Looking for a long-term business partner in North NJ/NYC area

Howdy folks

I'm trying to start a small business which will have a major woodworking co mponent. I recently pretty much lost my first client because the guy I foun d on Craigslist decided to flake out on me (yeah, I know, going on Craigsli st was my first mistake). Even if I had the time to learn this stuff for my self, I really don't have the real estate or budget for floor machines righ t now. So, I'm looking for somebody whom I can make an equal partner for th e long haul.

The right person will

-be interested in starting a new business

-be familiar with millwork and cabinetry as well as architectural framing, and have the hardware to handle (basic) millowrk.

-have a little more time on their hands than they really want

3 business contact references are A MUST. Once bitten, twice shy.

Love of live music of any kind is a big plus.

reply to donovandigital at gmail

Many thanks in advance to any interested parties

Joe Stavitsky

Reply to
Joe S.
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Maybe it will get someone's attention if you share some of your credentials. Are you a long-time reader of the wrec?

Reply to
Bill

Sorry, wrec?

Re my credentials, I'm basically an AV tech who's back in school to get an ee degree. I'll go into alot more detail with interested parties, but if anybody has any questions feel free to ask. I just may not always answer :).

Thanks again

Joe

Reply to
Joe S.

You're welcome, but count me out.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Any details at all would be nice.

but if anybody has any questions feel free to ask. I just may not always answer :).

I'm thinking that any one wanting me to go into business with "me" needs to show an interest in answering any questions immediately.

Reply to
Leon

Guys

Thanks again for the interest, and sorry if I was a little short on info la st night. It was kind of a long day.

The general idea is to put together a full-service audiovisual sales and re ntal operation, focusing on the entertainment industry. That said, I am in the early stages of market research; corporate work may be more lucrative.

I've been doing a/v work for about 5 years, focusing on audio. I have stron g electronics-fu and can repair pretty much any audiovisual hardware you th row at me (I don't have a reflow oven in my basement so there's certain stu ff I simply won't bother with). However, to chase the really big-ticket wor k I need to have a very tight relationship with somebody who understands ar chitectural framing and joinery. Easy enough to demonstrate mathematically that hanging a speaker off a load-bearing beam will not hurt the structure; somewhat tougher to make the city building inspector believe it.

To take a far simpler example; I can obtain, at fairly short notice, a soft ware package to design advanced custom loudspeaker systems. Actually buildi ng them is where you guys come in. Selling custom speakers on ebay strikes me as a great low-voltage starting point for a business relationship. After we do that for a little bit we can consider where we want to go next.

Again, not that I want to be closemouthed about what I'm trying to do but t here are just certain topics I am not comfortable discussing on an "open li ne", so to speak. I'll gladly tell you anything you want to know over email .

Reply to
Joe S.

Sounds like you are asking for 2 things.

One to do a builtin. One to build speakers.

Speakers are built with particle board (heavy) to get a consistent sound, and they are veneered. While veneering is not difficult, it can be quite expensive to get the veneers desired in quantities to support small runs. I assume you are making small custom runs to pick out the look.

Building the speaker is a box.. Unless you require baffling.

The builtin, is quite different. I assume you will be matching finishes in high end homes. That in itself can be quite difficult to match existing finishes.

How much volume will you be doing? And what is your expected turnaround time frame?

Reply to
woodchucker

A former band mate, and Asst Engineer in my studio, was (may still be?) a partner in this:

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Billy and his partners have impeccable credentials in acoustics, mathematics and engineering. I helped him put together a few speakers in the early days, almost 20 years ago. We also mixed a couple of albums in my studio using their products as console reference monitors to give them some recording industry experience/exposure.

I watched these guys struggle for a number of years, and they still may be doing so. Tough business in this neck of the woods, or any neck of the woods from what I've seen. IMO, anyone contemplating getting into this industry needs to be young, hungry, and ready for some tough sledding in the early years.

Good luck to the OP ... nothing ventured, nothing gained. But don't anyone give up their day job (if you are lucky to have one) too soon. ;)

Reply to
Swingman

Jeff

Thanks for the interest

The residential market is a big market, but it does not necessarily have th e biggest jobs. At this early stage I am far more comfortable with my abili ty to do business with nightclub/bar owners and theaters than I am with res idential work. However, that comes from a money standpoint, not a skillset standpoint - I can cut and patch drywall as well as the next guy.

I am not so sure about (only) particleboard as a material; take a look at s ome of the stuff here. Not saying that these are the best designs necessari ly, but to make it on ebay we should be able to do things like that out of some nicer-looking hardwoods.

That said, I proposed the loudspeaker thing as a simple expedient by which we can make sure that our business styles are 150% compatible rather than a long-term business model. If it keeps making money, so much the better.

Reply to
Joe S.

Re volume, still researching. At an early estimate, if one job takes more than 2 weeks we are doing something wrong. If it takes more than a month we are doing something VERY wrong.

Reply to
Joe S.

Swingman

Trust me, I know exactly how bad the high-end/studio business sucks right n ow. That is exactly why my strategic focus is on sales/install to large ven ues. As I mentioned in my reply to Jeff, the custom speakers bit is really a way to make sure everybody is on the same page business-wise before we ge t into too much time/money.

Reply to
Joe S.

Trust me, my post was solely for the benefit of those who routinely participate in, and know what the "wrec" is. ;)

Reply to
Swingman

You will probably need a licensed professional engineer to sign off on it.

Reply to
Bill

I have a few guys in mind. My math and physics skills greatly reduce their workload and my cost.

Reply to
Joe S.

(snip)

rec.audio.pro would be a good group to check out for this.

Reply to
Gray_Wolf

--------------------------------------------- None of which has anything to do with running a business.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

It seems I am going about this the wrong way. My expectation was that if I showed up here and people were interested in hearing my propositions - and they had the hardware and skillset I mentioned - they would email me any qu estions they had. As it stands, I'm kinda fuzzy - do you guys expect to see a complete business plan before you even entertain certain discussions? If so, then no problem, I will come back here when I have one ready. On the o ther hand, if any of you guys want to get some relatively small (and pretty much risk-free) work done, split the profits, and make sure I have 2 brain cells to rub together as a fringe benefit, we could do that too. Option B would certainly make me more comfortable with putting the time into complet ing a business plan writeup.

I am curious - I realize I haven't linked to any of my work or my resume, b ut what in particular made anyone think that I was not aware of rec.audio.p ro? More to the point, why should I expect useful advice (much less encoura gement) from people whom I expect to be my direct competition?

Reply to
Joe S.

I think a popular attitude is that if you post a question in a group, then you should be willing to read the answer there.

I think we've already had some pretty good discussions. Mike Marlow suggested that there is a lot more to audio acoustics than building a cabinet, and I think he is right. Lew Hodgett pointed out that there is more to running a business than meets the eye. There were more comments than I can remember at the moment. I'm sure you can contract all of the additional "skills" and expertise you require locally. Why not try playing the role of "general contractor" and see what happens. Even if it costs you money, I think you'll come out ahead. Do some painting and drywall at the same time, so you can keep busy where you're not working on your ee degree, and maybe make a few bucks.

Reply to
Bill

"Mike Marlow"

That has me curious. If not MDF for speaker boxes nowadays, what? Composite plastics?

Reply to
Morgans

Exactly, or synthetic woods. Although it depends somewhat upon the speaker and its use. MDF is still used, as well as a void free plywood, like Baltic Birch plywood for PA applications. Composite materials/thermoplastic polymers with glass reinforced plastic fibers that mimic wood, especially for designs that use computers to design and manufacture speaker shapes that can't be done with wood.

Reply to
Swingman

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