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FINDING THE KEY
How can a business grow? There are many ways, but these retailers highlight diversification, understanding the demographic and making the shop’s brand a priority.
“There are tons of guys in the industry [all over the country] I talk to all the time. I like to hear how someone in their demographic attacks their business or approaches certain things versus how we do it here. We share insights back and forth. What works here may not work elsewhere.” - Adam Devine, Devine Concepts, Naples, Fla.
“You have to promote your business. You want people to come to you because you’re promoting your shop, not because you’re promoting a brand. Some people have a mentality where they want to have banners of different brands [to show what’s available]. You don’t need to do that. Guess what happens when you lose that brand? [The customer says] ‘You don’t have that anymore? I have to go to another shop.’ You just lost that customer because you weren’t promoting your shop—you were promoting another brand.” - Jon Lackey, Blvd. Customs of Lakeland, Lakeland, Fla. “Business diversification is 100 percent the answer to staying in business during a crisis. When you’re hyper focused on 12-volt, you have to find way to stay busy. Even though car dealers might not have new cars to sell, they need to find ways to make money, so they do more used cars. We can be there to help. If they have a client looking for a car, and they have something that’s close enough, how can we help? We do front-to-back rewires. We have a leather department, retail and wholesale. They might want heated seats, cruise control—we can do that. Upgraded wheels and tires, wrap and vinyl. I think that’s key. If you’re getting slow, start telling people you’ll do Jeep lighting, because 12-volt does lighting better than anyone else. Try to get into fleet work. Electrical, plumbing and civil engineers will need new vehicles. Why not be the shop putting in their lighting and radios? Anything to keep you busy.” - Dan Bowman, Titan Motoring, Nashville, Tenn.
2022
The Mobile Electronics Association shares the results the 2022 KnowledgeFest season
Attendee information for 2022
4,000 2,400
TOTAL EVENT ATTENDEES WERE RETAILER ATTENDEES
Attendee Profile for 2022
2,000
CAME FROM SINGLE-STORE LOCATIONS
400
CAME FROM MULTI-STORE LOCATIONS
Retail Locations and Types Represented 1,200 UNIQUE LOCATIONS FROM 940 UNIQUE CITIES FROM 50 STATES REPRESENTING 20 UNIQUE COUNTRIES.
mobile electronics association
Top 10 States Represented
TX FL CA IN OH OK IL LA NV GA
Was this your first KnowledgeFest?
34% 56% 10%
The first KnowledgeFest event I ever attended was in 2022
I have attend two (2) to five (5) events
I have attended more than five (5) events
Overall, how would you rate KnowledgeFest 2022?
47% 32% 18% 2% 0%
Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor
How helpful was the content presented at KnowledgeFest?
41%
Extremely Helpful
46% 13%
Very Helpful Somewhat Helpful
0%
Not So Helpful
0%
Not At All Helpful
Thinking about your time on the KnowledgeFest Exhibit Floor:
51%
I Spent Time on the Exhibit Floor all three days
26%
I Spent Time on the Exhibit Floor just two days
19% 3% 1%
I Spend Time on the Exhibit Floor just one day
I Did not visit the Exhibit floor
Other
How would you rate the value for the money of KnowledgeFest?
45%
34%
16%
3% 1%
Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor
77% Business Owner or Manager 10% Technician or Fabricator 9% Sales or Marketing Professional 3% Other
3% 14% 32% 38%
9% 3%
18 to 24 25 to 34 35 to 44 45 to 54 55 to 64 65+
What was the single most valuable thing you learned at KnowledgeFest 2022?
“I got a lot of new ideas to better my business” “Blowing my mind over learning how to market myself as well as my brand. It was awesome to get a refresher in sales and re-ignite my passion for car audio and accessories.” “One on one time with some of the biggest names in the industry is what I found the most valuable” “Like the old days of CES, putting names to faces. Establishing relationships. It was also very informative. Really enjoyed it. We have an amazing industry!”
