Customer service; allways worth the effort

     It seems to me that good customer service is rare and often difficult to provide.  It is rare because it is often hard.  Our motivation for serving our customers is key.  When I lived in Japan for a time in the 80's I learned that the motivation that came from the culture was the concept of not losing face.  If I were asking for directions in Tokyo I would ask several people often to see if they agreed before I took the advise.  The person would not say I don't know because then they would have failed to help you so to avoid losing face the person would offer directions even if they had no idea how to get there.  If you are a business owner the customers are what keeps you in business so survival can be a motivation even if you in your heart of hearts care nothing about the customers welfare.  If you are an employee the motivation could be to keep your job.  These motivations can produce great customer service but this can be a hard road.  My older son will soon graduate from college and we have often talked about his career choices.  He has the idea that one can do whatever makes lots of money even if you do not like the work or are not naturally gifted in the kind of work.  I to an extent agree with him that one can learn to do the work well do it without any real passion for the work but over time all that effort wears a person down and maintaining that level of customer service becomes unbearably hard.
      I just returned from a very busy week of work tuning in Chicago.  I plan these trips to be very busy cramming much work into a certain period of time to make the trip pay with all the expenses of travel, lodging etc.  A couple of things help me provide good customer service in this situation.  I really like the work.  Every customer new or old is a blessing to the business choosing Renshaw Music to meet their piano needs.  My work produces joy in a family setting and the improved piano might be used for worship which is an encouragement to my faith. The other thing is I enjoy the people.  In a way it is easy to relate well to these customers.  Most of the time I see them once a year so there is not enough time to develop personality conflicts.  In a way this is like driving a limo which I did off and on for many years.  The customer got into the car and I would enjoy getting to know about their work or whatever there was opportunity to talk about and then they were out of the car when we got to our destination and I often didn't see them again.
     No matter how likable or unlikable the customer might be the best motivation for good customer service is the realization the each customer is a potential blessing or hindrance to the business and without the customer the business or your job has no chance of success.Each customer is also a person loved by the Lord and  the Lord does tell me to do everything as unto the Lord.  So then seeing each customer as a blessing and worthy of my best is the best motivation for good customer service.

Encouragement from the Word

My tme in the bible this morning was in Phillipians 3 and I was greatly encouraged by this passage.  The business continues to struggle, and if I took my encouragement by what I see with my physical senses there would be little to be encouraqged about.  Sometimes the Lord uses other Christians to encourage us but there is nothing like taking in the Word of God to keep my thinking on the right path and see his work in my life.
     I came to know the Lord when I was nine and this passage talks about knowing Christ and the power of His resurrection.  This is the Lord's work but the passage encourages us to not look at our immediate circumstances but to "press on" toward what the Lord has for me in the future.  I am encouraged to work hard at the tasks set before me but know that the Lord is also at work. 

black friday: A marketing opportunity

     I have never particularly liked shopping and certainly never have liked shopping in a crowd of shoppers.  Now that I am on the other side of the fence and am a retailer I am feeling the pressure of making these holiday events profitable.  My store will be open from 10 to 7 as is the usual hours on this day, but I am doing some advertising featuring some new products at very special prices.
     Today was a good day with better sales and more traffic in the store.  If this week is good I can expand my orders for the Christmas season and try to capture more of that business.  I am soon going to have to decide how to keep the store open while in Chicago and how long I can stay.  I also have to very soon decide whether to attend the Midwest Band Directors convention.  I have attended this event many times when I was teaching and enjoyed it very much as a band director.  Attending as a merchant will be very different and one day I would love to attend as an exhibitor.  There would be some very good benefits from attending such as:
     (1) finding new sources of product.  The big distributors will be there like Selmer and Yamaha but there are many other smaller folks that might love to have another outlet for their products.  Anything to set my store apart would be good like offering a quality brand that is not easily found elsewhere.
     (2) Finding new customers :  The band directors that attend all control a school budget and need everything that I sell.  It is a bonanza of potential customers that are in an environment that is unique and much more conducive to relational selling. I am a retailer but was a band director for many years so know exactly what these folks do every day and have a good insight to their needs.
     (3) Educating myself on the latest technology: The latest and best in technology used in the classroom is all there and the dealers of this product are eager to connect with potential buyers who can in turn market the product.
     It is still another expense so I will need to try to be as objective as I can about the cost verses the benefit.  It is something that I want to do already so being objective is hard.  Decisions like these would be easier to make well if I were still involved with a business mans group like the Christian Businessmen s Committee as I was in Chicago before the store.  This week I attended a luncheon and the speaker compared life in corporate America verses the life on an entrepreneur.  In the corporate setting you are working in teams and you do not want to take risks but an entrepreneur has to operate alone in a very exposed position.  Leading and risk taking are part of the job.

