4-19-2017, Mobile Electronics -- Looks can be deceiving. As Western culture took over as the popular culture in the world, people's looks became indistinguishable from the personality of their cultures. If you dressed like a cowboy, that must have meant you were from Texas and liked to ride horses. If you were a guy with long dreadlocks, wore flip flops, tie-dyed shirts and shorts you must have been a hippie. But after meeting Jason Kranitz, owner of Kingpin Car and Marine Audio, you'd quickly learn that there's more to a person than their sense of fashion.

With spiked hair, a no-nonsense attitude and a sleeve of flame tattoos, one might relegate Kranitz to that of a punk-rocker. While he shares many traits with that sub-culture, including his refusal to play by the rules of hiring only established installation technicians, Kranitz's views on industry topics, his shop's appointment-only business model and high standards of excellence prove that he's much more than a rebel with a cause.

"We do things so differently, we expect perfection. A lot of experienced guys come over to our shop, get going and realize it isn't for them," Kranitz said regarding his decision to train workers from scratch. "People inside the industry tend to view training as punishment; but new hires view training as a way to learn and grow and welcome it."

Due to the large growth period the company is experiencing as of late, Kranitz had to make an executive decision on his company's employment strategy—either hire experienced staff, pulling from other parts of the country and potentially spending large sums of money to bring in a hired gun quickly, or start fresh with enthusiastic newcomers. Choosing the latter has been a game changer, according to Kranitz. The only concern now, is how to not grow too fast.

"We're looking to expand and to own our own building in two years. The problem is everything is on the upswing of the real estate market. I'd rather purchase on the down side to get a better deal," Kranitz said. "When it comes to employees, I'm done trying to find only seasoned people in the industry. There are too many shops that will take people with experience and pay too much for them. My most recent hires have all been rookies. It's more work to train from scratch but it's working out better already."

Taking Up The Cause

Although the company has had its fair share of struggles in recent years, including the loss of seasoned employees, Kranitz knows that sometimes the way forward is by reviewing the past. After spending time at Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon with law enforcement as his career path, Kranitz realized it wasn't for him after seeing the same criminals being caught repeatedly. Soon enough, he found himself in another career that had been in front of him the whole time.

"I got started way back in the day as a consumer. A local shop I bought all my stuff from asked me if I wanted to hang around and sweep floors and do some work. So I continued to sweep floors and stuff. I was hanging out in the back with installers and started running wires. That's where I started," Kranitz said. "Kevin Cornutt, who's currently with Stereo King, was the installer at Focus Electronics where I swept floors. They decided to get out of car audio. Kevin went to work for Car Tunes. He called me up one day, said they had an opening. That was my first paid install job. I did nothing but come-backs—all the repair work. It sucked but it was the best thing for me because it taught me how to troubleshoot."

He would go on to work for Phoenix Gold for a year before returning to retail Car Toys for seven years. "At the time I liked it. Their business model didn't change. I thought I was going to work there forever. They went from 21 stores to 56 stores. Eventually, the focus changed to being about numbers and not necessarily on sound quality stuff," Kranitz said. "I would talk to my mom on the way home every day and talk to her about how they're doing things wrong and how there are better ways to serve clients. My mom told me one day to just do it. I said 'What if I fail?' She said 'What's the worst that could happen? Just get a job someplace else. Show them how you think it should be done.' I had a plan to start my business three weeks later."

With $30,000 in savings behind him, Kranitz opened Kingpin Car Audio and Marine in August of 2006. The facility was chosen by finding a balance between price and location, eventually landing in the small town of Wilsonville, a suburb of Portland, Ore., where there were no other car stereo shops. "Hindsight 20/20, I wouldn't have done it. I would have chosen an area that has a stereo shop. If you have another shop nearby, you let their advertising dollars bring clients to the area, then when they don't live up to the clients' expectations, the client would come to me. It would get them into my facility."

The shop operates out of an 8,000 square foot facility, with 2,000 square feet dedicated to the sales floor and the rest used for installation bay, wood, metal, fabrication and upholstery. As a boutique specialist in an area filled with big box retailers, the challenge was creating a market in the area and beyond. Thankfully, Kranitz doesn't operate his business or life by the book.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

8-31-2016 -- Legendary martial artist and philosopher Bruce Lee once said, "Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless—like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; you put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; you put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend."

The power of water is undeniable in the natural world. But in the retail space, it can be even more powerful. Especially if one put Lee's concept into practice. Luckily for Mark Fung, owner of Stereo Solutions in Redding, Calif., both the philosophical and physical elements of water have helped land his shop in the Top 50 two years in a row.

Located on the Sacramento River, and close to multiple lakes, including the vast Lake Shasta, Redding is home to a strong boating community that acts as the foundation for Stereo Solutions' business. Due to the recent drought in California, Fung had been concerned about the possibility of a slow season, but luckily, thanks to a surprise rainy season, business is booming.

"It's been our second busiest month ever. California has been in a drought. Our lakes are full now. Mt. Shasta has a bunch of snow. People are investing in new boats," Fung said. "There was a point where people thought we were a boat dealer because we had a lot of boats here. The bay has 2,500 square feet with four bay doors, two on each side to pull vehicles through. We squeezed eight or nine boats in there at one time. Marine is a big portion of our company but it's not all of it."

The shop also works with the local fire department and highway patrol, installing navigation, Bluetooth, backup cameras and specialty remote starts.

"Some of the highway patrol cars would come from probably 300 miles away," Fung said. "What started it was we work with a lot of dealerships here in town and they were handling a lot of fleet programs. They got on board with highway patrol and we jumped on board with that."

Liquid Thoughts

Becoming a community's go-to place for vehicle upgrades isn't a guarantee, even in a place like Redding where there is a need. It's a good thing that Fung is immersed in all things 12-volt and always has been throughout his career.

"It's the only job I've ever had. I worked sweeping car audio shops when I was 15 and a half, right when I could drive," Fung said. "The first shop I worked at was called Speed of Sound in Redding. I was sweeping floors and getting to learn installs by shadowing." After spending two to three years at Speele Audio, Fung moved around to around six shops in town. The experience helped Fung identify the do's and don'ts of the business, preparing and inspiring him to open his own shop.

"All the shops I worked at in town are no longer in business. I think one of the biggest reasons was the owners of the shops were not car audio guys. They all had financial backers. None of them could install. They all had to rely on someone to get a job done," Fung said. "When it comes down to it, I can sell a job and I can turn around and install it. It's hard for me to hire a salesman without an installation background because if he doesn't know what he's selling and the car it's going in, it won't turn out right. That's a unique thing here. I have six employees and every single one of them has an installation background."

The shop does not have a dedicated salesperson anymore. Instead, Fung uses a unique approach, allowing as many installers to populate the sales floor as is needed at any given time to handle customers.

"People can buy this stuff anywhere but can't get it installed anywhere. There's a guy in town now that just sells product," Fung said. "That's how we focus the shop, around the install."

Part of Fung's unique approach comes from his background in self-sufficiency. The shop has no traditional financial backers. It started thanks to a generous loan from Fung's grandmother in 2007. 

