1-17-2017, Mobile Electronics -- Being a 12-volt business is interesting and challenging. Being a 12-volt business that is family-owned and operated takes it to another level, especially considering that less than one third of family businesses survive the transition from first to second generation.

Scosche, which was founded by Roger and Scotia Alves, is going on its 37^th year of business with the next generation, brothers Kas Alves and Vince Alves, serving as executive vice presidents.

Back in 1980, the company operated out of a residential garage in Southern California with its roots in research and consulting. When the focus turned to car audio, the first clients included heavy-hitters Alpine and Kenwood.

Seeing major potential in the automotive audio aftermarket, Scosche developed their first dash kit and launched what has become a signature product category for the company. In fact, the first of the company’s 100-plus patents in 1994 was for a GM vehicle dash kit.

From its humble start to a sprawling campus in Oxnard, Calif., the company now has two distribution centers. One is located on the main campus while the second one, which boasts 14 docks and 30-foot side wall construction, is based in Spruce Pine, Ala. It allows Scosche to reach 37 states within 48 hours using standard ground services. The company has an international presence with an office in Hong Kong and as its products are sold in more than 50 countries.

Not only has Scosche grown out of its garage, but it has significantly expanded its range of offerings to more than 4,000 SKUs. In addition to dash kits and wire harnesses, its products include antennas, amps, speakers, subs, speaker enclosures, Bluetooth accessories, power and audio cables, iPhone accessories, and much more.

Business In A Dash

“If you go back 20 years ago with the company, there were dash kits and wire harnesses, and that was the extent of the 12-volt line,” said Nate Perkins, 12 Volt Team Manager, now on his second stint with Scosche. He was previously with the company from 1997 and 2010. 

 “Today it is much more technologically driven as far as integration and with being able to add on to your OEM system with different auxiliary inputs, adding an aftermarket radio to your factory amplifier, or your factory warning system," added Perkins. "Integration has really come to the forefront.”

The impact has been far reaching for the consumer.

“Consumers are intimidated,” Perkins said. “They look at their OEM car stereo and wish it did a couple more things. But some of the guys who have these vehicles are guys that started out 20 years in the industry when it was easy to make changes. Now they look at it and it’s a whole other animal. The dashboard is more integrated with the entire system of the vehicle—the radio, the AC controls, the warning chimes, and the warning systems. There is really a huge intimidation factor. So one of the biggest hurdles right now is educating the consumer that they can change out their OEM stereo, they can integrate with it, and they can add to their experience.”

Not to mention the challenge it creates for dealers.

 “One of the biggest hurdles on the dealers’ end is embracing the amount of inventory they’ve got to have,” said Shane Condon, 12 Volt Product Development Manager. “It used to be that they could stock a few items and be pretty confident that it would cover anything that came into their install bay. That’s just not the case anymore. More and more dealers are stocking the basic items, but then they use the just-in-time inventory system for everything else.”

Read the rest of the story HERE.

1-10-2017, Mobile Electronics, January 2017 -- Choosing a career path isn't always a choice you make alone. Sometimes the world, other people, or possibly fate, intervene to shine the light on a new path.

Bill Goldberg began his career tackling professional football players on the field for the Atlanta Falcons, but due to a serious knee injury, he turned to the world of professional wrestling and began tackling, or "spearing," his opponents on the way to becoming one of the most popular stars to ever grace the squared circle. Ronald Reagan began his career as an actor but got bitten by the political bug and began speaking on behalf of General Electric, which started him on his path to becoming President of the United States. Each path illustrates something many people have in common: While you don't always land in your first choice of careers, sometimes a similar, yet better option is right around the corner.

Ric Moore is such a person, having started his career working in music production in 1985. "My background was live sound. I've always been interested in music. I'm one of the baby boomers that grew up on classic rock. I bought all the albums and knew all the songs by heart," Moore said. "I got involved with a guy that was in a band. He had a board that I learned on the fly."

To enhance his knowledge of live sound, Moore moved to Atlanta, attending a trade school called Music Business Institute. There, he learned about artist management, video production and audio production. "I made some pretty good friends, went on tour with a band called The Producers. I was stage manager and did guitar tuning, set up and tear down, keyboard setup and tear down," Moore said. "After the tour, I moved back to Evansville. The music scene was okay. I ran into a couple guys I knew locally, ran sound for some local bands. That's when the transition happened in 1988. I was 27."

Realizing your dream job isn't panning out might send some people running into a safe office job somewhere, but not Moore. Thanks to a tip from his wife's cousin about a local 12-volt shop being in need of a salesman, Moore soon found opportunity in an unlikely place.

"The opportunity presented itself to work at this local car stereo shop. I knew what car stereo was from doing it with a buddy in Atlanta. It wasn't something I wanted to do at first," Moore said. "This store was looking for a sales person. My wife's cousin worked here and he got me on as a salesman. I got hooked on the business and was fairly successful at it. I found out that was my niche."

Soon enough, Moore's niche became a passion and he had found his new path. And as fate would have it, there was one particular sale that sealed the deal for his new chosen career path.

