Question for shop owners/employees
 

I'm 90% done my business plan and getting everything rolling. pretty much all of the shop in my area carry 7+ brand names for audio alone. Given the current buy-in's for any major lines I'll be starting up with just Kenwood(excellon as well) , Pioneer(hopefully premire as well) , Focal and Twister for the audio stuff. I'm wondering what any of your opinions are on really just sticking with a few lines?.

Keep in mind too I only have a 525 sq.ft showroom and 2 bays and I'll also be selling performance parts/accessories and lots of truck parts. so it's really expensive starting up as is.

Any opinions guys?

Have you considered Soundstream or Eclipse?

I started off really small with JVC & Compustar. 4 years later, I have money in the bank, 5 employee's, an expansion and great customers. It took time. We didn't make a whole lot of money in the first year.
With this current economy, you might want to keep it small for a little while. You can always expand in the future. But if you bite off more than you can chew, then the dogs will bite your ass off. Play it smart. Know your demographic. Play within it.

I have a very competetive area I'm in, so I can't start too small. And rent/overhead is decent but not exactly low so I'm really struggling to find the lowest start-up expenses while not looking like a backwoods shop. It's one tough tightrope I tell ya. So far for everything I'm ringing in at just under $80k to get everything set and done.

yup, Soundstream although popular again is too readily available at flea markets and wholesalers in my area. The company distributing eclipse in my area wants too much of a buy-in and 2 other fairly local shops allready carry their line.

It's beyond amazing how much work it takes to really get shop up and running. I don't want to carry 2 major brand names, I'd rather just carry 1 and 2-3 lesser known companies that make good equipment to avoid directly competing with other local places. But at the same time brand recognition is important too..