Chicago travel: memories of the blizzard

     In some of my previous posts i defined what a snowbird is.  I have at times described myself as a snowbird in reverse.  A snowbird travels to the north in the sjummer and comes to Florida in the winter.  They are definately here as evidenced by the traffic and doubled attendance at church.  I will be heading to Chicago sometime in the first week of December to stay for two seeks or so and work as a tuner and then portray Herod in the living nativity at church..  That is why I have called myself a snowbird in reverse.  The business and this event bring me to Chicago in the opposite season as is normal.
     It has actually been  almost a year since I made the trip and last year when I drove to Chicago I drove right through a 20 inch blizzard that was bearing sown on the place.  I drove through the night on that occasion and arrived at my first tuning appointment at exactually 8:30 AM.  I have to climb up a huge snow drift with a big tool box in hand to ring the customers bell.  When the customer opened the door she was shocked that I was there at all much less on time.
     This trip I am planning on flying and I hope the weather will be milder than last year.  I do miss the snow aq little so I guess I have not yet become totally aclimated to Florida.  It is a little different too when you know you will be back in the sunshine in a couple of weeks.  We have performed our Journey to Bethlehem many times with snow on the ground and a little snow does add to the setting although there was no snow in Herods home when the events actually took place that we are recreating.
     This is our 20th year to present Journey and I am looking forward to seeing many friends in Chicago and especially to see my two sons again.

Business travel: essential, expensive and difficult

     For a number of years now Renshaw Music has operated in two states 1200 miles apart. The biggest part of the piano tuning business is in Chicago and now here is Florida there is a large music store.  Travel to Chicago in December has always been a combination of business and a tradition of portraying Herod in the living nativity offered to the community by my church in Chicago.  this is our 20th year to produce Journey to Bethlehem  and I have participated every year every night for all 20 years.
     Some of the challenges of this trip have been that I have always driven.  I used to drive the whole trip without an overnight stop but these days I make the first day a good 15 hours starting at 3:00 AM, and then the second day is comparatively easy.  Driving was necessary because I needed to carry all my tools and parts so that I could do more elaborate work on my customers pianos.  Because primarily of the store I believe this year I am going to fly.  It has always been true that the trip would be cheaper flying than driving when you consider meals and lodging and the cheap air fares usually possible on this route.  The new variable now is the store and the time on the road that would not produce income from tuning and take time away from my tending to the store that would produce income.
     Journey will also produce some real down time from the business as a whole.  As much as I have come to enjoy Florida, I will get to spend some time with my two sons who live in Chicago, and reconnect with my church family at First Baptist of Oak Park.  The business demands of such a complicated enterprise are very hard to get away from and I am usually in need of this real down time in order to finish the year strong and prepare for the Christmas season.  After doing Journey for so many years it just would not seem like Christmas without my role in Journey.
     When I do these trips to Chicago I spend weeks before the trip packing tuning work into the period I will be in town so I am certain the tuning income will make the trip turn a profit. I usually don't make much of a profit but if I just break even I would still need to invest some time in the Chicago enterprise to keep the business healthy there.
     It is always a very busy time but in spite of the expense and grueling schedule I return refreshed and feeling like the company as a whole is in a better state.  These trips require very careful planning often for weeks before I depart.  It has been many years sense I have flown and I am looking forward to arriving refreshed and ready to go.

Store open: the hard work begins

Renshaw Music

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       I have been open now for two months. I had a grand opening and last month a ribbon cutting.  those events were good for the visibility of the store in the business community.  I made some choices that I kne3w would present certain challenges such as to be self funded.  I am debt free which is good but I do not have the benefit of elaborate advertising or complete stocking from day one.  I am doing without elaborate shelving and counters but the store still looks good and the product will grow as the store develops.
     Some of these challanges I expected but there were some surprises such as:
     1)  Refusal or resistance from large suppliers to make Renshaw  a dealer for their products.  Reasons given are territorial.  The nearest large music store to me is about 40 miles and I am told by some that that is too close.  The idea is that another dealer that sells their products would be unfairly impacted by another dealer that is "too Close".  I think that is not reasonable because given the choice of driving 40 miles to get a specific brand of new instrument the customer would choose an alternate brand from the competition or go with used.  I also know that there are dealers much closer than 40 miles apart in larger metropolitan areas like Chicago so this rule must not apply everywhere.
     2)  Large minimum orders.  The same dealer that flatly refused to offer me a dealer status would also require that the first order be $60,000.  I am told that if a customer laid $8000 on my counter for a new instrument this dealer would refuse to sell it to me.  This is a line of reasoning that I just find hard to understand.  If someone makes something why would he refuse to sell only one.  Is it better to sell one or none?  When one manufactures something I always thought the idea was to sell it.
     3)  Stocking wisely:  We are back again to marketing.  Now that I am open I have customers coming into the store telling me they want to buy a certain product or a certain brand or specification of product.  I stock what is specifically requested especially if that customer actually comes back to but the item.  I also need to supply products that I know are desired by the population group that I have not met yet. 
     I do enjoy working in the store and as I grow I will be able to major on my strengths more.  One thing about being small is that you have to do it all and in a sense time management is a major issue.  The things that are not my strengths seem to take me a much larger time to accomplish than someone that is more talented in that area.  There is always a balance between saving time by delegating tasks to someone who could do it faster or trading your time for money by doing it myself.  Sometimes it costs less to hire someone else to do a task if you save enough of your own time or the use of others services increases profits.