"The one memory I've always had was the first big sale. We were a little shotgun retail center in a four-shop strip mall. I had been working there a month or so," Moore said. "A guy came in, I helped him out, went through the whole process. He spent a thousand dollars. Right then I knew I could do this. The owner called me and said it was the biggest sale we had in a while. Recently, that same customer came back to the store and we recognized each other immediately. It was pretty great."

Early Battles

After working for Dr. Dashboard for around seven years, Moore decided it was time to make his passion permanent and found opportunity when the company began selling off locations to other employees.

"[The owner] sold one store to the store manager in Terre Haute [Indiana]. My wife's cousin bought the store in Owensboro [Kentucky]. I didn't think he would sell me the Evansville store because it was kind of a cash cow," Moore said. "I asked him if he would have a problem with me moving to Paducah, Kentucky and opening a shop there. Or he could sell me the store. The process took about a year, but he sold me the store."

Thanks to help from his parents and generous loans from a local bank (a product of decent credit and the times), Moore began the process of remodeling the shop to his liking, adding new carpet, tools and a new counter, among other things. The shop remained open during the remodel, which may have been a mistake, according to Moore. "We did less than a $100 on our first day. After we got the remodeling done, business continued to grow."

Today, after moving twice to accommodate its growing business, the company now operates within a 6,900 square foot facility. As of June 2016, the facility has grown by 1,400 square feet due to an added install bay space used mainly for larger vehicles like boats, RVs and semi-trucks. The showroom features curved counters and WinTech displays, which Moore purchased prior to that company's demise. 

Read the rest of the story HERE.

How can a business retain or attract a client base during or after a move? Owners and installers share their tips and experiences when it comes to moving on up to a new and improved retail location. 

1-23-2017, Mobile Electronics -- Moving is an experience often met with reluctance—packing things in boxes, labeling, loading everything onto a truck and then unloading. While moving from one residence to another can be hectic, moving a business involves even more complications. Opening a new business is just as fraught with questions and concerns.

What are the best ways to notify clients of a move? If you’re moving out of town, will your clients travel to meet you, or will you have to attract a new customer base? When opening a new business, what’s the best method for spreading the word? Parish Tanner of Ocala Car Audio in Ocala, Fla. has moved several times in his local area, finally ending up at his current location in late 2014.

“Stay in touch. Set up an open house and invite people in to tour new facilities,” he advised. Retailers and owners agreed that careful planning is the key to any successful move, and there are a number of approaches retailers can take when notifying their client base. Regardless of how a business chooses to notify clients or attract a new client base, it’s important to get things going as quickly as possible.

Opening a new business requires the same meticulous approach. Bryan Turvaville recently founded 806 Autoworks in Amarillo, Texas after working professionally in the industry for 14 years.

“Opening your own shop is not an easy task,” Turvaville said. "There is a lot of hard work and dedication that has to pour into the business. You will have to make some sacrifices. But if you stick it out, and push through, it can be one of the most rewarding things you will ever do. I am a new shop, and I know I will have difficult times ahead, but I am ready for those challenges and will take them head on.”

As a first-time owner of a mobile electronics retailer, Turvaville’s new location is about a mile away from his previous employer.

“I entered the industry in 2002 when I attended Acoustic Edge Stereo Institute.  From that point forward I had always envisioned owning and operating my own shop,” Turvaville said. “It took every bit of that 14-year span to gain the experience and knowledge to get to this point.”

Tanner has moved enough times that he’s familiar with the process, and had originally started his business working out of a car port at his house. “I got into the new building and it was probably a couple months before we were fully up and running to where we needed to be,” he said in regard to his current location. “We were in the building for just over a year when we bought new displays from AvidWorx. We put those up a year ago. I still don’t feel like we’re completely done. For us to get up and running—four to six months.”

For each retailer, the amount of time needed may vary but the basic difficulties and issues involved in transitioning remain similar.

Big Day Prep

When seeking a place to open his brand new shop, Turvaville looked at several areas before discovering his current location. “I was driving by this one and happened to notice one of the spots had become vacant. It was facing the interstate and had high visibility and easy access,” Turvaville said. “I realized the potential this spot might have because of where it was located. None of the other locations were easy to access or didn’t give us any visibility from the roadway. We looked at it and realized the show room area was extremely nice and the shop area had plenty of space for us to start up and grow.”

At Tanner’s previous location, the area was small and difficult to work in. The new location is a 5,000 square foot building complete with dedicated fabrication area and space enough for separate installs and window tint work. According to Tanner, the retail area is smaller and there’s more room to work, with “a large fenced in back area with room for semis and trucks to pull around, which has led to a lot of boats. We did more boats this summer than I did in my five years at the old location,” he said. When it came to equipment, Tanner had begun collecting fabrication tools six months to a year prior to the move. “Within the first month I had my fab shop up and running,” he said. The business also does window tinting, which “was a significant investment, but it paid off. It lets people know we’re in the window tint business and we’re here to stay.”

Read the rest of the story HERE.