Moving from Phoenix AZ To Mobile AL anyone from there?

[FenixAudio 10+ year member]

hey Phx isnt cutting it for me and my family, we packing up and heading to be with family in mobile. Just looking to see if any of yall are from that area. Looking to set up shop and start over selling and installing car audio and security. Let me know waht its like and what i might expect in the job market.

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[Cabin_Pressure 10+ year member]

Bad time to move to a Gulf city IMO.

 

[Slo_Ride 5,000+ posts]

Sorry to hear that man. I think you are headed the wrong way, I'd head to Cali. Cost of living should definitely be cheaper though.

 

[thegreatestpenn 5,000+ posts]

why mobile? IMO if you good, you can get it going ANYWHERE

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Sorry to hear that man. I think you are headed the wrong way, I'd head to Cali. Cost of living should definitely be cheaper though.

I just moved out of Cali, and things are still getting worse there. Cost of living is outrageous, and wages aren't much higher (if at all) than places where cost of living is more normal. I knew A LOT of adults, working full time jobs, that lived with 2 or even 3 roommates. In another state they would have been able to afford their own place, maybe even be making a mortgage payment. But not in Cali. I love that state, the most beautiful area in this country, by far. Love it. But the economics and politics make it very difficult to get by there unless you are already a millionaire. I had a great job (working at home for a company out of state), made very good money, and it still broke my back trying to live there. I dont recommend it unless you fully understand what you are getting into.

 

[FenixAudio 10+ year member]

why mobile? IMO if you good, you can get it going ANYWHERE

i chose mobile becasue i have family there as well as a very inexpensive place to stay. i also miss the beach as well. I am origionally from maryland, my wife and i moved to phx to see something different and brought her mother along to have someone else around to talk to we could trust. at that time i was a district lead install trainer at bestbuy and making great money. after some events we no longer talk to my mother in law and have no one here to talk to. My wife and i havent benn out in months due to the fact we are not very trusting of the "baby sitter" set up.

As far and making it anywhere in the car audio world that is not true. there is a shitty pile of crap hobo shop way of doing business and a professional clean way to set up also. i choose the later version. Commerical real estate in PHX that costs under 6k a month is hard to find for a center with drive through traffic. paying a little more rent is better then paying for advertising here to get your traffic. Back in MD if you have a shop off the beaten path ads were easy to take out and not as costly. here in phx not so much. also my wife lost her job while i was trying to get the biz running. i had a large $0 ad budget since all the money i made went to bills and not growing the business.

Also, i wanted to focus on carrying mid level product lines to reach the majority of the market instead of the high end. less then 5%of car audio customers care let alone know what DC and other great but less marketed brands are. they want the easiest cheepest way to "bump". not my style but hey im not selling to myself. I also wanted to create an enviroment where i can teach my customers a little about our business/hobby buy educatingthem on there purchase thus gaining there trust and having a client instead of a customer. It works, in feb and march we did great generating 14k a month in revenue with just me and my wife operating the whole show. problem is matgins are so low on alot of the product becasue of havingto complete with web prices and bestbuy selling shit for no profit just to move volume. these places can do that nd pay the bills. i can not. i had to do 3x the aork to make half the profit. plus here in phx we have a school called mobile dynamics, its a car audio school. the market is flooded with noobs that charge 20 to put in a deck and live at home with there mommys.

just to wrap it up, i am good. i am very good actually. life just handed me a perfect storm of crap and now i have to move on and start over. happens i guess. i also picked mobile becasue its the dirty south. car audio thrives there and commerical spots are ready and cheep after katrina and the clean up. mabye i can find the right combo of size and space and make a REAL shop. bright clean and professional. a place that will give you the right answers and right products for you and not the shops bottom line.

 

[Cabin_Pressure 10+ year member]

And what is your plan to deal with the economy hit the gulf cities are going to take in the VERY near future? You have to be aware of the fact that most of expendable income that the residents have comes from the ocean....tourism, seafood, etc.