Jazz society promotion: refining the idea

     The jazz society promotion with two jazz pianists that recently ended was a qualified success in that I added four new customers to my business in South Florida.  I am doing it again with a concert on Dec 12th featuring Bill Alfreds classic jazz band.  I will again put it on my web site, and post info on the store bulletin board.. I have 15 tickets this time and my goal is to add 15 new tuning customers to the business.
     With the snow birds coming back and the holiday season starting, there should be more traffic in the store so this should bring some takers without any additional effort.  I am in the process of launching a advertising campaign for the business in general and hope to make all the advertising more targeted.  To this end I plan to use a consultant that attended the entrepreneurial academy course with me. I am a general purpose music store but I think I need to select a few other target markets that the store can serve such as:
                   1)  church musicians
                   2)  student musicians
                   3)  Working small ensembles
                                    a) renting studio rooms for rehearsal
                                    b) carrying recording and amplifying equipment
                                    c) exchanging space on web sites  or selling space on my site

     Identifying the target for marketing efforts is the first task and often the most neglected part of a targeted marketing or advertising strategy.  If the target of the marketing is at all unclear then marketing and advertising efforts are often less effective and time and energy is wasted.  Time and treasure is always limited so using it to the best advantage essential to getting the best result.
                                       

Banks, the enemy of small business.

         There are many challenges facing owners of small business.  If you are a very small business like my store you are doing everything from cleaning the floors to making decisions about inventory to buy.  Buying the wrong inventory can hurt your business but keeping the store clean and attractive can drive a customer away as surely as not having what they need.  A small business needs real help from professionals like accountants, contractors, lawyers, good sales reps from suppliers. Some of these folks are also small business owners and really do want to provide good service and help your business grow.
     Banks, on the other hand are only interested in money and would do anything for a nickel.  There are new branches springing up everywhere and these new buildings seem to be the only new construction to be found.  There was a recent report that said that banks make 40 to fifty percent of their income from penalty fees.  I would say that if banks gave the money back to the customers it belonged to many would go out of business or at least have to close branches. 
     Banks used to make money by providing services like loaning money, but draining customers accounts directly is easier and more profitable.  I could never be a bank officer and look a customer in the face who had just lost some money to the bank.  The standard answer given to the victim is that it wasn't a bank error and that is true in a way.  the bank took the money on purpose.  Sometimes banks will give some of the money back as a "courtesy" but the remaining amount stolen is still stolen and I see no courtesy in theft.
     I guess I should be silent and consider this kind of graft the cost of doing business but I would never treat a customer of mine that way so I just have to bear the loss.

Marketing, marketing and more marketing

     When I opened my new music store I knew there would be a need for marketing.  Target markets do change and there is a continual need to keep focusing your marketing efforts to hit that bulls eye that keeps changing.  With the tuning enterprise the market suddenly changed shen the US economy tanked relatively recently.  Previously if you wanted to increase your customer base the fastest way to accomplish that was to do warranty tuning for stores selling new pianos.  The deal alsays was that you did these tunings cheap but after that initial tuning the customer was yours.  When all the new piano makers went out of business except Steinway that market suddenly disapeared.
     An unexpected benefit of that for me was that there were experienced tuners willing to accept work from Renshaw Music that were too busy with their own customers before.  Finding new customers in the tuning business suddenly repuired marketing efforts.  With the store I have had to be a relentless marketer to build the customer base for this new enterprise. 
     My recent ribbon cutting was a big boost to the traffic in the store but as the season is starting I now need to compete with many other voices that are trying to tap into those new dollars.  My store is not a specialty shop so I am waging a marketing battle on many fronts.  I find that i need to think outside the box with products that would be considered gift items with a musical theme.  With the Christmas season coming as well as the snow birds returning there is a significant opportunity here but it is going to repuire both a relentless and shameless marketing effort on my part. 
     The series of guirilla marketing books that I have written about in previous posts identify 200 marketing weapons and suggest that one designes a marketing plan and then evaluates the effectiveness of each of these tools that are in use and then ditch the ones that are not working, increase efforts into the one's that are working, and add new weapons that you think might work.  That is the spirit of  the relentless and shameless marketing  that I find I need to throw myself into.

Jazz society promotion: a qualified success

     One of the marketing tools that I listed in one of my earliest posts was buying a block of tickets from the jazz society and offering a free ticket to a concert with two jazz pianists if a customer did a tuning before the concert.  the jazz society printed some very nice looking tickets that said compliments of Renshaw Music  and I picked up four new customers with this promotion.  The remaining tickets will be reprinted for a future concert and I will do it again.  The result was not as good as I had hoped but new customers are like gold so I am considering it a qualified success as a marketing tool.  I have some ideas about better promotion of the promotion next time so this marketing tool is a keeper.
     I attended the concert too and the performers were fabulous and I had forgotten how much I enjoy good jazz.  Another benefit that I had not thought of was the concert itself as a marketing moment.  The time before and after the concert were great informal times of meeting prospective customers and getting the word out about tuning and the new store.
     My ribbon cutting is a week away now, and there have been many challenges but this event should be a big boost  and a lot of fun.