Read the rest of the story HERE.

Mobile Electronics, 12-1-2016 -- Having natural talent is seen by many to be a blessing. Some people have athletic prowess and capabilities that far surpass their peers. Some with high IQs exceed expectations in fields like math and science. Others, like Jag Rattu, naturally excel at sales. But if you ask him, it takes much more to make his business—Audio House in Napa, Calif.—a profitable enterprise.

"When we started, it was just me and two other installers. They worked their butts off," Rattu said. "The store was open six days a week. I worked every day, all the time to get the store running. Getting inventory in the computer took forever. There was a lot of stuff I had to deal with."

Since opening his store in July of 2006, Rattu has found ways to increase revenue and grow his customer base. By using his gift for gab and years of 12-volt industry knowledge as a base, Rattu won over customers with his welcoming, non-pressured approach to each sale, and by reaching out to local businesses to build a community eager for new technology.

"We had to advertise and get our name out there,” Rattu said. “Now we're doing 10 to 15 cars a day. Every year we add something else."

Today, 30 percent of the shop's business is window tinting with the other 70 percent spread amongst all mobile electronics categories, primarily car audio.

"All those Carplay stereos from Alpine and Kenwood are the hottest things right now. Selling like hotcakes. JL Audio stealth boxes were previously really hot," Rattu said. "When I was younger we used to build a lot of boxes. We still do custom work, but there are so many applications for enclosures nowadays."

When custom enclosures were the norm back in the 1990s, Rattu was still in school, graduating high school in 1997. While he wasn't an installer, Rattu always had a passion for quality sound systems and good music. He would carry those two elements with him after high school once he got his first job at a local car audio shop.

"I didn't know any brands. I knew cars, loved music, but didn't know too much about car audio," Rattu said. "The first thing I did was introduce myself to installers and started asking questions. The OG salesman took me under their wing. I was so blessed."

After working at Monet Car Audio for a year, Rattu was promoted to store manager when the manager got sick. After running the store for a week, Rattu brought up the sales numbers significantly and caught the attention of the general manager who offered him a full-time position at another of the company's chain stores. He dropped out of college and continued his path as a manager.

After a few years of managing a store and reading management books, Rattu realized he wanted to become a business owner, so he went back to school and earned a business degree. During that time, he changed shops and moved across the bay to work full time for Auto Haus, a four-store chain. Eventually, he bought one of the company's stores and renamed it Audio House.

The building is comprised of 4,800 total square feet. The installation facility consists of a six-car garage in back, a two-car garage on the side of the building for window tinting and a fabrication room with a variety of tools and templates for custom work. The showroom is traditional, with product and displays filling all space, which is deliberate given Rattu's philosophy for a customer's first impression.

"My goal is, when a customer walks in the store, they want to buy something here. There are no empty holes," Rattu said. "I want to make sure my customers can hear this stuff. At the same time, they can see it. If you can't see it, how are you going to buy it."

Read the rest of the feature HERE. 

2-8-2017, Mobile Electronics Magazine -- It's a known idea in life that the young typically leap before they look. Typically, the older you get, the more cautious you are when making big decisions. Sometimes, that's a bad idea.

Striking while the iron is hot seemed to be the motto of this year's Atlanta Falcons, which became the highest scoring team in the NFL with 540 points in the regular season. While scoring in such an aggressive manner doesn't guarantee that a team will win a Superbowl, it doesn't hurt either.

Ethan Blau uses a similar strategy with his shop, Sound Wave Customs (SWC), out of Virginia Beach, Va. By utilizing a combination of service-centric sales tactics, an aesthetically-pleasing shop layout and accepting any job that comes through the doors with a can-do attitude, SWC has earned several awards in its over three years of operation. Among the awards are a Best Of, Gold award from the Virginia Pilot three years in a row, making the Mobile Electronics Top 50 Retailers and Installers for 2015 and 2016, and winning the Best Customer Experience award at the 2016 Mobile Electronics Industry Awards.

Being such a new company, one might expect SWC to need some time to build a customer base and reputation to earn such prestigious awards and to be as profitable as it has become. But any expectation would prove wrong after getting to know what makes Blau and his team tick.

Lighting The Match

Learning what one's career will be in life is a struggle for most people—except Blau. From as far back as he can remember, he's wanted to be in business for himself.

"I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit. When I was a kid, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I've always said I want to be my own boss," Blau said. "This is even before I knew I wanted to be in the 12-volt industry."

As a teenager, Blau took his passion for music and audio into business, performing basic installs for neighborhood kids in high school. Using car audio magazines as an educational tool, Blau found his career path right away. After high school, fueled by his new passion, Blau pursued car audio with persistence, offering his skills to any local shop that would have him. Soon enough, Blau was hired as an installer, despite not having much technical knowledge.

"I was very green. I installed for a couple of years but then they saw I had good people skills and product knowledge. They moved me up front to sales," Blau said. "I tried that for a while, became assistant manager, store manager and ran a store chain that was 30 years old. It was called Discount Auto Sound."

Blau worked at the chain from 2004 to 2008 before moving on to two more shops, Mobile Environment and Go-Ho Auto Audio before making the decision that would change his life. Inspired equally in the positive, by people like Dave "Fishman" Rivera, and in the negative by some former colleagues who had mistreated customers, Blau had a blueprint for the kind of shop he wanted to run. Despite his eagerness to get started, he received some words to the contrary.

"A Memphis rep gave me advice. If you were starting off boxing, would you want to step in the ring with Joe Schmo or Mike Tyson? I chose Mike Tyson," Blau said. "If you see a vision, you have to fully go after it. That's what makes our industry so special. Think about how much talent is out there and what they come up with. They still blow my mind. It's just amazing."

Piecing together capital from family and other sources, Blau found a location in the heart of Virginia Beach, part of a six-store shopping center right across the street from the Linhaven Mall. The shop is a mile from Interstate 264 and eight minutes from the ocean front.

The store and parking lot have a total space of 6,500 square feet, including a 2,800 square foot installation bay and fabrication shop, 1,200 square feet of stock room, office and conference room, and 2,200 square feet for the waiting room, restrooms, front counter area and main showroom.

After opening in September of 2013, the shop has grown approximately 30 percent annually in sales, according to Blau. After starting with two employees and growing to now have eight working for him, Blau attributes the growth to his willingness to educate himself and his employees, who he feels are hard to find due largely to pay and a lack of opportunity.

"We lost a lot of good guys in this industry because the pay was horrible. For a while at a store, I was the only guy with keys to the store. I was getting paid $9.25 an hour and we were doing good numbers back then. Some of the top techs were getting $7, $8, $9 bucks an hour. Even back then it was still a struggle," Blau said. "Some of the really good techs we had in that area were getting more career type jobs. Not only did I want to single-handedly change the industry in my area, I created my own niche." 

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.

July Issue Feature, 7/27/2016 -- It takes a lot of leg work to craft the perfect team. Some teams are assembled from a group of professionals who are also strangers. Other times, groups materialize naturally, from former colleagues searching for a place where they fit in.

