how many of you are ..............................

Don't make your hobby your business, otherwise it becomes WORK.

"If it was easy and it was fun, they wouldn't pay you, and they wouldn't call it work." (me)

Hey Mike, while there are obviously a lot of folks hereabouts that do have some financial involvement in the business, I suspect that the majority of us view this as a hobby and, such being the case, we have developed some proficiency in the subject.

Other than keeping up with some necessary professional publications having to do with my profession, I tend to avoid forums having to to with my job; I get enough of this at work.

I come here to relax.

thanks everybody,the only reason i asked this question is beacuse when i read peoples responses to tech questions it seems that there are a bunch of people who really know what their talking about.

i was curious as to how much of the good info was related to members being directly involved in the business or from the school of hard knocks.

mike.

I've got an interesting perspective on this...
...I've worked in high end custom audio/video sales for years. The best salespeople(which I'm not one of them honestly), who year after year far surpass everyone else in sales volume DON'T EVEN KNOW AUDIO VIDEO! They know nothing about exotic high performance custom dedicated rooms and system! They don't know how to get people world class experinces!....they sell stuff and installation!...that's it. And they sell A LOT OF IT!
Still, they get people mediocre at best!
I like to think I can design, engineer, install and calibrate the absolute best audio/visual experiences possible at any price point, in any room, with any gear! It's what I'm good at. But then again, it's been my passion for many years. I've lived, eaten, breathed, slept and sweated audio/video!..both as a hobby and a profession.
Still, I've not been happy with the retail sales grind. People read a couple of reviews, go from shop to shop listening to systems that are diffent than what they'll end up with in their home, buy some stuff either from someone of the internet or whatever, then stick it in a room...and end up with "not so good results"! That's the sad truth.
It takes more than expensive gear to make audio/visual magic! Yet sadely, most end up with what's stuck in their head when it comes to buying this stuff.
What I need to do is build a couple of dedicated theater rooms in my new home, one or two custom rooms/zones, and show clients! I would really like to sell to customers who walk in and appreciate my work, and say "wow!"...."can you build me one of these!?" That works best for me I think.
Sales of audio visual is funny...it's no different than selling cars I think. Sales is sales. But special custom audio/visual...that's an artform...and few salespeople are great at both...if any.
I'd much rather sell people on MY WORK, than gear they can get anywhere for cheeper.

I have recently joined Starsound Technologies, manufacturer of Sistrum, Audiopoints, Sonoran Cables, Harmonic Precision Amps and Speakers.

I have also worked in retail high-end shops in the past.

I believe the old saying is it takes about $5 million to set up an audio business where you can make $1 million.

Or maybe it was: It takes a million to set up an audio business where you can actually turn a profit.

Some sentiment. High overhead and low net profit. Good margin's though, just not enough business. Most high end shop's survive because of home theatre these days.

Enjoy,
Bob

I'd like to.

After i win the lottery I'll have all the funds I need to set up a super high end store/recording studio......with the speaker design lab in back!

Me Too!

The Audio Bus. makes its living off of me.