Ribbon Cutting: The next big event for Renshaw Music

     On October 19th the store will have a ribbon cutting at 5:30 PM.  Since becoming a member of first the Punta Gorda and then the Englewood Chamber of commerce, I have been attending almost every ribbon cutting that the chamber participated in.  These events were for all kinds of businesses and often they were huge parties and lots of fun.  there were always many new and interesting people to meet and speeches by the business owner and then the ribbon cutting itself with good coverage by the local papers.  I am so looking forward to having one of my own very soon.
     So far not many from the business community have visited the store.  I think most business owners who have attended these events like me and know me will turn out for this event.  There will be refreshments, introductions of teachers and a long list of others who have helped my create this new business.  This event should be a big boost to the awareness of the store in my community.This event is really just another marketing tool.
     A general music store like mine is particularly hard to keep in the public eye.  A specialty shop of some kind can identify and target a market and then concentrate efforts on that narrow market.  I have a store that makes me a generalist with products for many diverse kinds of musicians.  This week I had a customer come in with a Fender Rhodes keyboard and I was able to repair it and send the customer on his way spreading the word that the store can service this rare instrument.  In a way my niche is that I can serve the needs of a very diverse group of musicians.
      The ribbon cutting can highlight these unique features as well as being a great party.

Finding hope in a damaged economy

     Renshaw Music as a retail store has been open now for two weeks.  Developing new relationships with vendors, teachers for the studio, and a few allies that supply equipment for the teaching rooms and sales floor on a consignment basis has been chalanging yet enjoyable.   It is an ongoing process, though that is going to take time. 
     My ribbon cutting is on October 19th and I am hard at work preparing for that so I am very busy.  One thing that I am coming to understand in a different way is how the economy is effecting my customers.  The "experts" talk on the TV about the economy and it's effect on the population but when the customer comes in whose husband just lost his job with some little ones that want to take music lessons and affording the instrument or the lessons is going to be very difficult for the family,  the damaged economy presents itself in a different way.  It wasn't easy for my parents to provide the lessons and instruments for me  but I am glad they made the sacrifice and part of what I enjoy in running the store is being a part of enriching the lives of the families that I serve by offering good products at a good price.
     The economy will likely improve but that will take much time too.  Whether the economy improves or not, however, the thing that gives me the most hope and encouragement is that the Lord is in control.  Being anxious about my personal circumstances or the store does nothing but trusting the Lord brings His peace, which is all I really need.

The season: return of the snow birds

     As excited as I was to open the store it is even more exciting to see the snow birds starting to return.  A snow bird is someone who lives up north during the summer and here in Florida during the winter.  my store opened at just the right time as I am open and building my stock.  I still have no bank loans, partners or other investors so I am still debt free.
     From the customer contact I have had so far I have a better idea about what stock is desired and have established relationships with distributors that can supply what is needed.  As I expected I really like the customer contact and getting to know the musicians around here.  As in many places the arts in the public schools are under attack.  I believe offering lessons and musical supplies will fight this trend.  I have always thought that the argument that we should drive all students into the computers, math and the sciences because the good jobs are there is ridiculous.  You do well at what you like and are gifted to do.  Some students have gifts and interests in music and they should have a chance to become great musicians.
      Many musicians have a second gig to pay the bills and that is not bad.  I drove limousines when needed but have persevered at music.  I taught for many years, moved into piano tuning and now I am running a music store and  still tuning and teaching private lessons.
     It will be a busy season as some of those snow birds are musicians.  Some that walked into my store this week identified themselves as snow birds and were very happy to see a music store here that would supply their musical needs.  The season will last through the holidays and then the population here will diminish by half again and then the summer heat comes so I am going to enjoy this time while it lasts.

Intense day but rewarding: the store opened

     Today Renshaw Music opened a music store.  My family was there, many friends from the business community, and many from the area of the store stopped by.  All the activity of the opening was compounded by a huge UPS delivery of accessories that came just before lunch. My whole staff were all working  unpacking , pricing and stocking things like box after box of reeds, guitar picks, and many other small musical products that had to be priced by size or strength and labeled correctly.  My staff did a great job and my sister and mom enjoyed the day too.
     One friend that was there commented that my dad would have loved to be there.  My dad died almost three years ago at age 95.  I think he would have been proud of the family pulling together and opening a large business like this one.  That thought added even more to the day.
     I was thinking to today about how different this is living and working as a businessman in a relatively small town to life in Chicago.  Chicago is a great city but here I feel a part of the business community and not a small entity trying to survive in a very big place. 
     Punta Gorda is a community  taken apart by hurricane Charlie not too many years ago but now there is a vibrancy to the community.  The economy is effecting things here adversely like it is in the rest of the country but today so many people were encouraged by my new store and I am happy to have a positive influence on this place.

