business idea - home theater installs

I have a guy in Las Vegas who is amazing. He's amazing for several reasons:


1) He's right up to date with the latest technology. Things change so fast you have to be up to speed or you'll be recommending old technology (and have unhappy customers).

2) He's clean and thorough. His wires are neat, hidden, well laid out and logical.

3) He understand's budgets. He designs systems and makes recommendations that are at the budget and also slightly above the budget to make sure the customer is not selling the system short for a few bucks. But, he's not pushy so that you feel you're being upsold on something you don't want just to pad the job.

4) He's complete. He does everything from the wiring, speaker installation, TV and mount installation, Ipod set up, DVD set up, video game set up, cablebox set up, universal remote programming, and internet/Wi-fi home networking set up. It's not just hooking up speakers in many cases.

5) He's on time. When he schedules a job, he's there on time and leaves on schedule with the job complete.

6) He's there afterward. If there's a problem after the installation, he's there to help -- no questions or extra chargers -- even months after the work is done.


He gets almost all of his work from referrals and word of mouth. He's not cheap. He makes pretty good money at it but he works his butt off also. If you start in this business, I would consider some of the things that I view as important.

Hope this helps! It's a fine idea to get into this if you can as it's a growing field with a large potential market.

 

Terrible time to start this business IMO. That's a luxury item that isn't necessary for the home, and one that I think is very tied to the sales of new homes (or, renovated homes in established metros). Just not smart right now, unless it's his life dream and what he needs to be fulfilled in life I would avoid it. It's not like plumbing, or even heating/AC repairs, where nearly every home will be potential customer at some point.

 

Agreed. Couldn't think of a worse idea at this time.

 

We have an FChat member who does this. John Cawley SweetSpotAV . He did mine and its fantastic. I could send him a PM about advice. IIRC, he started out doing alarm system installs and just took that knowledge and started doing home theaters.

Oh, BTW he said his business is going strong even through this downturn. I guess people are remodeling instead of building.

 

I think it will taper off. I would wager that a very large % of home theaters were paid for with HELOC or other credit.

 

Wrong. You don't see what I see in the consumer electronics industry. If there is one area that is still in demand, it's consumer electronics. Home theaters will be the next step people want in their new homes after upgraded kitchens, baths, and a fireplace. Aside from a garage or finished basement, it's the only thing on the "guy list" of "would like".

As to opening a business in today's market, all markets are LOCAL. If there are 50 guys doing the same thing in his area, it's a terrible idea. If he's going to be the only one, it's a great idea. I don't think anyone should make such generalities that this is the worst time to open a business.

 

I suppose there was a baseline assumption in my statement that in the "NW Suburbs" (Minneapolis/St Paul?) there would already be a competitor or two out there providing custom electronics installs. He certainly didn't identify a competitive advantage or skill that would give him an edge over anyone else, and being green to the industry I'm assuming he's going to compete on price. Which is fine, because there are many budget-conscious people out there who look for the low cost provider. But I just don't see the big picture including large expenditures on custom systems, clearly a 'luxury.' Maybe I'm wrong - hopefully for the economy's sake I'm wrong.

It is actually a great time to open a business. However, I think it's time to open businesses that don't require lines of credit (in other words, businesses you can bootstrap and live off of customer cash), and it's time to re-calibrate towards a more limited customer who doesn't have home equity or credit cards in the abundance they had previously. More simply, it's time for businesses that provide basic home and living essentials, low to moderate pricing, or otherwise reverse-cycle businesses (pawn shops, auction houses, foreclosure companies, debt collection, etc.). As the economy sheds 600-700k jobs a month things are going to lean out.

People will still buy flat screens from Costco and WalMart, but I don't think they're going to need the super Creston automated system with it...

See? It's fairly far down the list - if their interest is making money faster they would focus on kitchens, baths, fireplaces, basements and/or garages before doing electronics. And the reason I say this is because clearly if he's asking here where to begin on installing electronics, he's not a technophile who's been reading Crutchfield for the last 10 years, but is looking for opportunity.

BTW, we have to meet for lunch some time!