The film "Ocean's Eleven" tells the story of Danny Ocean, a natural leader who is planning the perfect casino heist. To achieve his goal he needs a top-notch team. First, he finds his number one, Rusty. Then he pursues role players for each part of the heist. Finding these players for someone new to the game might be tricky. Luckily, Ocean had something strong on his side: past connections.

Jon Lackey  began his interest in 12-volt in middle school. After bouncing around to different companies over the years, Lackey became the Danny Ocean of 12-volt, acquiring allies without realizing he would one day call upon them as the A-team of his shop.

"In eighth grade, my friend's brother had a stereo system inside the house. We were listening to it, he gave it to his brother, my best friend and we started  listening to it in his closet. That's when I first got interested in audio," Lackey said. "At age 15-and-a-half I got my permit and installed a stereo and amp into the car. Soon enough I got a job as a boy in the bay at a shop called Audio Art where I used to buy equipment. I got the job by showing them the stuff I installed. They were impressed and offered me a part-time job while I was still in high school."

After two years as a part-time employee, he was promoted to full-time in 1992. After a year, the shop closed and Lackey moved with his family from Winter Haven, Fla. to Charlotte, N.C., the state of his birth.

He soon landed a job with Rick Wright at Car Audio Masters where he stayed for a year. He impressed Wright by seeking the job out, which Wright had never seen before. The position would teach Lackey many aspects of the business he had not yet learned. Then his father got a job back in Florida, so they moved again. Then a position opened in N.C., so they moved again. Luckily, the constant moving gave Lackey a chance to gain experience, landing at Streets Car Stereo/Dealer Services where he worked his way up to manager until the company went bankrupt.

"The shop was part of a chain and was the last to close up. The owner of Steak and Shake owned the chain. I worked there for a year and a half, then they closed. They had a store in Lakeland, Fla. and another in Winter Haven," he said. "I would spend three days a week in one shop and three days in the other. Our store was the most profitable, which is why it was last to close. I had a guy we had to report to every week. He was a sales guy, kind of like Eddie Kay. He went from store to store daily. It was great, it really helped."

Soon enough, Lackey saw an opportunity to open a shop with capital from another business owner who was the father of a regular customer he had. The man, Ron Bradley, a local restaurant owner, knew Lackey from his son's dealings and gave him the money to open a second store of a chain called Blvd Customs. The store became hugely profitable, more so than the other store with the same name which just sold wheels and tires.

"At that time, a manager of another closed shop and install manager needed a job. So we got together and said we got a ready-made team, let’s work together, we can make it," Lackey said. "We took over Blvd Customs in 1998. Ron Bradley said people were tired of driving all the way to them to do car audio, so he decided to add it to Blvd Customs and expand the shop. He told me he trusted me and asked where I wanted to go. I said I wanted to go to Lakeland with 110,000 people versus 33,000 people in Winter Haven, which was 25 minutes away. We opened the day after Valentines as Blvd Customs of Lakeland. I bought the name from Bradley for a dollar."

After being given some start-up money, Lackey found a former gas station located in a busy location of the city, used the money to redesign the shop and purchased some inventory. Today, the shop has been in the same location for 17 years. 

Read the rest of the feature HERE.

Mobile Electronics, 7-12-2017 -- Colonel Hannibal Smith, leader of the fictional commando squad, The A-team, once said, "I love it when a plan comes together!" But plans don't come together by accident—neither does a crack unit of the best in any field. Whether it's with television shows, military operations or business, the top minds in any field know that being the best relies on two main things: remaining competitive while staying cooperative to execute a plan. 

Since the start of his 12-volt journey, Sean Davis, owner of Tip Top Customs in Morris, Ill., has kept those two traits at the forefront of his business mindset. As the son of a business owner, Davis learned a great deal about best practices as a youth, especially when it comes to working on vehicles.

"I've been into cars my whole life. My dad owned a body shop when I was younger. He did a lot of racing, mostly drag racing," Davis said. "Once I was old enough to drive, I went to a couple sound-off shows. I remember clearly the Rockford Fosgate van being there. I sat in the back with  the four 18's. It triggered something in my brain. Then I started hanging out in a couple car audio shops pestering guys. Once I got a little bit older I started out detailing and doing accessories in cars."

The business, which Davis started at age 21, began as mobile detailing for car dealerships and individual clients. It changed course when a client asked Davis to install a deck and speakers for him. Not one to turn down work, Davis took the job and with it, his true calling. "I made more money doing that than in two days of detailing. That's when I started getting into car audio and began looking for distributors and parts."

Today, the Top 50 company sits atop a mountain of offerings that span the 12-volt spectrum, including radios, speakers, remote starts, marine, off-road, LED lighting and wiring. Much of the store's business has been generated out of necessity, thanks to a local river, a lack of competitors and the frigid cold of winter.

"Remote start business grew the fastest because it's cold around here and no other guys were doing them," Davis said. "In the last 18 years I think there's been three other people who have tried to open a shop in Morris. I haven't seen anybody last more than two to three months."

Finding the A-Team

With the store located an hour and a half away from the major metropolitan area of Chicago, it's been a challenge for Davis to maintain a regular staff over the years. It was also out of necessity in some ways, due to a lack of experience as a store owner.

"For the first eight to 10 years I had part-time guys who helped me out. I kept things kind of small on purpose. I didn't know any better—never worked in a shop. I was teaching myself everything," Davis said. "I opened my business because I didn't work for anybody else. When my daughter was a couple years old, I ran the business however I wanted. If she had something going on, I locked the doors and I went. That's not the way I run things now."

After learning proper business methods, Davis now makes sure the store is fully covered by other staff before leaving for any reason. With three store moves under his belt and plenty of turnover, Davis has finally locked in a strong staff of four, including two installation technicians, one part-time window tint specialist and a part-time bookkeeper. Lead technician Rob Colesby was found through a method that Davis considers his bread and butter considering the difficulty in finding experienced technicians these days.

"I got my current staff with the 12-volt careers Facebook group. I was by myself. Rob posted on there and wasn't expecting anything. I messaged him off of there," Davis said. "Finding experienced staff is the struggle. You can run 'Help Wanted' ads on Facebook. I got 30 inquiries off that, but no one with actual experience. There were a bunch of different guys with mechanical experience, working in the automotive field. That's how we got the guy we did.  A lot of it is talking with friends in the industry, using the 12-volt insider page. Craigslist doesn't work."

Training employees from scratch is one of the biggest ways Davis was able to move his business forward, but that comes with its own set of challenges. "You need to train on your own or you'll never get to the next level. A lot of people who come through have no idea what we do. It's a lot harder than I would have thought," Davis said. "A lot of people assume all we do is plug something in and it works. Finding the easy way to run a wire, that's not how we do things. We do things a certain way here. It's a little bit of a shock to people. They assume they put a radio in a car once for their buddy, so that's how things are done. It doesn't take them long to figure out that it's not going to work for the customer."

Employees at Tip Top Customs stay for an average tenure of about two years due to the remote location of the shop, according to Davis. "I had a guy not too long ago, drove for an hour and 20 minutes, was in next town over and said it was too far to drive. There's no one who lives here that's experienced with car audio." 