The Lord is good: His peace is sure even 10 days before opening

     The opening of Renshaw Music is just 10 days away and the list of things yet to do is overwhelming.  One task I am looking forward to next week is placing my first orders.  The work up to now has been preparation for September 14th.  After so many years of being a service guy it will be great to be in one place most of the time and have customers come to me.
     Isiah 26:3 says : "Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."  The Lord has not promised the store will be successful, just His peace as I trust in Him.
     Now that I am almost up and running I am beginning to plan my first product order with probably half a dozen suppliers.  I have spent many months trying to study the market, but once I am open marketing will be a very different thing.  I will have some hard data to consider as I study what actually sells in the store and use this information to guide future stocking decisions.  This will be important to the success of the store, but of more importance will be getting to know my customers and listening to what they need.
     The open house event is only five days away and if well attended this should be a big help in serving the needs of music teachers in the area.  These folks control budgets but have many pressures to use funds wisely.  I was a public school band director for 23 years so I understand these pressures which I am hoping will help me serve these special people well.

Open House: two weeks untill I meet some very special customers

     The build out for my store is done and I am painting  and looking for shelving and things for inside the store.  The repair shop received its first job from Chicago.  There is a table top celeste on my work bench that I am refurbishing and will be in the store as a consignment item.  this is my seventh one to work on for a customer in Chicago.  They have a keyboard like a piano but bars like a bell set.  They are so much fun to work on.
     On Sept. 10th I am having an open house for music teachers or directors in schools, churches or giving private instruction.  If well attended I  will get to show these special people the store and introduce any teachers or repair personnel that I have at the time and I hope get to know what they would like to see in a music store.  I need to find out what would make my store distinctive from the competition.  Some instrument manufacturers are giving me some trouble about becoming a dealer because they say there are other stores too close to me that sell their product already.  The competition closest to my customers , however , is the internet.  Many of these teachers order from the internet and competing with the price on the internet is sometimes not possible but I can offer the customer the opportunity to see the product and I plan on delivering to schools and churches.
     The other thing I can do is offer some locally produced products that can't be ordered over the internet like pottery made by a local potter with musical themes in the design of the pieces.  I will offer tapestries some of which are designed by my sister.  The weaver can input her designs into the computer controlled press and the picture is woven into the fabric.  I know of a local maker of guitar straps.  I will be looking for any qaulity locally made product that displays excellent work.
     I am going to be very particular about any teachers or repair personnel working in my store also.  I want the store to have a reputation for quality offerings of product and services from the opening day which is
September 14th
     There is much to do but I am so looking forward to this day.

Grand opening; The goal in sight

     Renshaw Music will open it's doors on September 14th.  This new music store at 5240 Duncan Rd. in Punta Gorda will house my shop, have very spacious rooms for private instruction, and a large retail space offering a good variety of musical products for band and orchestra.
     This is not a new business but an expansion of Renshaw Music into retail sales from a fixed location.  I suspect the thing I am going to most like about this new job description is the new relationships with the musical community of this area.  My roots are in public school teaching as I was a public school teacher for 23 years.  I have also been a church music director so I hope I can understand the needs of these very special people and offer excellent services to meet these needs.  There will be other places that sell the same products but I hope to set  my store apart from the rest by offering great service and some special products like tapestries and throws sometimes used to decorate pianos but of general interest to decorate a fine home.
     The day the lease was signed was a milestone but a couple of days ago when I printed up a stack of fliers with the September 14th opening date was another. I am now truly committed and am working very hard at many tasks but ready of not there is a date now when my dream of running a fine music store will come to pass.

Lease signed: great days ahead

     Yesterday I signed a lease for a space for my music store.  As the saying goes; the fat's in the fire now.  I am committed and there will be a period of preparation and then a grand opening, which could some as soon as early September.  In my years as a tuner I discovered that I liked the interaction with customers and when I began managing other tuners I found I liked that too. 
     The store will be work but it will be so nice to stay in one location all day and not have all that travel time each day.  There are many things I am looking forward to with this new thing.  If the store is successful I should be able to hire others to do some of the bookkeeping and accounting that I so do not like.  In my years as a tuner I have used accountants occasionally but much of the day to day accounting still fell on me.
     In the past there has not been enough income to pay myself a consistent salary so it has always been hard to separate business transactions from personal.  This made the accounting tasks of categorizing items of income and expenses both for tax purposes and just to get a clear picture of how the business was doing  in a given quarter more challenging.
     With sales there is always the opportunity of selling more and dramatically increasing income.  With a service like tuning there are so many hours in a day so the income potential has some limitations. I think I will also enjoy the selecting of products to stock and marketing the available merchandise to the customer base here.
      There will be the challenge to make sure there is a profit by controlling expenses.  In some ways a small store is like a bigger company or even a government in that all have to control spending and maintain an income.  These lessons seem to be lost on our president but he, of course has a job.

    

Setting goals: pushing the envelope or sounding the retreat.