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SITE TO SEE
www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis
Some might consider the ultimate transportation vehicle as one designed for space travel. Artemis 1, a mega-rocket, takes the first step in the next era of human exploration. Together with commercial and international partners, NASA plans to establish a sustainable presence on the Moon to prepare for missions to Mars. The first launch attempt for the Artemis mission is scheduled for approximately August 29. This test flight will be uncrewed, but there will be a data-gathering mannequin. Information gathered from this mission will help NASA prepare astronauts who will fly around the moon on the Artemis 2 mission in 2024, and Artemis 3 astronauts who will eventually land on the moon.
SERVICE Clover
WWW.CLOVER.COM
Let’s say your retail shop sets up a booth at a local car show or cruise night and you’ve got some products to display and possibly sell. How can you ring up a up a sale when you’re not in your physical store? These days, you need to be able to take your business to your customers. Point-of-Sale (POS) systems, like this one from Clover, process credit and debit card payments, as well as record cash and check payments. These systems also track sales and can generate reports to help you better understand trends and peak sales periods. In addition, nearly every POS uses your transaction data to help manage your inventory, letting you know when you’re running low.
As business slows for some, retailers continue to seek creative solutions in order to stay relevant in an ever-changing industry.
WORDS BY ROSA SOPHIA
Just a year ago, retailers were expressing concern about a potential recession— including Jason Kranitz of Kingpin Car and Marine Audio and Kingpin University in Las Vegas, Nev. Now, Kranitz feels the recession has arrived. “If you follow the history, every time there’s a big boom, there’s a recession,” he said, adding that the plethora of stimulus checks has led to the beginning of an economic slump.
“Business in my whole store and my area has slowed way down. The boom of COVID is over. We have to prepare.” Kranitz noted that many retailers were so busy, they may have lost touch with the basics. “I think it’s good to go back to our roots, which was easy to forget because things were so good,” he explained, noting that he has confidence in the future of 12-volt: “We can survive a recession if we have structures in place, treat clients right and charge what we’re supposed to charge and not play the ‘race to zero.’”
In business for 17 years, Kranitz said he’s seen a few downturns, but “as long as you’re doing high-quality work, the money is always there.”
BUSINESS OWNERS AIM TO ADAPT AND THRIVE
Though everything changes, there’s always a constant: As vehicle technology continues to evolve, so must mobile electronics professionals and businesses. In the past few years, businesses have found ways stay relevant by embracing new categories, seeking product through new sources during shortages and finding other ways to protect their business interests.
In the March 2021 What’s Happening column, “Guardians of 12-Volt,” retailers agreed that despite concerns of a potential recession, being able to adapt to changes is always paramount. Brandon Green of The Car Audio Shop in High Ridge, Mo. noted that well-prepared businesses will likely continue to manage as they always have.
“Even things like vehicle and technology changes already separate businesses that really go out and market themselves and educate themselves, from those that don’t want to learn or put in effort to improve themselves,” he said.
James P. Smith, owner of Vernon, Conn.based A.C.T. Audio, stated at the time that pinpointing a business’s core values helps maintain straightforward trajectory.
“Every day we come in and walk past things that need to be addressed, but we don’t necessarily see or notice them. We
might be blinded to issues with employees because of our relationships, or we’re putting things on the back burner.”
Smith said identifying core values is essential to a well-managed business, advising other business owners to write them down and “hold yourself and your employees accountable.” He added that he reviews the business’s core values with employees during a monthly store meeting.
Joey Knapp of Pinnacle Autosound in Lake City, Fla. said he diversified by picking up unusual jobs: The team built tech displays for local banks, and created tablet holder stands for another company. There’s lots of opportunity for diversification, Knapp said, especially when a shop has plenty of fabrication tools on hand.
Tomas Keenan of Break Free Academy in Dallas, Texas, said he’s always been a proponent of diversification as a way to protect one’s business interests and to expand. He recommended shops get involved with GPS tracking or other fleet work. Both he and Smith agreed that fleet work is a great way to supplement a business’s income.