Read the rest of the story in this months issue HERE.

6-7-2017, Mobile Electronics Magazine -- Everyone lives by their own philosophy. Some believe that their own moral compass or religious beliefs should guide every decision. Others feel all that matters is ambition and getting ahead. Still others find a mixture between those two opposites to create their own belief system.

In the field of Philosophy, there are many concepts used to shape people's personal truths. One is the concept of Absolute Truth, which requires fixed, invariable, unalterable facts in order to be true. An example of this is that there are no square circles or round squares. It's either one or the other. Of course, some people might argue the opposite simply because for them, it might be true. Therefore, in a way, any given truth is left to the determination of the individual.

One thing that you can take to the bank as a certainty, however, is that Ata Ehdaivand, owner of Absolute Electronix in Rockville, Md. is unrelenting in how he does business—which is the main reason his store is so profitable. While there's no denying that the sound strategy of having a visible location just 200 feet from the town's main road is part of the shop's winning streak, Ehdaivand believes that individuality and an intolerance for foolishness from his staff may be a larger piece of the puzzle.

"I'm very direct. I just do things the way I want to. There's no rhyme or reason. My employees don't always understand it. I don't always think the way the status quo operates. That's just me in a nutshell," Ehdaivand said. "Everybody is part of the team. The only time I really need to get involved is when things get super bad. They know the marching orders."

With over 20 years of experience under his belt, Ehdaivand has had plenty of time to perfect his method of management, especially given how it took most of those years for him to scratch his itch and open his own store. Like many in the industry, the itch began for Ehdaivand as a teenager. 

"My parents bought me an old Camry with an AM/FM radio, but no tape player. The guy behind the counter didn't understand what a deck was. He was really rude. They put the radio in my car, did a bad job, I fixed the radio," he said. Finding he had a niche, Ehdaivand began working in the industry, working his way up to manager at medium-sized chain, Meyr-Emco. "When I do something I jump in head first. I'm kind of over the edge. If I'm gonna do something, I'm addicted to it," he said.

Despite making six figures in different positions throughout his career, Ehdaivand realized he needed something more to believe in and started Absolute Electronix out of his garage in 2011. The initial work focused solely on custom builds and installation work. But the work tumbled in enough for him to hire help and eventually find the need to open his own store.

"It just got to the point where on a Saturday, I would work from nine a.m. to eight p.m. and make more in one day than I made all week. It started the wheels in my head and made me go to the next step," he said. "A friend of mine worked at a tire place. Next to it, there was a bay that no one used. He said I had to take it."

After four years in that location, the building was sold, which forced the company to move to a location with twice the size. "That's when it started to go crazy. We did 40K a month at the old location. Then 60K a month in revenue at the new location. Eventually we just ran out of space," Ehdaivand said. "A management company approached me about a new facility that was right around the corner. We moved there and went from 60 to 80K a month when we hired Del Ellis. That was really when things started to go crazy. Where we were, there were mechanic shops. There were cars everywhere."

The new location had a dedicated wood working room already in place. The store was built at the break-neck pace of one week, thanks largely to the help of the shop's staff, according to Ehdaivand. Today, the store is more profitable than ever, set to hit its highest monthly revenue ever at around 90K. Ehdaivand attributes the profitability to his staff's work ethic, customer service and the discipline to effort for continuous improvement. 

"Our shop is traditional retail with a boutique edge. It's one of those deals where we have a lot of displays. We have speakers for $100 and $5,000 on display. We have something for everyone," he said. "The goal here is to make friends. The more friends you make, the more you'll be successful. It sounds cliché, but you really just want to take care of people. They pay the bills for my daughter's gym class. Whoever it is, they work hard for their money, we just have to be there for them." 

Read the rest of the story HERE.

June Issue Feature, June 1, 2016 -- Machines work in different ways. Most are designed to maximize productivity while working toward a higher efficiency. Goals are met either through computer-assisted adjustments or outside calibrations. The internal combustion engine is one such machine. Its early designs relied solely on moving parts that needed periodic replacement. Now, the engines include computers that monitor its status and notify the driver when maintenance is required.

The same could be said of a 12-volt retail business. If all is running smoothly, employees are generating revenue through a combination of sales and installation work. Occasionally, the store needs calibration due to the loss of an employee, a new employee, new product or other event that temporarily disrupts workflow. But the question is, how do you maintain a balance between the automated parts and the organic ones at a shop, since every employee is, after all, an individual? One retailer may have found the answer.

Carlos Ramirez, owner of NVS Audio in Linden, N.J. has created a shop culture that encapsulates the best of both worlds by creating strong processes for his staff to follow, no matter who's available to work them. Of his three employees, Ramirez admits that each has their specialty, but that doesn't mean they are limited to just that one thing.

"Some guys are better than others at things. Alain is the wiring and remote start guy. He's not good at wrapping upholstery. He struggles when trimming and wrapping. When we're not busy, I will have Damian on wiring and Alain will be wrapping upholstery the whole day," Ramirez said. "I like my guys cross-trained and efficient. Damian and Jairo are amazing at wrapping vinyl and upholstery. But with wiring, they get stuck on things Alain and I don't. I need to be able to sell three custom jobs and know that all three are being worked on whether my guys are sick or on vacation. I make sure they are all cross-trained."

The training concept begins in-house but extends to encourage all staff to be MECP-certified, which they are. Ramirez pays for any MECP test an employee wants to take, including paying them to take the day off for the test and providing a $50 cash bonus if they pass.

Employee training doesn't stop there, however. Two to three times a year Ramirez takes his staff to industry trainings with Sonus, Mobile Solutions and Del Ellis International. Employees are also trained on new products with the company's vendors conducting trainings on occasion. Ramirez attends KnowledgeFest alone in Dallas to enhance his own knowledge base as well.

Acknowledging that his staff are people and not just machines in a factory, Ramirez emphasizes the importance of treating his team like family to encourage better work and loyalty. This includes giving out bonuses for large jobs. "It's a percentage of what the total build was. As long as it was done on time, I give out a percentage based on how long they've worked for me," Ramirez added.

All employees are salaried with Ramirez doing the bulk of sales himself. In another effort to give back to his staff, he regularly treats them to meals, requesting they bring family members when available.  

"If we had a rough work week, we go out. I make sure they take family. If your wife and kids hate what you do, you're not going to be working here very long," Ramirez said. "We go out to dinner all the time. The last employee who quit only quit because they moved. Because of the kinds of work the other shops in the area do, if an employee left for more pay, they'd be doing more work and more boring jobs."

New employees are given a three-month internship period where they are not allowed to touch any machinery. The goal is to acclimate the new hire to the shop's practices to ensure everything is standardized. The same goes for tools.

"If an employee doesn't have good credit it doesn't matter. All my guys have immediate credit with Snap-on Tools. I have a list of tools you have to buy to work here. Some tools I provide. I buy the same socket set, one for each employee. Little things like that make us more efficient."

The longest tenured employee, Alain Sainvil, has been with NVS for 10 years, followed by Damian Kaminski with five years and Jairo Zuniga with just over one year employed. Each employee was discovered in different ways, with a grass-roots, natural method used for each.

