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I'm looking to go in to business for myself. I've done guitar repair for a few years now, through Guitar Center and on my own for friends. I'm also a trained and certified Luthier. I've also apprenticed under a couple professional techs for a short time. Right now I'm doing customer service and product repping for a small company, but I make barely enough to scrape by. So I'm hoping to bootstrap myself and start doing repairs on the weekends/evenings. I've talked to Snatch Duster a little about promoting myself using a website and adwords... but I really can't afford to pay for advertising right now. I know that word of mouth and just busting my rear end at local venues is one avenue. But I'm looking for any other advice to help me get started. I have the bare minimum of tools, because I've always worked in shops that provided all the larger tools I need. I'd really like about $1500 worth of tools that I don't have right now, and will probably invest my tax refund next year in. But I was wondering if my local SBA might help me find some loans or grants to help me get started sooner? Also, would it be prudent for me to get my business license right away? I'm in California so it's going to cost me around $900... I'm hoping to run the business out of my garage. I've also talked to the local music shops in my area, but they all had someone doing their repairs already, and most want someone with a business license and clientele. Any advice, experience, or discussion is greatly appreciated.
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Sep 18, 2014 17:12
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 00:38 |
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Can't help you with the loan but the $$ are small enough you might just want to try and borrow it from a relative or something. Regarding the garage, make sure your local ordinances/bylaws will even allow that let alone the business license. You can probably get away with it for the time being, but if other businesses start feeling a pinch from you if you start making a name for yourself you need to make sure you're legal. You'll also need to check into insurance coverage as well. Home offices are generally easy to do, but if you're going to start having customers actually going to the place of business that's often where the line is crossed. tl;dr: Check local bylaws first of what you can/cannot do out of your home.
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Sep 18, 2014 17:38
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Thanks, I'll look in to that. I was also thinking that I'd offer mobile services, like if someone is a collector I could come to them and do their whole or part of their collection for a discounted price. I don't really have any relatives that could afford to loan me any money. I had considered using GoFundMe but I asked goons about doing that and the general consensus was that I'd be a freeloader for doing that...
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Sep 18, 2014 20:55
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Hey bud its been while. I do recommend going down the cheap aka free digital marketing route. Use free website design tools like Wix, get it hosted for 6 bux a month from goons, then create some social pages on facebook, pinterest, Twitte, etc to help promote your shop. This method is nearly free, and only cost time. Working out of a van that has your logo plastered on side would be great too. Just drive up to location, and factor in mobile cost to the price. What people are paying for is the convience and expertise, instead of having to go to guitar center and wait for the repair or pick up the guitar the following day. Its viable and would be probably a lot of fun. Growth will always be a concern though.
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Sep 19, 2014 02:20
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JD posted:I'm looking to go in to business for myself. I've done guitar repair for a few years now, through Guitar Center and on my own for friends. I'm also a trained and certified Luthier. I've also apprenticed under a couple professional techs for a short time. What happened with the professional techs? Did you finish your apprenticeship with them and if so was there enough business to support both of you in work? Did you move or is there some other reason you aren't working for one of these guys right now? Before you take out any sort of loan, take a look at how many of these sorts of businesses are around your area. Why would someone come to you? Word of mouth? Okay, can you build a client base with the tools and talent you already have? How many of these jobs will you have to do before you can pay off $1500 in tools? 1? 2? 100? How much do you charge for a job and why would someone pick you over heading down to Guitar Center or going to one of the old pros? Making money off your hobby is fantastic and I really want you to kick rear end and become JD - Master of the Strings but dropping 1500 bucks on some tools and waiting for people to come around sounds like a quick way to put yourself into a very bad situation.
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Oct 6, 2014 22:47
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 00:38 |
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I've been making a "living" doing guitar repair for 13 years. I had my own independent shop at Guitar Center stores (the ONLY lucrative arrangement in the biz-maybe sam ash) from 2001-2009 and ended up with all 4 stores in the Atlanta area. I left when they started "GC Garage"(techs are now employees at most stores). I worked from home a bit and considered opening a shop but the problem was that I couldn't get "my" customer list from GC. They made vague legal threats over it and I've been working my way out of the business ever since! It's an old-fashoned business that relies on word-of-mouth and a nice sized customer list. It's VERRRRY tough to build a customer base from the ground up. I should have been keeping names and numbers but I figured they were in GC's system when I needed them. It's not a lucrative business at all and I now work for maple street guitars which is one of the busiest shops in Atlanta and we're really slow right now(like scary slow for the last 6 months). The musical instrument retail world is rough these days and most techs stay at their jobs for years and suck up all the customers. Finding a store that will take you on would be the best idea (you're probably better than 90% of the hacks out there!). You could build the customer list while making an hourly wage and break out when it makes sense. After all this time I'm working on a startup online company-many more/better opportunities there. Good luck! tonesville fucked around with this message at 18:22 on Oct 15, 2014 |
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Oct 15, 2014 18:19
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