Members cincy_cosmo Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 After 13 months of struggling, my wife and I are shutting down the music store. I could continue if we wanted to, but it is a lot of effort just to break even. We will continue the accessories/used guitar side, but it will be scaled back to the hobby level again. I'll keep my licenses going until it seems impractical. Just a heads up to those out there thinking they can make a go of the web music store business: To really really make it you HAVE to:1. Have a brick and mortar store2. Have the resources to provide a profitless first year as well as boot strap the business including lots of cash for advertising.3. Be willing to dump 10 to 12 hour days into it every year to avoid labor costs I tried to go without the brick and mortar operation-staying online only and continue my day job (IT) and it just doesn't work as far as growing the business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members metalheadUK Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 Condolences. At least you tried, rather thasn just dreaming about it. Hope things work out for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Virgman Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 Sorry it didn't work out. Use the knowledge gained in your future endeavors. Thomas Edison was quoted about his many failures with the light bulb: "I didn't fail I just learned new ways not to make a light bulb." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UllyssesSB Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 I'm sure things will go well for you man. Now you know how to do things... well yeah, thats my point. Now you know what to do! (in terms of your bussiness, that is) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tulk1 Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 I say Bravo to you!!! for trying. And sorry to hear it didn't work out. My singer runs her own on-line business, and basically has no life other than that and the music. So I can empathize with you. So .......... any going out of business sales deals we can't pass up? Hey, someone was going to ask. Might as well be me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Matter-Eater Lad Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 Problem is every swinging dick & his uncle has a web music store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members strat6866 Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 I'd love to have a music store myself but it is simply too difficult to compete with the "big boys" these days. So i have fun doing it as a hobby too. Meet alot of really cool people too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seven58 Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 Man, I'm sorry to hear it. I know it is a disappointment, but you were truly in a David vs. Goliath situation. The BIG companies are hard to compete against in an online market. But like others have said, you gave it a shot, and you won't grow old wishing and wondering, "what might have happened" if I had taken that leap. Keep in mind that MANY successful people didn't make it on their first try, second or third try for that matter. Walt Disney went broke several times before he started that little company... what was the name of it... oh yeah! Walt Disney!Jay from GuitarFetish had a really cool story from a thread on here not long ago. He was describing how he started GuitarFetish. From what I remember, and please forgive any discrepancies, because another music related business didn't work out, he started winding pickups on the side. While doing this he had a great idea of how to mass produce these pickups (which I like a lot) and now has what seems to be an extremely successful business. He might not have never started GuitarFetish if the other venture had worked out. To coin a Zen phrase... "The barn burnt down, now I can see the moon." Long story short, I'm sure you have learned a lot in this endeavor that will help you tremendously in your next adventure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BootRoots Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 best of luck in whatever you do next. just like with a brick and mortar store, its always going to be hard to compete with the "big boys" on-line Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cincy_cosmo Posted October 9, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 Thanks all. It really is very sad us. My wife does the books and month to month we were almost profitable but if sales fell down just a hair than fixed costs would eat us alive. She's the most disappointed...the day we went online she was frantic...afraid that sells would outstrip our ability to handle them. We never got close to that. And yes I'm liquidating over the next few weeks via eBay and will post auctions in the spam thread where they belong. For the last few months I've been letting the inventory get lower as I anticipated this decision. I'm betting some people will get some very good deals as I'm not going to putz with it and just do straight up auctions with no BIN or OBO crap. I am going to try to keep a few units out of the inventory for myself, specifically a 4 string bass:love: and one of the Ravelles (might as well get something out of it all!). Actually it could have been worse....I could have tried a piano store!!! Or even worse....a snowmobile store (record highs are predicted this winter). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BootRoots Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 Actually it could have been worse....I could have tried a piano store!!! Or even worse....a snowmobile store (record highs are predicted this winter). I'd hate to see the freight on a Steinway! SO do you have a physical inventory? Are you local (to me). PM me and let me know what you have any maybe I can save you some ebay fees with a local sale. I'm always in the market for something. (but don't tell the wife!