     We have now had the protracted debt debate, the deal to raise the debt limit and the reaction from the stock market to draw back.  Investors are understandably nervous and there was major selling today.
     Small business is not unlike those big investors pulling back in tough times. The banks have no interest in helping small business these days and there is little encouragement anywhere for the person thinking about starting a business or expanding an operating business.  The economy is in need of small business to get moving and not massive spending from the government.  Just as government tinkering with education has never been a good thing government meddling in the free markets has also never been a good thing.
     My music store will definitely stretch my resources both in terms of my time and finances.  I will be opening without any debt which is a good thing.  I have some marketing ideas that I hope will set the store apart from the competition,  On my web site there is a banner for artfull cash enterprises which is a source for the purchase of fine tapestries and throws.  You sometimes see these items covering piano lids and  this company can take a digital picture supplied by the customer and weave it into the material when the tapestry is made.  My sister is also a graphic designer and can custome design an image to use in creating these items.  I will have a selection of these items in the store and information about my sisters talents and doing dustome works.
     I am thinking the store could be open now by mid September or early October which I find very encouraging.  Getting all my tools and parts for the piano work out of our house will also make my family happy and I should have the use of the repair shop in the store soon after I sign the lease so the celeste that is on the way will have a much better place for me to rebuild it. 
     I will also be hiring some help in the store and am still looking for some good help in the repair shop.  A good string repairman is my greatest need so if there is anyone out there who is really good and would like to work in my area I am very interested.  More info will be coming as I get a date for the grand opening settled.  I believe there are great days ahead.

Web sales of large instruments

     The web site renshawmusic.com now has a new look and is I think more visible now thanks to the good work of Ce Jay Associates.  In a sense my store is already open on the product page of the site. 
     The web can be a very versatile tool  as you can see items large and small in both size and price.  I will be working at making my product page not only be a place where customers can buy directly sitting at their computer but someone looking for a celeste for instance can see a picture of the item and get a good deal of information about the item before seeing it in my store.  Someone looking for a unique instrument such as a Fender Rhodes keyboard can locate perhaps several on the web and if one is found in my store the product page would bring the customer to me to buy something directly from my sales floor that I might have to ship otherwise. 
     Renshaw Music will have guitars, clarinets, violins and all the related accessories but will also have a selection of products that are harder to find as well as a good selection of products for the professional musician.  Ultimately the products in the store will by dictated by my customers and I plan on listening carefully to the customers wishes as far as stock.  That said I would love to hear from my readers about this subject.
    

Refining your tatget market strategy

If someone is in business they have tried to define their market at least in their initial business plan.  If the business owner is wise there is also a marketing plan in place and a means of keeping track of how successful a given marketing tool is.   The best business practice is then to adjust the marketing plan to stop doing what does not work and keep doing or even increase efforts at what is working. This is an ongoing project as long as one is in business.
     My market in South Florida is much different than in Chicago.  One thing unique to Florida involves demographics.  There is a part of the population here commonly called snow birds.  These are those who  still have homes in northern states and are here for the winter to escape the cold weather.  In my area it seems like half my market disappears for the summer.  When the market is narrow or small this is a problem.  I have tickets for the jazz concert on October 10th mentioned in previous blogs.  Those who have pianos tuned between now and Oct 10th will receive a complimentary ticket for this concert.  If this works I will do it again with a classical concert here a few months later and will be looking for a similar concert or event to use in Chicago.
      Opening a music store now in Florida makes sense because I have more time now to supervise the build out and get up and running in time for the season here.  I will also hopefully have time to test some products in the slow time and maximize profitability in the busy time.
     The winter is the busy time for piano tuning in any market and I am thinking would also be so for a music store.  The holiday season in general and the opening of schools and all the school purchase needs should make this true.  There is a lot on my plate in the coming months.  The year is more than half over and it seems like the the time has flown by.  This I suspect is going to be the lull before the storm as far as demands on my time. It should be an exciting time too as there is much to do that is new and I hope profitable for the business. 

    

Why retail sales?

     I have been tuning pianos now for many years now and while the current economy has severely effected the business I am still in business. I have very little overhead and cannot be put out of business by losing a building.  My business has expanded beyond the customer base that could be covered by one tuner and when that happened I became a manager of other very good tuners that help serve my customers.  Management is not for everybody but i found that I like it and seem to do it well.  There is a down side to sending other tuners into your customers living rooms but I will not deal with that here.  This job that I like so much does provide a level of security as long as the customers are pleased with your work and most tuners settle for this situation earning a comfortable living serving regular customers often for many years.
     Signing a lease and opening a physical store on the other hand makes one responsible every month to produce a certain level of income or close the door.  Why then take on this burden?
     Broadening customer base:  The products sold in a music store would add customers that play many instruments and would give the piano company greater visibility and attracting still more piano customers.  Customers would be coming to me with still more new customers in tow.  As I get older I think I will enjoy not having to spend so much of my time driving to my customers location.
     Greater income potential:  Adding more customers and more tuners will produce more income but the work occurs out of my direct supervision.  It is therefore harder to maintain quality control and my liability increases directly in proportion to the amount of work taking place remotely.  Diversifying into the sales of hundreds of new products also has the potential to increase income.
     My business currently consists of a customer list that is very hard to sell so my exit strategy has a major problem.  A store if successful is something tangible adding value to the business.  I can only sell the tuning business to another tuner whereas a store with a track record is something tangible for my kids someday.
     The tasks of running a store play to my strengths:  As stated earlier the management aspects of having others working for you is not for everyone but I found that I liked it and seemed to be effective at the tasks involved.  It is not easy to find where your strengths lie.  My sons are considering what career to enter and I try to help them see the need to find ones strengths and move into a field that capitalizes of those strengths.  Choosing a career only because it pays well is in my opinion a mistake.  Doing something you do not enjoy and are not naturally gifted in will soon get very old. 
     I am very happy to have found a job that I enjoy so much and that I can continue to do for many more years.  I suspect that I will enjoy the customer interaction very much when my store opens as I do now when I am tuning.  This economy is causing many to think about their own business.  If the business encompasses  one of your passions it is a wonderful thing but a job where you clock in and clock out is definitely the easier path.  I have never worked so hard as these years operating Renshaw Music but also never enjoyed going to work this much before.