 

[Slo_Ride 5,000+ posts]

I just moved out of Cali, and things are still getting worse there. Cost of living is outrageous, and wages aren't much higher (if at all) than places where cost of living is more normal. I knew A LOT of adults, working full time jobs, that lived with 2 or even 3 roommates. In another state they would have been able to afford their own place, maybe even be making a mortgage payment. But not in Cali. I love that state, the most beautiful area in this country, by far. Love it. But the economics and politics make it very difficult to get by there unless you are already a millionaire. I had a great job (working at home for a company out of state), made very good money, and it still broke my back trying to live there. I dont recommend it unless you fully understand what you are getting into.

guess im lucky then. helps to have money.

Bay Area or bust

 

[FenixAudio 10+ year member]

well at first im working on my cousins boat making 1500 a day to clean up the oil. next im going to get a job and look for a location and hope for the best. and if you look at the numbers only 8% of wage earners work on the water in mobile in the fishing industry. the rest are in boat yards and ship building and maintaninance. alot better then here in phx. there are 35 shops to compete with as well as the local noobs. not enough market to go around.

 

[FenixAudio 10+ year member]

guess im lucky then. helps to have money.
Bay Area or bust

money cant buy everything. but it can buy almost everything.lol

 

[thegreatestpenn 5,000+ posts]

i chose mobile becasue i have family there as well as a very inexpensive place to stay. i also miss the beach as well. I am origionally from maryland, my wife and i moved to phx to see something different and brought her mother along to have someone else around to talk to we could trust. at that time i was a district lead install trainer at bestbuy and making great money. after some events we no longer talk to my mother in law and have no one here to talk to. My wife and i havent benn out in months due to the fact we are not very trusting of the "baby sitter" set up.
As far and making it anywhere in the car audio world that is not true. there is a shitty pile of crap hobo shop way of doing business and a professional clean way to set up also. i choose the later version. Commerical real estate in PHX that costs under 6k a month is hard to find for a center with drive through traffic. paying a little more rent is better then paying for advertising here to get your traffic. Back in MD if you have a shop off the beaten path ads were easy to take out and not as costly. here in phx not so much. also my wife lost her job while i was trying to get the biz running. i had a large $0 ad budget since all the money i made went to bills and not growing the business.

Also, i wanted to focus on carrying mid level product lines to reach the majority of the market instead of the high end. less then 5%of car audio customers care let alone know what DC and other great but less marketed brands are. they want the easiest cheepest way to "bump". not my style but hey im not selling to myself. I also wanted to create an enviroment where i can teach my customers a little about our business/hobby buy educatingthem on there purchase thus gaining there trust and having a client instead of a customer. It works, in feb and march we did great generating 14k a month in revenue with just me and my wife operating the whole show. problem is matgins are so low on alot of the product becasue of havingto complete with web prices and bestbuy selling shit for no profit just to move volume. these places can do that nd pay the bills. i can not. i had to do 3x the aork to make half the profit. plus here in phx we have a school called mobile dynamics, its a car audio school. the market is flooded with noobs that charge 20 to put in a deck and live at home with there mommys.

just to wrap it up, i am good. i am very good actually. life just handed me a perfect storm of crap and now i have to move on and start over. happens i guess. i also picked mobile becasue its the dirty south. car audio thrives there and commerical spots are ready and cheep after katrina and the clean up. mabye i can find the right combo of size and space and make a REAL shop. bright clean and professional. a place that will give you the right answers and right products for you and not the shops bottom line.

well good luck playapimp. I wish you the very best in mobile. I'm sure you got the skill to support your family

 

[Slo_Ride 5,000+ posts]

Seriously though, if you have family in AL and if you think thats what you need to do then thats all that matters.

 

[FenixAudio 10+ year member]

thanks guys. hopefully it works out. other wise im joining the army...

 

[Cabin_Pressure 10+ year member]

well at first im working on my cousins boat making 1500 a day to clean up the oil. next im going to get a job and look for a location and hope for the best. and if you look at the numbers only 8% of wage earners work on the water in mobile in the fishing industry. the rest are in boat yards and ship building and maintaninance. alot better then here in phx. there are 35 shops to compete with as well as the local noobs. not enough market to go around.

What % are employed by tourism?

...............and if you are making $1500/day, why would you leave to start a shop? Work as long as you can, put money back, then start a shop after when you run out of cleanup work.

 

[FenixAudio 10+ year member]

plenty im sure. people will still come. it will all be cleaned up and get better. i only paid attention to that employeement sector. it was in an article on the mobile city website.