"Alain has 16 years of experience and used to work at a big box store, 6th Avenue Electronics. He was hired part-time originally and used to wire big builds for me. Then he quit 6th Ave and came to work for me full-time. They didn't do a lot of custom work. That's what he's passionate about," Ramirez said. "Damian walked in with a customer and asked if we were hiring. He asked on a perfect day when we were busy. He had zero experience but just graduated electronics school and was certified. I hired Jairo fresh out of school. I don't like hiring experienced installers because I feel I have to erase everything they think they know and start fresh. Damian never worked at a shop before and I've built him into one of the best fabricators I've ever known in my career. We do things a certain way. Every single part gets wired the same way. Every speaker adapter gets done the same way. We developed a system."

Read the rest of the article HERE.

3-22-2017 -- Habits are funny things. They are created through a fixed way of thinking, willing or feeling acquired through previous repetition of mental experiences, according to the American Journal of Psychology. Replacing old habits with new ones takes twice the effort considering each comes with its own set of routines.

Greg Tackett, owner of Greg's Custom Audio, Video and Car Stereo in Pikeville, Ky. had to learn this the hard way when he took over his family's 40-year car stereo store to finally realize his dream of entrepreneurship. After having worked his way up the ladder from novice to expert, Tackett made a point of creating his own shop style and culture, despite the old habits he and others became accustomed to at the company.

Tackett had been involved with automotive work from a young age, working part-time during high school at Mayo Tire, a general automotive and tire shop owned by his father and uncle. After graduating, he continued at the shop while also attending the nearby Mayo Technical School, with the goal of becoming a TV and radio repairman. "It helped me to learn the basics of electronics and we were able to use it in our home and car audio business. I learned the different circuits, how they worked, how we could use them for the electrical part of the car, the grounding," Tackett said. "I finished school in two years. After I graduated, I went to work full-time with my dad and was there for 35 years. We built car and home audio installations."

In 2007, long after Tackett's father passed away, the family soon decided it was time to do separate things. Tackett and his wife saw an opportunity to take over the business and rebrand it into something new. "At that time, all our manufacturers stuck with us and kind of helped us along and gave us their lines," he said. "We looked all over to find this location. It's across from a Walmart and a shopping center. At the time, the economy was doing super and there was hardly a place available to rent. We had a lady who had a space, a warehouse that looked hopeless and my wife has vision and said, 'We can make this work.' We did some remodeling and moved our stuff in."

Tackett had little money to purchase displays for the new shop, but his daughter informed him of a CompUSA that was closing in Lexington, Ky. He spoke to the manager, who turned out to be a former customer of Tackett's, and was able to purchase several displays cheaply. Patrons from the local church also chipped in by making a display for the shop, including a high quality paint job that received many compliments from customers.

The first year of business proved to be successful, as business rolled in steadily. Then the recession hit and gave the shop its first true test. "We're in the coal fields in Eastern Kentucky. The coal was basically taken away from us," Tackett said. "In those first two years of '08 and '09, we were doing super good. Then they took the coal away and it was worrisome in this area. Thousands of men lost their jobs. A lot of people were moving out because they didn't have any work to do. We stayed here and were kind of rebounding."

Standing up to the challenge, Tackett developed the strategy of maximizing return customers by treating them like family. "That's one of the things we've built our business on. We go above and beyond what we've needed to do. We're in a small town and word gets out quick if you're not doing what you're supposed to do," Tackett said. "The first thing we do when someone comes through the door is we try to get to know them, then let them get to know us, find out what they need, make friends and let them become part of our family. We try to give them what they need and sell what they need, instead of just selling a bunch of boxes and seeing how much money we can get out of them."

A Fresh Approach

With a population under 10,000, it might be considered difficult to maintain a steady flow of customers at a 12-volt shop. Not for Greg's Custom AVC, which has become a staple of the local community. "We've come back slowly but surely," Tackett said.

Primary work, due to the mountain region, includes off-road vehicles like pickup trucks, side-by-sides and four-wheelers. Products and services have diversified beyond car and home audio to include truck accessories due to the shop's demographic. Approximately 25 percent of the business involves selling and installing truck accessories, with around 50 percent in car audio, backup cameras, video and other 12-volt standards.

"It's mostly older customers coming out to buy things to dress up their trucks. They buy things like step bars on Ford F-150, bed covers, bent visors, floor liners and bug visors. That's been a tremendous business," Tackett said. "Car audio is more flat. The accessory business has been very good for us."

5-10-2017, Mobile Electronics -- A bird of prey has many functions. These functions change based on the surrounding environment. To survive, the bird must rely on its instincts and natural abilities to catch food. The method of catching food, however, is almost always different. Land-based predatory birds require different strategies than water-based predators. The birds in these varying landscapes go by different names, which include fish eagle, sea hawk, river hawk, fish hawk and one other—osprey.

Much like its namesake, 12-volt retailer Osprey has earned its name by adapting to an ever-changing environment in its 32 years of doing business. The Westwood, Mass. location operates out of Boston's South Shore community, where car audio is only a fraction of its daily workload. The company goes by a different name, Boston Truck & Van, to cater to its fleet business installing ladder racks, van shelves, emergency lighting and GPS tracking. This work is done not just for small businesses like plumbing and electrical, but for local municipalities like police and DEA vehicles.

Since opening its doors, the company has adapted to declining revenue in one category by venturing full-force into another. That journey began in a completely different market, far from a standard 12-volt operation.

"In 1985, there was a new thing coming to Boston called cellular. We were the very first cellular telephone dealer in the Boston area," said Jeff Maron, owner of Osprey and Boston Truck & Van. "The book ‘Who Moved My Cheese’ is our creed. When the cheese gets moved, you have to find more cheese or you're going to die. The cellular telephone business was such a good thing that those companies (like Verizon and AT&T) opened their own stores. At that time we started doing alarms and remote starts, which became our new cheese. A little while later, my son Jason came in and said 'We are going into the stereo business with cassette players, CD changers, dealer work and personal work in customers’ cars.'"

For the last five years, the company has profited greatly by using Adrian Steel, a local supplier of ladder racks and other installation components that Boston Truck & Van uses in its fleet and B2B installation work. 

"We're doing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of business. Now we're off the Automile and in a new facility," Maron said. "This new facility is outstanding. Now we can house nine vehicles at a time. It has two dedicated bays for electronics and the rest dedicated to van shelving and ladder racks."

A Larger Wing Span

To be in business for 32 years means the necessities of your business will likely grow. More work means more space is needed to accommodate more vehicles. Today, the store does work with 80 car dealerships and has fleet vans lined up outside the bay with an average of seven in the bay at any given time.

"Were totally out of space and needed a bigger parking lot. By doing business with so many dealerships and different brands, whether it be Ford, Ram or Mercedes, we fish in a lot of ponds," Maron said. "It's all about needs over want. It's not a kid who wants a car stereo. It's a plumber who needs lighting in his van to work more efficiently or GPS to get to his next job. We talk about needs selling all the time."

