Thinking about an Internet Business (Music Equipment) Feedback please?

I'm thinking about starting an online music business where customer service is the #1 priority. I've delt with Music123 and Musicians Friend's customer service and have not been impressed. This is something i've always wanted to do too. I think a forum, weekly reviews, and some other things that could keep interaction with the customer would be a good idea. Or giving points for purchases and more to returning customers that could add up for equipment over time. Anyone else have any feedback? I'm just tired of seeing all these big companies with horrible service. I just believe that customer service alone can make a company. I wouldn't be in this for a huge fortune either. Maybe once i and some partners earned our share to live off of we would just send small freebies back to the customers or more expensive things to the ones that keep coming back.

Feedback? Any thoughts? Am i missing something? Am i just crazy?

If you have the experience, a business plan, money to invest etc.. then it sounds like a great idea.
If you've never run a business before though, or don't have management experience, I'd think twice. Maybe start an eBay store first to get the hang of it.

For 2 years my dad and I ran a small business here in town (until we ran out of money). It was the most rewarding time in my life. I looked forward to helping out customers and doing an extra good job for them. I found that spending a 10-12 hour day at work was more fun then I could have even dreamed of.

That is the good stuff. Now the bad; you NEED to build a strong business plan BEFORE you get things together. Having customer service as your mantra is great but it takes a hell of a lot more then that. Businesses do not succeed on ideas alone; you need a very strong business case for spending the money before you start. If you can't have a money recovery plan that shows some sort of profit within the next few years then either forget it or build a new plan.

Sit down with a blank sheet of paper and jot down all of the possible failures first. Come up with as many as you can. Have friends and family also come up with failure ideas. Think of every worst case scenario; in fact try to come up with ideas why you should NOT open the business. After that, come up with viable answers that can address the problems, and resolve them. If you can’t do this now before you open a business, imagine who difficult it will be after you have invested time and money in it.

If you have a good plan in place like this before you begin your business venture you will be much more likely to succeed. If we would have done the homework first, we would have structured our business differently in the marketplace. Since then I have learned a lot more about being successful as a business owner.

Good luck!

The online space isn't so bad financially...how big are you thinking?Are you hoping to compete with music123 or MSFriends?I have no idea about that.If you get a good business plan,you can try and attract investors to fund the venture for you(this is how many companys get going).


It wouldn't be a bad idea to get a small stable of high end brands(mesa,soldano,prs e.c.t.)and sell as a boutique store.Its also much easier to service customers if the overall buisness structure is small.I say go for it,as long as you can eat another day if it dosn't work out.

Offer free shipping. I hate getting murdered on shipping charges and am literally thousands of times more likely to buy something with free shipping. I can't tell you how many times I've had a few items in my "shopping cart" then went to checkout and saw how much shipping was and just closed down my browser.

Amazon.com offers this on most orders over $25. I order from there alot. Also, I'm flying back home to Ohio in a couple of weeks and didn't have a suitcase. I went to a few department stores and most reasonably sized suitcases were around $100. I thought that was way to much, then I found one at ebags for $40 with free shipping and it's the same brand as one that was $100 at Kohls.

yeah dude, if your prices rival that of music123 or musicians friend, and you offer free shipping, I'd buy from your business :D but like these other guys are saying, make sure you have a plan first, and alot of money to invest into this thing.

Make sure you offer extremely safe cash transfers like paypal. Also, there wouldn't be much competition between yo and musiciansfriend as they don't even ship to Canada. :mad:

Originally Posted by: ericthecableguyMake sure you offer extremely safe cash transfers like paypal. Also, there wouldn't be much competition between yo and musiciansfriend as they don't even ship to Canada. :mad:

actually, recently they have started shipping to canada... I don't think every item ships to canada, but when you are viewing the product description, now there is a little thing that says "ships to canada" on certain items.

been there, done that for over 25 years, and getting ready to do it again, ...I have been studying the marketing and buying strategies of the mass merchandisers...there is only one way to compete with them and accomplish your customer service goal....CASH....and lots of it...of course the business plan is crutial, but in order to make it sucessfully in the retail music business, you need experience in each and every aspect of it, plus you need a walk in store for validation. There are tons of products, good ones, that are not sold by 123 or the friend...that should be the first line of offense, second a retail consultant, like myself, who know every in and out of this dog eat dog business...third you need a staff of knowledgable dedicated musicians who want the best for your customers and mean it....if you would like to discuss this in person with me...contact me through my website www.jodimcfadden.com thanx Chance McFadden, Iowa

CHeck out sweet water.com (one word). They have excellent customer service and although they are not the cheapest on the web, well you get what you pay for. They are the only online music company I have nothing bad to say about !

I could never get them to return a phone call.

It will be difficult to get some of the well known brands to sell to you. Epiphone, Gibson, PRS etc... If you do manage to get one of these companies you will then need to sell a certain # per month to keep them as a supplier. Check into the companies you are interested in dealing with before you leap. See if they will even work with you first.

Good Luck..

have you thought about selling second hand kit ?

At the moment their is eBay and that is always hit or miss and a lot of people wont use it as they are too scared they will get ripped off.

However if you could offer some fort of security i.e. in the form of a money back guarantee you may be able to carve out a whole new niche !

72 pieces per year....remember Guitar center and musician's freind own a large portion of the stock for both fender and gibson, ergo by being their dealer, you are actually supporting the stock owners. It is not as simple as everyone thinks....it is a web of corporate business and profit the the name of the game.....Tokai, Nobel, Austin, Jay Turser, St. Blues, Bad Cat, and quite a few others are some quality instruments/amps...at all price levels..ex bad cat....their pricey....but you get what you pay for.....but then again , a dealer with a lot of investment capitol, may want to design and import his own line of guitars and amps and maximize profits.