“Fleet work isn’t going away,” Smith said, noting that it could be an important way for a business to continue through a recession. “We still need freight transportation across the country, school buses and emergency vehicles.”
Recently, Green was asked whether he felt businesses should still be concerned with a potential recession. He said he feels owners should always be prepared, regardless: “If you aren’t prepared, you’d better get on it immediately,” he said. “I think [it’s important] to have funds set aside for bad times, and then invest in areas that have always thrived during tough times.”
RETAILERS ALTER COURSE, RETHINK PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES
In June of 2021, What’s Happening focused on the “Altered Course” and how businesses pivoted to meet
Meet the XAV-9500ES, the oversized doorway into outstanding in-car audio-visuals.
The Elevated Standard
demands and deal with product shortages. Car-Tunes, Inc. in Greenville, Miss. shifted the way it handled subwoofer enclosures: While the shop once sold empty enclosures, owner Kimberly Trainer said it pivoted to only sell enclosures with accompanying subwoofers.
“Housing subwoofers and enclosures together saves space, promotes the proper enclosure for the designated subwoofers and allows us to wire the subwoofers correctly with heavy gauge wire soldered to the terminal so chances of a subwoofer failure goes way down,” she explained. Trainer said this move brought their entire sales strategy full-circle. Now, the team is able to ensure the right enclosure is sold with the right subwoofer, so the customer gets the best sound “for that particular setting or vehicle.”
Most Car-Tunes customers purchase an entire package from the shop, including the enclosure, electronics and installation. Trainer said this is always the best scenario.
“The customer will be satisfied because you’re selling them the right things,” she explained, adding that, often, when items are purchased on the Internet the customer may not have the expertise to choose what goes together properly. “They might not have the appropriate amplifier to go with the subwoofers, the right interface for the head unit they want, so the end result is a system that doesn’t perform properly anyway. If they’ve gotten all this online, but they just want an enclosure to make
their subs work, they won’t be a loyal customer anyway.”
Adam Devine of Devine Concepts in Naples, Fla. agreed that a lot more time goes into proposals or estimates than before, simply because retailers have to spend more time ensuring certain solutions are available.
“You don’t want to put together a proposal for a client, leave them with this expectation they’re going to receive something great, and then reach out to your distributor and find out the product isn’t available for six months,” he said. “How you overcome that is how you move your brand and your business forward.”
Trainer said she loves being a part of the business. “Plan everything. Your plans will change. I don’t come in the back door. I come through the front door like a customer, so I can see exactly what other people see. How does it look? What’s the environment? People purchase a lot more on emotion—the music you’re playing, the environment you’re providing.” She said it doesn’t always come down to the sale: “You have to provide the experience so they want to come back.”
In July 2021, James P. Smith of A.C.T. Audio told Mobile Electronics magazine he was working on implementing other business ideas to stay prepared in case of an economic recession. “If the aftermarket automotive accessories dwindle, hopefully the fleet division stays strong,” he said. Additionally, Smith’s business stocked up on head units early on, to keep ahead of inventory concerns.
How should retailers handle a slowdown in business? Budget well, said Kranitz, and ensure team members all understand their respective roles. “This is also a great time to work on displays, work on the store, invest a little bit of money and use that downtime,” he said. “Be prepared for the bounce back up.”
Kingpin Car and Marine Audio, as well as other mobile electronics businesses local to Kranitz, have seen a decline in the last two-and-a-half to three months. “We have to buckle down, start marketing again and reaching out to clients.” If shops aren’t utilizing social media to its fullest extent, he noted that now is a good time to start.
“Update your store, clean it up, work on procedures, train internally—figure out how you want things done,” he said, adding, “There’s still business out there. It’s just not as easy.”
Kingpin University—pictured at KnowledgeFest Dallas this past month—hasn’t seen a slowdown in business. However, Jason Kranitz said his shop, Kingpin Car and Marine Audio in Las Vegas, Nev. has experienced a downturn in retail business in the past two to three months.