The new location consists of 11,600 square feet of space, with 6,000 for the warehouse and garage, two showrooms of 1,500 and 800 square feet each, and the rest made up of offices, employee break room, customer waiting room, electronics stock room, four bathrooms, and a kitchen.

The store is a traditional retail shop, fully stocked with product, and offers a focused product offering that includes Kenwood, Alpine and Directed for 12-volt products, Whelen lighting for emergency vehicle lighting and Adrian Steel for ladder racks and shelves.

Located south of Boston, Mass., right off of the busy I-95 highway, the store sits in the middle of a shopping center called University Station which sees thousands of people pass through daily. 

To make the shop's recent transition to its new location a seamless experience, Maron emphasized the importance of what he calls "The Five P's."

"Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. People's plans don't fail, they fail to plan. If you are working in the new facility while still cleaning out the old facility, it's good planning," Maron said. "The only time success comes before work is in the dictionary. If you plan for it, when you move into the new building it's like you've been there all along." 

Read the rest of the article HERE.

Mobile Electronics, May Issue, Real World Retail, May 1, 2016 -- In any given field, knowledge is power. The more you know, the more power you have to serve and influence others. Such was true of many people throughout history.

Leonardo Da Vinci was a man of great fame during the late 1400s. He was a painter, sculptor, musician, mathematician, inventor, writer and astronomer, among other talents. Many historians refer to Da Vinci as the prime example of a "Universal Genius," otherwise known as a "Renaissance Man."

Another example that fits this description is U.S. founding father Benjamin Franklin, credited with discovering electricity, inventing the bi-focal and co-writing the declaration of independence, among other achievements.

While it's most common for so-called "geniuses" to receive this title, a "Renaissance Man" can be found in most professions, with successful men and women who develop knowledge in multiple areas in an attempt to achieve greatness. Such is true for JC Motorsports, a one-stop-shop specializing not only in 12-volt products and services, but aftermarket automotive services as well.

After concluding its first year of sales with gross of $300,000, JC Motorsports followed the path it set forth by continuing to sell both 12-volt products—like car stereos, amps and speakers—and automotive products typically sold at maintenance shops like truck accessories, tires, wheels and lift kits. The shop also provides window tinting and graphic wrap services, which can produce high profit margins.

Today, the store generates $1.5 million in sales annually, despite being located in a region that's seen dramatic business changes in recent years. Operating out of Egg Harbor City, N.J., only about a half-hour drive away from Atlantic City, JC Motorsports has had to overcome the hurdle of a fluctuating economy due to the problems associated with casino closures. Not to mention the $2 billion dollar resort that recently closed due to bankruptcy, after only being open for two years.

Thanks to strong remote start sales on the 12-volt side, and an effective combination of aftermarket automotive offerings, the company has grown its staff to eight employees (six full-time, two part-time) and a building that owner Joe Chiarolanza (JC), built from the ground up with 7,200 square feet of space (6,000 of that dedicated to the installation bay, which can house up to 12 vehicles at once).

By pushing its company slogan, "If you want it, we got it!" the shop attracts a fair amount of its customers through strong radio advertising and word-of-mouth. Although walk-ins are welcome, the shop books the majority of its business by scheduling appointments. Located next to highway 30, which sees around 12,000 vehicles pass by per day, the store has its fair share of walk-in traffic as well.

Despite the effectiveness of his operation, JC can't claim to have always had it all figured out. That's especially true given the state in which he left his parents’ car after attempting his first install. 

Read the rest of the story CLICK HERE

11-1-2016, Mobile Electronics November Issue -- Las Vegas has many names. The City That Never Sleeps, City of Lights, Disneyland for adults and Sin City top the list. But today, it has a dual identity. By night, it's an adult playground. By day, a resort destination where millions of families flock each year to experience its gorgeous pools, lavish buffets, shows for different ages and theme park attraction rides like the roller coaster at New York, New York. One could say, the city has something for everyone.

In that spirit, the same can be said of Industry Auto Designs Las Vegas, a destination for auto enthusiasts looking to both repair and enhance their vehicles, all at once. For owner Andrew Evens, creating a one-stop-shop came naturally, given his background as a born wrench monkey.

"Since I was a kid, I've always had tools in my hand. My dad worked in a body shop. He would always bring home stuff to tinker with. I had a carburetor as a toy. I remember the springs on it," Evens said. "My mom's father was always into wood working and would build stuff for the county fair. Whenever we went to his house as kids, we were always painting something. It's like Karate Kid. You don't realize why you're doing it at the time but looking back, you realize how much you learned as a kid. I was lucky enough to have those two influences to set my path."

As Evens got older, he worked with his dad at the body shop to earn an allowance. His work focused on wiring, replacing things like harnesses. "Come high school time, my friends were really happy because I had a shop to work out of and would do their stuff on the side," Evens added. "When I was about 14, I was putting in radios and wiring cars. I would charge them and get rides to school out of it. I was always the one negotiating to get a ride the next morning, to avoid taking the bus. It was always good side money."

Having what he called "normal retail jobs" as a teenager didn't stop Evens from continuing to learn anything and everything automotive when he could. For the duration of high school, Evens's dad, Mike, owned a body shop that allowed him to continue his education. At the age of 15, Evens bought his first car thanks to a wholesale deal with local dealer Premier Audio, which would soon take on Evens as his apprentice. While there, Evens learned both through wiring books and by installing remote starts and car alarms. "That came on pretty easy and I was pretty much running his shop," Evens said.

After high school, Evens attended ITT Technical Institute in Williamsville, N.Y., looking to learn the trade of computer drafting and design given his love of the structural engineering concept. "I took every course there was to take. I took drafting and residential structures and a bunch of the engineering courses. I took everything I could take technology-wise," Evens said. "I liked drawing, electrical schematics and computers at the time. The problem is that most of those job offerings were 11 bucks an hour. I was already making $40 to $50,000 as an installer. So I went mainstream doing car audio full time."

Evens began working at Stereo Advantage in Williamsville, spending four years picking up as much 12-volt knowledge as he could. After his stint there, he became store manager at Circuit City, but didn't last given the lack of excitement he experienced.

"That was kind of boring to me. All the radios had harnesses. There was not a lot of actual installing there," he said. "It was good money. But they started to close down stores because they paid too well."

By 2004, Evens had the itch to move. He thought about a place that was warm and would give him a fresh start. Las Vegas sprang to mind. "Everything was built out here, it was sunny with palm trees," Evens said. So he rented out his house in New York, moved to Vegas and took a job as an install manager at Audio Excellence. After about eight months, Evens had a reputation in town, given that as an automotive community, Las Vegas is quite small. He did more research, landed at VIP Motoring, a high-end retailer and was able to fulfill his desire for large custom builds. But that too wouldn't last.

Once the housing market crashed, Evens found himself out of work. He became a union bartender in the nightclub scene. But he never forgot his roots, always keeping his tools close by to take on jobs whenever they arose. Soon enough, 2009 came, the market began to recover and Evens got that familiar itch again.