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BuddyRockefella Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 that sucks man. better luck next time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitarfetish Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 Sorry to hear that- but sounds like you made a wise decision. yeah I used to own Bedrock Amps- One of the first "boutqiue" amp makers. We had a 12,000 sq ft factory and 11 employees and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of orders, but profit was tough to come by. Eventually we closed it to go make some bigger money elsewhere- a shame really. The "Labor of Love" thing begins to get old when you have kids and a wife and {censored} like that. In my case i DON'T sell any other brands but my own- A curse and a blessing. Without the advertising of the national brands my stuff is unknown, but priced right and made well it sells itself. But I had to gear up a pretty good war chest to get it going, and I already had a really profitable business (A Design and Photography studio) that could pay the bills for the first year. A brick and Mortar store is only really profitable if you do the old fashioned lessons and accesories thing- just a straight guitar store is a tough way to make money. The piano and organ guys do well only because there's no Guitar Center Piano department. But the internet has a distinct advantage if your products are unique- so guys like me and guys like Vintage Vibe can coexist- since we both offer unique products priced fairly. Guys trying to market their hand built $4000 neck-through burly elm guitars have a tougher time (See Ed Roman) Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Blue Garden Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 Mojo to you, man. I went through it a year and a half ago, closing down a business, and there were some horrible crappy feelings that tagged along with that. But in time I came to see the wisdom of where I'd gone wrong, and life is richer and more rewarding for it now. I know that probably sounds like BS here, but picking through the pieces and getting yourself resorted for life's next phase is what this ride is all about. Great successes are almost always built on adventurous failure; the only true failure is to stop growing. Keep your humor and keep on keepin' on ~ you'll be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dave_Mc_2 Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 Condolences. At least you tried, rather thasn just dreaming about it. Hope things work out for you. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Minitruth Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 My deepest condolences, as well. I'm lucky in that our store front is on ourproperty next to our house and included in our mortgage. It's zoned "roadsidecommercial", as well. If it weren't this way, I'd have no business and wouldhave to get a real job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mddawso Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 Sorry to hear that. Best wishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PR_Tom Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 Sorry to hear it. I work exclusively online for the last 7 years or so, but havent tried selling musical instruments and such yet. Maybe there's one or two small targetted niches you can work on more exclusively. The small pieces and parts with higher profit margins for example. Hard to find strings, oddball brands that have fewer, but much more loyal customers etc. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 Retail is a tough gig. I'm curious why you think you need a brick and morter store? Is it to get accounts with the big name manufacturers? Personally I like Rondomusic's business model the best...But I really have to wonder if the falling value of the US dollar might kill his ability to undercut prices as much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jamesclark Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 I hate to hear stories like this. A lot of people think about doing what you did and that's as far as they get. A big thumbs up for trying. I don't think a store front would help without taken on unique offerings, vintage gear, or band and lesson services. You could always make another fuzz, tube screamer, or vintage single coil;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluefoot Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 you know its good that you are realizing what is going on and bailing. even though I am sure you don't feel that great right now, assessing the reality of your situation and making a hard choice before you make things worse for yourself is actually one of the signs of being a good businessman... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaveAronow Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 Don Le-Pre made millions trying to convince people to buy his system that teaches you how to "Make millions selling tiny adds in newspapers from your one bedroom apartment!!".Yeah, the guy is an ultra clown, but one of the quotes that he always used to use rang true with some good advice/wisdom: He always used to say " I tried countless ways to make money over and over again until I stumbled into this".This is just round one. Youve learned, and its just round two now. Good luck. Oh, and Im very very sorry about quoting Don Lepre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BootRoots Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 Oh, and Im very very sorry about quoting Don Lepre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geeter Posted October 9, 2007 Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 You did something and it didn't work out. You could have been a wuss and never tried. Instead you reached and didn't quite grasp. Perhaps it is a lesson for your next venture. I salute you and your wife! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cincy_cosmo Posted October 9, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 9, 2007 Retail is a tough gig. I'm curious why you think you need a brick and morter store? Is it to get accounts with the big name manufacturers?Personally I like Rondomusic's business model the best...But I really have to wonder if the falling value of the US dollar might kill his ability to undercut prices as much. Exactly. Fender/Roland/Ibanez's/Samick/etc etc won't even TALK to you unless you have a storefront. Heck, BEHRINGER wouldn't even talk to me! That leaves you with working with distributors that take a percentage out of the profit. In talking to Fender, I am in the same sales territory as Sweetwater. Guess who they want to give attention to? It would be too easy to whine about anti-trust this or that, but all business's favor their best customers first. That's life. I don't blame any of them. I was the new little guy on the block and needed to be able to throw bigger elbows around. I will still buy stuff from Sweetwater, Fender, AMS, Musican's Friend etc etc. On Rondo: I wonder everytime I see Kurt's website how they stay in business. The only way I can figure it out is VOLUME, but I don't really see that much volume happening based on their advertising. They are the direct importer though, so maybe there is more markup there than I can even imagine. I've owned Agiles and SXs myself and they rock for consumer value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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