Business expansion in a depressing economic climate

     There are many challenges to the small business operator these days.  In 2006 I expanded my customer base in the Chicago area ten fold by buying the business of the tuner that taught me my trade and whom I had been working for for about ten years.  The economy was totally different then and the business has not performed at all like I had hoped in the intervening years.  Renshaw Music has survived, however, and I have learned a lot about running a business in the process.
     As I talk to others in my industry I find some very optimistic about the future of the economy and some thinking about moving to other countries.  Market forces have not been good to piano makers.  In Chicago politicians have taken over the schools and devastated many great music programs by targeting  "underperforming" schools.  The reasoning is if the math and English scores are bad you kill the music program by cutting off funding, scheduling students out of the band or choir period, or of course eliminating the music positions.  It was once a given that every elementary classroom had a piano and now that is a very rare thing.
     I would not say that I am optimistic about the economy improving very soon, but I  believe my business needs to grow.  There are some piano products that I have been selling as I am in customers homes tuning pianos for many years.  I have a product page on my web site that is being worked on now to make it more visible and attractive. I have decided to press ahead with plans to open a music store in the area very soon.  Punta Gorda is a great place to live and while not being extremely optimistic about the immediate growth of the economy I am very excited about the growth of my business in a place that survived hurricane Charlie and has an economy that is on the move.
     Future articles here and on renshawmusic.com will conical the expansion of this business.  Business expansion has to be carefully planned but a business must grow and adopt to the market around it or die.  I will again cite Proverbs 21:5.  "Steady plodding brings prosperity; hasty speculation brings poverty"  

     

Fusion marketing; partnering with the jazz society

     On my May 22nd blog titled "Marketing Off Season In Florida" I listed some marketing ideas for the summer and item number one is a done deal.  The jazz society here is sponsoring a concert on October 11 with two jazz pianists that are very well known in Jazz circles.  Mike Markaverich and Stu Shelton will be appearing on October 11th here and any customer who has a piano tuned by Renshaw Music will receive a tick to this concert compliments of Renshaw Music.  If a customer orders $80 worth on merchandise in a single order from my product page of the web site a complimentary ticket will also be given. 
     Fusion marketing is when you partner with another business and both businesses benefit.  I hope this will be the beginning of a good relationship with the jazz society long term.  In Chicago there is a rebuilder, Jeff Capelli, who runs Reniassance Piano which is the best rebuilding shop in the country in my opinion.  Jeff and I are friends but we are also two businesses that have been involved in this kind of relationship for many years and both businesses have benefited. 
     Fusion marketing is a mind set. These relationships do not happen by accident but one has to look for opportunities to join with other businesses and do things like this promotion with the jazz society.  I will benefit with new business over the summer when things are usually very slow and the jazz society will benefit by me sending new patrons to their concert.  If this works I will be looking for other concert venues to attract potential customers interested perhaps in classical or gospel music.
     I have not heard from anyone about the other marketing ideas on my May 22nd blog but all of those ideas are still peculating.  If you have an opinion about these ideas I welcome your input.

Retail business and internet competition

     In my tuning business I have for many years offered the Cory line of cleaning products for piano cabinets and keys.  Customers would often ask me how to clean the keys or the piano cabinet and these products are in my opinion the best for this purpose.  The key bright  product is especially good for the material deposited on keytops by children who would sit down to play after eating their favorite candy.  I carry these products with me and many of my customers use them.
     There are now several hundred musical products that I can offer that can be found on the product page of my web site.  Before the internet a music store would have competition in their immediate area but the internet has changed all that.  Now their are huge internet stores offering many more products than the biggest store could stock and the customer can shop online and the purchases can be shipped directly to their door.  Offering products in the field was for me a simple response to the  customer' stated needs and when I was in the customers living room offering these products the customer was saving the time and money of either driving to the music store or taking the time to get online and select products.
     My online product page and shopping cart has had a much harder time.  Even when I am offering a known product like a Manhasset music stand at a lower price than my competition the potential customer has to find me in order to buy.  There are so many online competitors for identical products that having good products at the best price is not enough.  I am finding this to be a great challenge.  I may know a lot about music stands but I struggle with being computer savvy.  One can of course hire this expertise but when you are small funding for this purpose is very hard to come by.
     The internet is a very powerful business tool.  In a service business computers can easily store info about a large customer base as I have.  I use a great program to generate reminder postcards for my customers and my accounting program is very useful for tax reporting purposes but the internet can be an equally powerful competitor in the arena of retail sales