 

That "little voice" is telling me that more than a few people will be converting their home-theaters into rentable bedroom space in the future.

 

welcome to 10 years ago. stick with the drywall.

 

Lunch sounds great... as long as it's on me!

Raylex: Sorry if I got a bit out of line. I just believe strongly in people trying to better themselves over their current situation. I like to promote personal ambition. There are so many neigh sayers out there who just sit around and do nothing but throw stones at the little guys with big dreams.

Carsonp is asking for our help. I'm giving him some advice and maybe a bit of a pat on the back.

Carsonp: Follow your dreams -- just do your research first!

 

Naw, I never saw it that way, it was just some good ol' debate. Trust me, I'm not a dream killer - I deal with enough of those naysayers in my own life... I'm all about entrepreneurism and have the scars to show for it. My take on Carson's situation is that he should focus more on fundamental services or home repairs if he wants to make money, especially if electronics seems like a new thing to him.


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WHEW! Peace...

I meant it about lunch. I'm a big lunch person.

 

I would also say that home theatre would taper off and people would stop spending on it.


However, I may very well be wrong. I know a guy in Boston who does this sort of work and he tells me business is booming.


Maybe it's the vice/misery thing... i.e. when people are nervous about work and economics, they tend to retreat into things like cigarettes and booze and strip clubs and instant gratification with AV products? I dunno... but the guy I know tells me he is doing crazy levels of business in this environment. Maybe people are staying home more and not going out to movies and dinner or something...

 

As a sales rep in this very industry (pro AV), at least in the Seattle market companies
that specialize in home theaters are dropping like flies. Most are now doing commercial
audio work. One of the largest, Constable Audio & Video (in Salem Oregon) folded
a couple months ago. Also, this is very technical stuff - plan a good 6 months or
better to learn the basics. Especially if you get into really high-end stuff. Also note
that in any given area, there are only so many product dealerships to be had (that's
what I do - manage a territory setting dealers up (or NOT!) in the pro AV industry).
You may not be able to get any decent brands of gear - not just anybody can fill
out a dealer application and expect to be selling that brand. Unless you're planning
on buying at retail, you should investigate the brands you want, and contact their
local sales rep and see if they are even looking for new dealers. I turn down new
wannabe's every month in my market.

Do lots of homework before you quit your day job - that's serious advice and not
a flippant joke.

Just my $.02 from 'inside the industry'

Jedi

 

I don't think you can say this fact enough... home theatre installations can get incredibly complex...

last year I was simply looking for a receiver for a surround system for my living room, and it took me months just to decide which receiver to buy... nevermind getting down into the nitty gritty:

manual adjustments speaker level adjustments
source EQ
room treatments
speaker type/response curves
pre/pros
seperate amplifiers+amp classes
digital to analog converters
multi-zone capabilities
speaker positioning
the newly announced Z-axis sound channel (overhead audio...)
sub-woofer phase decisions
electrical needs aka power conditioners
high amperage circuits
dedicated circuits
source format
HDMI audio formats
projector/TV type
seating arrangements
temperature/humidity control
control schemes
URC programming
RF/IR converters

etc etc etc...

If you brother really has the drive to learn all of this, and is in a location where there is a demand for this service, and little-to-no supply, then he might be able to make it work...

Just remember that Tweeter, one of the largest audio equipment retailers in the US, just went belly-up not very long ago...

 

I'm of two minds here: Best Buy's 'Geek Squad' tends to be a revenue generator and customer service/sales is a key difference in electronics retailers (look at Circuit City's move to fire its most experienced/best salespeople & the stock slide afterward -- pundits at the time were saying 'bad move').

That said, the people that are most 'helped' by selling in these cases are those whose theatres _won't_ need particularly extensive setup and whose A/V equipment won't be terribly expensive. In short: quick setup, and low price.

To get the higher end people, your brother will likely need some affiliation/relationship with a higher-end AV store, at least at first. Perhaps the best way to get a sense of these things is to begin sniffing around there to see if there are any people willing to recommend him. My guess is that they'll very quickly let him know how business is.