I am openning a shop. What equipment should I sell

Having heard Sounds_real_audio's room at a couple RMAF shows, I'd have to say he made some good choices, at least concerning the sound of the system.

(Wasn't a big fan of the Sonist speakers though, especially in contrast to the excellent Wilson Benesch Curve speakers featured last year...although I recognize the value Sonist speakers offer).

I grew up in Albany, NY. A ton of hifi shops have come and gone over the last 2 or 3 decades. Only one has stayed.

Hippo's does things unlike most hifi shops I've seen. They actually advertise in print, radio, and TV. They carry one or two big box brands to get the average Joe's attention, like Sony and JVC. They advertise that stuff at a few bucks less than the big box stores (a Best Buy is about 5 minutes down the road).

When the average Joe walks in, they have to walk past a few McIntosh, Rotel, and Cambridge systems to get to the Sony stuff in the back. No one walks by a Mac anything without noticing it.

They don't bait and switch. They audition stuff like KEF and B&W against near equally priced Sony stuff. They show what a few more bucks will get, and what a few bucks less will get.

They do a lot of HT and stereo sales. They also do a ton of custom home and business installs. And they've embraced the iPod and DACs, rather than fight them.

They have a very knowledgable, non-snob, non-teenaged staff.

These things sound like common sense, yet how many dealers have actually done anything resembling this?

It would seem that there are very few bricks and mortar shops making money on (new) retail high end audio. As several have noted, custom HT installations are now the bread and butter for these businesses. I've been an investment baker advising businesses for most of my career and my advice in this instance would be:

"Proceed with extreme caution." Beyond that, just 2 specific thoughts.

Most small businesses do not fail because they are inherently unsustainable. Rather, they simply run out of money. Make sure that you are adequately capitalized before you jump in.

Keep your overhead under control! This would probably be the first priority, since you face an uncertain cash flow stream. Any meaningful nut could sink you.

Good Luck.

Marty

The fact that Jim is still here, coming from an economy that was booming, to one that went totally bust, says that he is doing something right.

5 years on- 90% of all businesses fail in that time- this is not luck. Congratulations!

Hello Sounds real,

Tough road and absolutely not helped by our current economy, unfortunately and economy aside the few good dealers left are suffering from the evils and arrogance of the many, who for years did the naughty, naughty.

Had Lunch last week with a few who are still involved in the business (manufacturing ) and the consensus was that they are not expecting any recovery before last quarter 2011, thread lightly..

Tough times indeed, best of luck ...