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Life and times of Audionutz, pt.5!

OK, so now let's move onward in time...As the shop gets busier, two things begin to happen: first, I want to carry more product. Second, I realize I need more help. We are doing OK with Crystal, and they seem to be the go-to brand when we do mids and high b/c the coaxes sound great. Arc is our amp of choice b/c the stuff is bulletproof and provides good power and sound quality. Oz Audio is the higher-end subwoofer and speaker line we push. I finally gave in to my good friend Steve Milton who convinced me to try DD (digital designs)and WOW! We loved them, so we picked them up. GREAT subs!
Anyways, we continued to have shows and gatherings and whatnot, and reps would come in and talk to me. I had one guy who did Sinfoni, Milbert, Morel USA, and Alto Mobile. Of course, being the audiophile I am, I wanted them all! THe problem is my location does NOT justify carrying amps that retail at more than about $1K. Same holds true for the Audison and Denon rep. And again for the Butler and Focal rep. What I found myself doing was mistake #?---letting the little head do the thinking for the big one! Of course I wanted to get my hands on all these top high-end products, who among us ECA'ers wouldnt? What I wound up doing was carrying a lot of great stuff.......that nobody could afford. This is another downfall of audionutz, and it is my fault for giving into desires rather than exercising good judgement and forethought (hehe..."fore"thought).

Dont get me wrong, this stuff is the cream of the crop, and I *DID* eventually find buyers with elaborate systems and/or the funds to purchase them. But, you know what...NONE of the buyers lived in my area, and alot of them either compete, are on this forum, or were refered by the reps to us b/c there were no other dealers around (hmm). So basically, I am guilty of taking funds from the shop and using them to buy into high-end stuff that really didnt end up making a large return of profit and basically made the showroom look and sound good. (well, I didnt have a showroom yet,,,bear with me). Another thing I found was that with the high-end stuff, I had to cut pricing just to make the sale, often times ending up realizing very small profit margins...in other words, I'd have been better off selling them a couple pairs of coaxes and a head unit! Ocala and high-end car audio simply do not mix. If this was a college town or if the median age of the resident was under 55, then sure things would be different. So, you guys have to really evaluate the demographics of your areas and figure out what people will actually buy and what will sit on your shelves and go from there.

I will say this as far as the product goes...NEVER did I give in to carrying the cheap shit that Joe Redneck could get at Wally-World...ie. Hoss, Sour Acoustic, Audiobarn, etc. The least expensive lines I ever had in the store at any time were MA Audio (because my distributer had a special so I got a few amps) and Jensen (because again, the distributer talked me into a "buy the subs, get an amp free" thing). Thats IT! I was and still am sticking to my guns...If you sell cheap shit, you will lose your ass with warranty work. It is plain and simple, and I can't be anymore blunt. Plus keep in mind audionutz is "ocala's home of high-end car audio", so there is nothing high-end about those brands...it's bad enough that eventually I got the MA and Jensen stuff. I mean, hell, the Alto and Sinfoni stuff wasnt selling. We were just trying to generate revenue

Then came DLS. Here's a line that contains entry-level, mid-level, and high-end all in one company. AND it all sounded really good! Once we picked them up, we could carry the entry stuff in stock, and could only order the high-end stuff on an "as needed" basis. THis is great, and the products are great. Our other companies didnt have nearly the product line-up, and the pricing was very good. Now we just had to convince the public that it wasnt "cheap shit" and, over time, they listened. Yet still about 1/2 of the customers wanting DLS are NOT from OCala...isnt this odd???

OK forget the products for now...
I needed more help. I was still working the crazy shifts at the hospital and i needed someone who I could count on to be there and handle stuff until I got there. Bobby and Gimmick were both "part-timers" at best, as they both had fulltime jobs otherwise. So, I met Gimmick's brother-in-law-2-b, Scott. He began nizzle life as a customer...he had a Nissan hardbody and I did a series-tuned bandpass for 4 CV Vega series 12s in a cut-through for him. LOUD!!!! Anyways, he wanted to help me build his box, so I let him. He was a big help and expressed a deep desire to learn and wanted to help me for cheap. Gimmick vouched for him, and he was my new trainee. We became good friends and I sorta made him my new apprentice, and he would open the shop early and basically cover it all when I wasnt there and earned my trust to handle things. THis was a big help businesswise and we saw an increase in jobs, more money coming in, more systems being done, and the rep started getting better.

Jumping ahead, once in the new place, we decided we had to get a salesperson to deal with the customers b/c Scott and I were just being pulled in too many directions, unable to focus on the jobs. Every few minutes we'd have to stop what we were doing to answer the phone, help a customer, demo a car, etc...just not enough time for that. Along came Beau, who at first I didnt like, but he grew on me and we became very good friends. HE was great with people and seemed very eager, so he came on as the salesman. Mistake #?...never hire a salesman with no audio knowledge! We immediately did better, scott and I were able to get the jobs done quicker, the customers seemed happier dealing with Beau, and he really made the showroom look nice and presentable. Over time though, there were several instances where his lack of knowledge of the product would bite him in the ass and the customers would call him on it. Also, he found out quickly that when the sale was great, or the customer was a friend, there were no problems. BUT, come service time when having to deal with complaints or warranty issues, the temperment quickly became one of intolerance, and the customers always seemed to take issue with it. Not to go into anymore details, lets just say that Beau found out that customer service is NOT something he needs to make a career of and became burnt out. It was a shame to let him go b/c he was someone I could truly trust and a good friend. Still is a good friend, but certainly not as close as before. I am sure a lot of you guys know Beau and know our friendship well. This was the right move for both parties sake.

Scott had his separate issues, both with Beau and I guess with maturity, being that he was 20. Over time, us being friends masked the fact that I was the boss and he sorta took me for granted and became somewhat of a slacker. Sometimes he'd have good days, other times bad. It is very difficult when you are friends with someone first and try to work with them for an extended period of time, especially when all the pressure is on one guy and hardly any on the other. I trusted him too, but on a few occassions I was deceived, and that was a big factor for me and one I cant overcome. I didnt want to fire him, I just let him get pissed and quit one day. It's all good. We sometimes talk and whatnot, but i guess we were never really on the same playing field, maybe the large age diff had something to do with it. Who knows.

Gimmick has been with me the whole time. Nothing I wouldnt do for him, and vice versa, 'cept maybe make love to him. He's a big guy and I doubt I'd be able to satisfy him at all. I trust him thoroughly, and we are boys. We both have other full-times, and we do other stuff that is not related to the shop. If my life depended on him, I'd be OK, and vice versa.

D-Bo came along about 2 years ago. I kinda stole him from another shop and he had a lot of experience, unlike my other guys, I would only have to train him in painting and 'glassing techniques. BUT, when it came to OE integration, video, security, and circuits, he brought to Audionutz an aspect that we didnt have before. He is a hard worker and very smart. I trust him intently as well to do whatever it takes to make the customer happy as well as do whats in the best interest of the shop. He is like me in many ways, well-educated, good people person, very knowledgable about audio, etc. We made a helluva team and with myself, gimmick , and D, there is NOTHING we cant do installwise. The biggest problem with D is that he deserves big pay, and during slow times, I found myself struggling to pay his salary. I NEVER let him go more than a couple days without his paycheck thoHe's good people, and a pleasure most times to work with.

DAMMIT, I am a ramblin ***** tonight! And I know I promised you guys hard numbers this go-round, and I have failed. I have failed because you people have not helped me. From now on, whenever I **** up, I will not punish myself, I will punish all of YOU!

(sorry , couldnt resist the full metal jacket reference opportunity )

OK, Im spent, more to come, peace!

 

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