"I made a lot of money in the nightclub, but woke up one morning and said I didn't want to be around a bunch of drunk people anymore. I realized that these people have disposable income. They're about flash, buying the newest car out there. I decided it was a good idea to follow my passion," Evens said. "I took a month off from all work, found a spot with 1,200 square feet of space and opened my store." But there was much more to it than that.

Read the rest of the story HERE. 

11-16-2017, Mobile Electronics -- It was the middle of winter. The temperature was 10 degrees below zero. Two men were outside in a dirt parking lot, working on a remote start install with a blanket draped across the door to keep out the snow. An electric heater was pumping warmth into their makeshift cave to offer the only sliver of comfort they'd get on this cold, cold day. The two men had no experience with remote starters, their only guide being a printed installation manual. Nineteen years later, those two men—owner Ben Larson and his brother John—would see their store, Sound Connection, Inc., become Mobile Electronics Retailer of the Year, Store Chain.

"The moral of the story is that every day I come to work, I'm kind of amazed that we've made it this far. It really did start from absolutely nothing. We had no prior experience in car audio or business and we just fumbled our way through it," Larson said. "If anybody ever wanted to start a business and was worried they didn't have enough money or knowledge, I can tell them otherwise. All you really need is grit."

Since 1995, Ben Larson has been in business as a retailer, but his journey really began when he moved to Minnesota with his parents at age five, witnessing their journey as small business owners. "My parents were in retail for as long as I can remember. They had a little tchotchke store called Soup and Save. They sold tools and trinkets," Larson said. "One day I saw an ad for amps and speakers in a catalog they used to order. I tried to put amps and speakers into my car. I had no idea what I was doing. I jig-sawed a doghouse for a speaker box and it looked like a beaver chewed through it. It was awful. Then I started reading articles in a car audio magazine and a friend asked me to do one for him. With each install, I got a little bit better. So I thought there might be a market for this and opened my first store."

With only 300 square feet, no cash register, no accounting system and no install bay, Larson knew he had a long way to go, but pressed on regardless. "I bought $1,000 worth of product from M&M. I kept growing the business, read every car audio magazine and did as much research as I possibly could. In 1998, I brought my little brother on. He had just graduated high school," he said. "That was my life. I ate, slept and breathed car audio forever and just kept getting better and better. I invested every penny I had and it grew from there."

Today, the two-store chain, which has locations in Waite Park and Brainerd, Minn., is doing better than ever, having just moved to Waite Park earlier this year from a location in St. Joe. The move was caused by a leasing issue, but the company is all the better for it.

"Business is great right now. We ended up buying a building, completely remodeled it, and moved in less than 60 days. Now we own a building in a very busy part of town. Our other store is in another fantastic part of town in Brainerd. We're working on building our second building," Larson said. "Business has been consistently up since 2010 when we joined M.E.S.A. and started doing Black Friday events. We're looking to expand to a third store and are getting into different revenue streams like window tinting, PDF and truck accessories."

All in the Process

With trial and error comes a world of experience that Larson and his team have taken to heart by crafting detailed written procedures, which include how customers are to be treated. On the company's website, visitors are given a detailed explanation of what to expect from the customer experience at Sound Connection.

"We hold ourselves to a higher standard than most. The Sound Connection standard.

The policies and procedures we have painstakingly implemented and follow every day on every install ensure you are getting the highest standard of work completed anywhere," the policy states. Thanks to this and other detailed information provided on the company website, customers are well-educated prior to entering the store, according to Larson who knows his customer base well. 

Read the rest of the story HERE. 

Becoming fulfilled in life meant a willingness to take risks and learn as much as possible for David Phillips, owner of The Sound Shop in Indian Trail, N.C. After working at several shops, including a big box giant, Phillips chose the hard road and found himself through the path of entrepreneurship. 

Mobile Electronics April Issue, 4/1/2016 -- Finding one's path in life is a goal most people hope to achieve. The sad truth is that many fail. Either they succumb to fear and choose the easy route or follow the wrong path, not clearly seeing the difference between that path and the one that will best fit them. For David Phillips, owner of The Sound Shop in Indian Trail, N.C., the path to finding his life's fulfillment was more like a roundabout.  

Starting out like many others in car audio, Phillips' passion began in high school when a friend introduced him to the field. After hanging out with his friend at events, he decided to join in and start doing his own builds. His lack of money didn't stop him from finding a way to build box enclosures and perform installs for friends throughout high school.

Once he reached college, Phillips worked part-time at a local 12-volt shop in Charlotte, N.C. "It was one of those places I started working but saw everything was wrong and learned what not to do," he said.

Soon enough, his time in college lingered without a true focus. Starting out as a graphic design major, Phillips eventually landed on business management, graduating with a bachelor's degree that took eight years to achieve.

"While still in college, I got a job at a high-end shop called Circuit Werks in Monroe, N.C. I went with a customer of mine to get parts for an install. They noticed how knowledgeable I was and offered me a chance at a job," Phillips said. "I had to compete with another candidate in a two-week trial but eventually got the job. I started in 2003 and worked there for five years doing things like alarms, remote starts and custom work."

According to Phillips, many of his fabrication ideas were developed from reading various car magazines like Euro Low Rider and Mini Truckin'. Some of his custom work included paneling trunks and building amp racks. The shop then started doing vinyl graphics and striping police cars, eventually becoming the only work Phillips did there for his last six months. Wanting to have more variety, and make more money, Phillips hit up a friend who worked at a local Ford dealership. He soon left to work at the dealership as an automotive technician, but realized quickly he had made a mistake.

"I didn't like being greasy all the time. I wasn't into diagnosing problems. I did it for a year to try it out," Phillips said. "During that time, I racked up credit card debt and needed a part-time job to get out of debt. I went to a shopping center and dropped off résumés at several places, including a Best Buy. They called me in to work there part-time, then they offered me a full-time position to run bay."

For the next four years, Phillips would run the installation bay at Best Buy, doing mostly stock installations of car audio equipment. There was no fabrication work, no vinyl graphics work. There was also no fun.   

"Most people's careers go opposite of that. When I went backwards to Best Buy, it was kind of easy. Deck and floor all day, speakers and radios, subs once in a while. At first I was excited because it was easy, but it wasn't very fulfilling. That Best Buy was part of budget cuts across the country and was closed. After that, I decided it was time to open my own shop."

To read the rest of the story, click HERE. 

9-15-2016 -- Four-star United States military general "Stormin" Norman Schwarzkopf was known for successfully driving out Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991. To his troops, he was known as a man of great wisdom and leadership who believed in individual responsibility. He once said, "The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.” Schwarzkopf's words carried beyond his troops and impacted one man in particular: Ed Weber, owner of 12-volt chain Foss Audio & Tint.

The company consists of four retail stores located in cities just South of Seattle, Wash., which include Tacoma, Kent, Tukwila and Puyallup. With 26 employees under his watch, Weber doesn't have time to babysit. Having a military background has helped him learn the value of independence, which includes following the words of Schwarzkopf when it comes to trusting his employees to know and do "the right thing" for the business. But those aren't the only words from the late general Weber found use in.

