Nashville,  

Hello.  Having done exactly what you are contemplating back in 2008 ( What a fun year to start a business! ),  I can only offer my own experience.   I run Wolfsong Audio LLC from my home in Dawsonville, Ga. about 30 miles out of Atlanta.  Not in my home but in the garage apartment we built out for that purpose.  2 room showroom and office.   We carry about a dozen brands and show what I feel to be the "best price to performance ratio" models.  Speakers, Turntables, SS power and pre, tube power , preamps  integrated amps.  Some internet available kit like streamers, Dacs, Roon.  

Time is split about 60/40 in the showroom and doing in person service calls for auditions, room tune and turntable calibration.  It turns out people really like it when they can demo gear in their own rooms with their own systems and their own music.  

Nearly zero overhead.  Not going to retire with giga dollars but I get to do what I love and that is helping people listen to music longer and enjoy it more.

Spending time in a customer's home allows me to hear their rig and learn what they like, what performance parameters are most important to them and how they listen.  

Hours can be long, travel time can be long ( I have customers all over the South and East Coast).  But when a guy calls and asks about a $300 Streamer to add to his teenage grandkids TV room so they can stream music, I get a new generation of clients.

Market research is great.  Exclusivity is nearly impossible.  Only sell what you like.  Full Stop.  Offer a real audition.  Read those 4 sentences again.  

Best of Luck.

So you want to stick with 2 channel hi-fi? Not car audio? Not HT?

Can your local population support products like those sold by this savvy brick and mortar startup? Note these brands are not sold by your local competition nor online. He emphasizes his expertise in set up and combining the right components. Something you won’t get online or at big-box stores.

2nd other suggestions here to do headphones and such. Maybe not the profit of home stereo but that stuff is maybe the most popular product out there right now (think Bose earbuds).

Also those folks may appreciate some nice desktop speakers and maybe even a streamer DAC down the road.

@nashvillehifi 

Take @grislybutter  up on his offer.........

Btw I could analyze the demographics, age, education, income, etc. if you told us what town it is, that's part of my day job

Regards,

barts

Wow thank you so much for all of your responses been looking at everything

Starting my showroom again

Yes to that. Maybe not a profitable or practical concept, but a good way the get the non-audiophile interested. Offer a show room where people could walk by, walk in, and listen. It would be a "bullet proof" entrance foyer with components visible but not accessible. No asking to audition. No salesman pushing something or trying to make a sale. Maybe a switch box so they can try a few things or dealer changes out components every week or so. I experienced such a shop at a strip mall out west. It was unique and memorable.

This addresses one of my biggest problems with hi-end audio. Being able to hear this stuff. And the higher up you go, the more this problem increases. You have to travel further and there are fewer dealers. Then you get just one shot at listening to this stuff and it is in an unfamiliar room with unfamiliar associated components. Then you will be expected to buy because they just spent an afternoon on you. You walk in, listen for an hour, and expected to pay 10K, 50K?  That is no unreasonable on the seller's side. It's just not a good business plan for both sides IMHO.