right. The client and the business both must be happy.

 

[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

I don't have the slightest doubt in my ability to wall a vehicle.

I don't doubt that you don't doubt yourself

 

[germanyt 10+ year member]

There is a local shop that I stopped by yesterday for some speaker wire. I had never been there before so I didn't know what to expect. The guy has probably 5000 sq ft of show room. It's not **** but it's full. He has a bunch of prefab boxes. Some carpet, some bed linered. Such crap. Some have triangular ports that are like 8 inches long. He has a dusty wall of wiring harness and a long glass counter. In the back he has just enough room to build a modest sized box. You can't fit a car in it nor is there car access too it. He's been in business 13 years and says he'd be interested in getting out of the lease and selling his inventory. I'm not interested in his prefabs unless they are pennies on the dollar.

https://www.facebook.com/SM-Car-Audio-118380578312889/

 

[AFS585]

i work at a shop in my city and have worked at others. for all the cool stereos you sell, you do a TON of remote starts and deck + 4 replacements. you do countless IS31's and lately you do everything you can to talk people into LED headlight conversions rather than the HID's they come in asking for and then show them why they also want interior LED lighting. the key to being profitable? do EVERYTHING. "we finance everyone" used car lots install GPS trackers on cars they sell. we install them. wheels and tires. bolt on accessories, especially for trucks. there's plenty of margin in chrome trim. push snow tires in the winter when people come in for remote starts. tint. tint is a great way to also sell replacement speakers. door panels are already coming off so you can discount labor on speakers replacement. it's a tough business, especially with the internet to contend with but great service and top notch product knowledge always keeps you ahead in the game.

 

[germanyt 10+ year member]

How would you quote a job that you haven't done before? I've heard of explaining up front that the labor must be billed as actual time spent. I've offered an estimate of X number of hours, and if it takes less time I will adjust the ticket to reflect the difference. This is tough to get right. The client and the business both must be happy.

Gotta learn as you go I guess. I'm not dumb though so I should be able to get close and make adjustments as necessary. Besides, this would start off very informal and very inexpensive. I only need to net what it takes to pay the bills.

 

[germanyt 10+ year member]

i work at a shop in my city and have worked at others. for all the cool stereos you sell, you do a TON of remote starts and deck + 4 replacements. you do countless IS31's and lately you do everything you can to talk people into LED headlight conversions rather than the HID's they come in asking for and then show them why they also want interior LED lighting. the key to being profitable? do EVERYTHING. "we finance everyone" used car lots install GPS trackers on cars they sell. we install them. wheels and tires. bolt on accessories, especially for trucks. there's plenty of margin in chrome trim. push snow tires in the winter when people come in for remote starts. tint. tint is a great way to also sell replacement speakers. door panels are already coming off so you can discount labor on speakers replacement. it's a tough business, especially with the internet to contend with but great service and top notch product knowledge always keeps you ahead in the game.

Yea I've seen stores that 'do all' like this. My buddy Chris started a car accessory store with just 10 grand. Less than 10 years later he sold the business to a larger company for 4 million. He started busting his *** 7 days a week doing tint, stereos, etc and wound up doing lift kits, lights, hids, wheels tires, leather, tint. He'd have some vehicles that had 20 grand installs. He said start off by taking cost as a down payment and collect the rest when the install is done. He said he's got all the supplier hook ups I could ever need and that the city I'm in is wide open. There is no one around here doing quality work for this market.

 

[AFS585]

that sounds like the way to go, especially if he's going to hook you up with contacts. that isn't always an easy thing to acquire. the more you say yes to, the more times a customer comes to you when they need a solution.

 

[germanyt 10+ year member]

Well good news. I'm on the look out for some cheap commercial garage space so I can get started. Hopefully I can find something for about 500 a month. Don't need a whole lot of fancy stuff. Just some space to pull a car in out of the rain and fit a large table saw and router table. I also just might have scheduled my first official job. A customer who knows one of the managers at my work heard me messing with the Silverado and came over to find out what I was doing. Explained to him that I was trying to nail down a voltage issue and he was blown away by the sound of the truck. He'd like to do a simple ported install in his Tahoe behind the 2nd row. Haven't gotten into too many details yet but a single 18 sounds like it might be the way to go.

 

[germanyt 10+ year member]

Man, this would be great but it's 3 grand a month. Long term goal I guess.

118 Robin Hood Dr, Hammond, LA, 70403 - Flex Space Property for Lease on LoopNet.com

 

[lew-e 10+ year member]

Man, this would be great but it's 3 grand a month. Long term goal I guess.

118 Robin Hood Dr, Hammond, LA, 70403 - Flex Space Property for Lease on LoopNet.com

Keep those long term goals in the front of your mind so you know what you're always busting your *** for

 

[germanyt 10+ year member]

So I'm shopping for a table saw and thought I struck gold at Sears when I found a 250 dollar craftsman contractor saw with a 24 inch left and right rip width. I didn't jump the gun and came home to do some research and now I'm a bit disappointed. I'm left feeling like I need a 1300 dollar cabinet saw to get quality cuts? Is it worth using a portable contractor saw for under 500 dollars or keep clamping straight edges and using my circular saw until I can get a full shop and cabinet saw?

http://m.craftsman.com/craftsman-10inch-table-saw-with-laser-trac-reg-21807/p-00921807000P

The issue is the way the rip fence is designed. I can probably get great cuts if I measure for parallel to the blade before every single cut. I guess these saws are more for jobs where speed is more important that accuracy.

 

[timhof13 10+ year member]

Get a real table saw and build around it so you can manipulate large pieces by yourself.