"Norman Schwarzkopf said he's so successful because he makes decisions fast. 'The enemy will spend so long but I'll make a decision so fast that I'll make the second before they've made their first,'" Weber said. "Sometimes it's better to make the wrong decision so at least you find out it was wrong faster. But it's gotta be a close debate. Sometimes the answer's obvious and simple. If it's close, just make the decision. I literally flipped a coin to decide which house I was going to buy."

While quick decisions and self-reliance are important to Weber, he also acknowledges that not just anyone has what it takes to be a leader. "We're management light. It's the hardest position of all to fill. The traditional theme of making your best performer your manager is flawed. Just because I'm a great salesperson doesn't mean I'm going to be a great manager of people," he said. "I was a good salesman so I got to be a manager, but I don't know that the two things necessarily have any correlation. I look for somebody who can help build a team."

Acoustic Intelligence

Given his knowledge of the Tao of Schwarzkopf, it's fitting that Weber spent time in the military—the Air Force, to be exact. But a military background isn't all he brings to the table as a mobile electronics expert.

"I've always been into music. I DJ'd when I was in the service. When I got out after four years, I was applying for jobs everywhere," Weber said. "I found a guy who needed someone who knew audio and I did, so I went to Smith's Home Furnishings and sold home appliances and electronics like big screen TVs, washers and dryers."

After working his way up the ladder and being promoted to manager, he moved with the shop to Florida, only to find himself out of work when the company went bankrupt a short time later. " They were sued for false advertising. It cost them over a quarter of a million dollars cash fine," Weber said. "The biggest thing I learned there was to find someone who's good at something and copy what they do. They went bankrupt right before Christmas. I went to work for the Good Guys, worked there one year then got a job as distributor rep for Pana Pacific, a long-time 12-volt distributor."

During this time, Weber was able to hone his skills as a salesman, working directly with retailers all throughout his territory in the Pacific Northwest. "I went to stores to sell product in circles until somebody said yes and they were my guy. It was challenging in the beginning because there was not a lot of income. I did pretty good there," Weber said.

Spending most of his time on the road, Weber established relationships with some of the top retailers in the country, including John Coleman, owner of Stereo King in Portland, Ore. Weber next went to work with Clarion under the tutelage of Bud Coe, who worked directly under Coleman previously, until Coleman opened Stereo King. 

"That was a whole different animal. I had what was closer to A-line structure. I was a distributor rep in a smaller line. It's different than being a factory rep," Weber said. "I started distribution with Coe. That went well. The Northwest was always a great market for Clarion."

After three years of working for Clarion, the company laid off a large number of reps, including Weber, which led him to work for Bob Oliver at Oliver Marketing. One of his clients at the firm was Foss Audio, a struggling chain that had closed two locations due to poor business. Having seen the success that Coleman had with his chain and having built up a strong knowledge base on the 12-volt industry from his time as a sales rep, Weber saw an opening.

"When their store manager called me to see if they could carry Rockford, I saw they were in Washington and the other was in Oregon. I said I had a 'friend' who wanted to buy a store. The 'friend' was me, of course," Weber said. "I thought about it for a long time. When you're a rep you have all these theories of what you want to do with a business like that, but I wanted to find out."

He made the decision to buy the business and cashed out his 401K to use as the down payment and starting funds. The first store opened on December 23, 2002. "I went in on a shoe-string budget. It makes it so much more difficult. I had to go to my former boss and get a display and assemble it myself early in the morning before the store opened," Weber said. The lack of start-up cash extended beyond displays and into product. "If I sold four items, I had to go pick up those four items before the store opened the next morning."

Despite his early struggles, Weber was able to turn a profit and eventually decided to purchase a second store in Issaquah. As the years passed, the business continued its upward trend, resulting in the expansion of three more shops. While the company currently has four shops, having lost its lease on the Issaquah location, Weber is confident they will soon be back online with the fifth shop.  

"Two months ago is when the Issaquah store closed and we're looking at new options as we speak.

That one was kind of weird. The showroom and install bay were in separate buildings but in the same parking lot," Weber said. "Things work out the way they should." 

Read the rest of the story HERE.

9-5-2017, Mobile Electronics -- People are motivated by many things in life. Money, family and career ambition are among them. A chief ideal among many is to do the right thing. It's not always clear what that is, but for the most part, it's widely understood that doing the right thing usually requires doing something for others. Often, it's a favor. For those who believe in principles like honor, dignity and integrity, any favor given is one returned, to keep balance in the world.

Joe Cassity, owner of Tunes-N-Tint in Lakeland, Fla., believes in these principles and uses them daily to cater to the needs of customers. Whether that entails going above and beyond to help a customer in a stressful situation or by adding window tinting or specialty lighting to his business, Cassity reaps the rewards of his ever-expanding offerings through his growing list of return customers.

"We're in the customer service business, we just happen to sell X. Whether that be car audio, leather or window tint, at the end of the day customers come to us because of the experience, not the product," Cassity said. "The most important person who comes into the store is the customer."

It's no wonder Cassity developed such a strong affinity for helping his customers considering his background working for so many companies that didn't carry as strong an opinion on the subject. "From a very young age, the car stereo bug bit me. I had bought products off of JC Whitney, Pyramid Electronics and a few low-end brands. I started out as a part-time installer at Circuit City around 1999 and worked my way to a management position with them," he said. "It was one of the few places that would hire someone without professional experience. I was let go in the structure change in an early round. There was a conflict with management, which made it more than a cost-saving measure for them. It gave me an opportunity to prove myself in spite of being let go."

His disagreements with management at Circuit City led Cassity to make the fateful decision to start his own store, Alarms, Etc., a mobile installation company. Within six months, he knew he had made the right decision as the company was profitable enough to open its first retail location.

Over the course of two years, the company became a chain with two more locations, two in Lakeland, Fla. and the original remaining in Tampa. In 2009, the Tampa store was sold as a franchise store, leaving the two Lakeland locations. Finally, in 2016, Cassity decided to consolidate both Lakeland locations into a single store to better streamline operations and cut down on overhead. "It allowed us to increase some of the services we were offering and now we are a single location retailer," he added. "That location in Tampa is over 30 miles away so we're not in direct competition and still work together from time to time."

The name change from Alarms, Etc. to Tunes-N-Tint was made due to the change in product sales, mainly that window film had become such a large seller. "While security was once our bread and butter, it's not as big a part of our business as it once was. We still have a lot of customers who believe the head unit is the heart of the system," Cassity said. "As more integrated systems are hitting our store, we're seeing more need for OEM integration. Safety has also been a huge growth category for us. We were an early adopter of Mobileye and Rydeen's 360 cameras."

Part of the name change was the addition of the tagline "Automotive Restyling," which includes leather, upholstery, spray and bed liners, and truck accessories, which has been a huge growth opportunity for the store this year. "It gave us a strong focus, let us set up accounts with some of our key vendors like Keystone and Meyers to offer a wider range of products, vehicle lifts, graphics, wraps and electronics."

The overall effect of consolidating his business has allowed Cassity to focus more on improving margins through strong customer service practices, in addition to lowering risk and liability exposure through having only one store.

Read the rest of the issue HERE.