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.”

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