Back to work in Florida

     I had my first tuning since coming back to Florida on the morning of July 4th.  It was good to be back to work.  The customer heard about me by receiving a business card that someone gave her.  I suspect that the card got into circulation at one of the chamber networking events that I attended before my recent Chicago trip.
     This the off season here when all the snowbirds are enjoying cooler temperatures up north.  I will be implementing a couple of marketing ideas designed to stir up some summer work and I am excited about getting back to the steady plodding necessary to power any business especially in a difficult economic time.  If I can improve the business in this slow time I will be even more successful when the season comes again and the population here will almost double.
     I will also use the free time I do have now to work on my funding problems for the opening of a retail store which still is a part of the business plan for Renshaw Music this year.  The other change or development for the business in the business plan is increased retail sales through the web site.  There is a lot of competition on the web so this will be the most challenging area to develop.
     My sons will be visiting us after their summer school ends and I am hoping to take either or both of them along to one of my networking events.  They are both in college majoring in business and I am always trying to involve them in the business.  Not every college business major has a family business to observe.  I like to think my being in business had something to do with their choice of college major.

Business travel

     I am back in Florida after the long driving trip.  It is 1300 miles between Florida and Chicago and I make the trip several times a year.  If I were an executive that travels by air that would be no big thing but I have to drive and carry all my tools and parts.  When you own the company you have to do whatever the business demands.
     If the cash flow from Chicago supported it I could make changes in Chicago that would get me out of my van but I have found it difficult to expand the business in this economic environment.  Raising some operating capital and hiring an employee to tune the pianos and or find new customers would be good  but banks do not loan money to anybody that needs it these days.  My web site now has a shopping cart and products displayed that customers can buy online but the competition online is very stiff and that has not been the boom to the business that I had hoped.  The business in Florida is growing slowly and I have concluded that I just need to work the business there.  One of my favorite quotes from the bible is Proverbs 21:5 which says "steady plodding brings prosperity ; hasty speculation brings poverty".  These 24 hour drives take a lot out of me but I will be traveling for the foreseeable future.

Player Piano Care

     I have been working in Chicago all week and have had the priviledge of working on several great player pianos.  One reminded me of the upright pumper in "The Music Man", one of my favorite musicals.  When I bought another tuners business in 2006 I acquired about 200 player customers.  I don't think I have that many any more as every customer eventually comes to a point where the player needs to be rebuilt and some choose to remove the player mechanism or just toss the whole piano. 
     Those paper rolls cantain some great music that is often lost.  If the choice is throwing away the whole piano or just the player machine it is better to keep the piano as some of these instruments are great pianos that have been neglected because of the player machine making the piano inaccessible for the average tuner.  I have been forced to get out of the player rebuilding business because the time working on a player impacted my availability to me piano customers too much. 
     For a time these players were great to use for families and friends to gather around and sing along or just have the fun of making great music with your feet.  I also worked on a grand piano that is a player this week.  You need a big room for a grand and an even bigger room for a grand player as they often are very loud.  Just like a grand piano can have a much richer sound than a smaller piano a grand player can have a much greater sound than a smaller player.
     I guess as I get older I likie to hold on to older things and knowing that great player pianos are getting to be a thing of the past makes me a little sad.  If you have a player in the chicago or south Florida area and are thinking about getting rid of it I hope you will call me first or find me through my web site at renshawmusic.com.

Player Piano care

     When I expanded my business by buying another tuning business I bought about 200 player piano customers.  I do not rebuild players but have the tooling and ability to maintain them.  A player piano is really two machines.  Many tuners when called by a player customer for a tuning will not tune them because you often have to take things apart in the player machine to get to the tuning pins and dod the tuning.  Players are fragile machines and it is very easy to damage something in the process of assembling or re-assembling these machines. When I do get a player that needs to be rebuilt I refer it to another specialist that does these rebuilds for me.
     Players work on suction rather than air pressure.  A player rypically developes leaks and begins to become harder to pump if it is a pumper and just run slower with notes of the piece not sounding.  Because it is not one leak but many in the heart of the mechanism there is no easy or cheap fix. Customers at this crossroad have to decide if they really want the player or just settle for the piano.  The player part can be removed and then you just have a piano without the player machine in the way of the tuning process and this is a service I provide more and more these days.
     The old mechanical players with the paper rolls are great fun and those that love them will spend the money to care for these great instruments.  I am seeing fewer player customers each year, however.  I get calls frequently from those wanting to sell a player and sometimes I can find these instruments a new home and sometimes I can't.  I do enjoy working on them and hope this part of my business does not someday cease to exist.

Management in a small business

     I have been in business for some time now and I still use only indipendent contractors, but I am still a manager.  Even if you are still a one man show most businesses have to do some purchasing, marketing , and sales.  These tasks actually are much the same as someone who does sales for instance for a big company.  I still have to get new customers as does the sales person selling to customers whose orders have a few more zeros than mine.
     As my business grew there came a point when I needed others to help me and then I like it or not became a manager.  I actually found that I liked the management tasks but  if I could not hire someone to do sales or marketing the job fell to me if the company was to grow.  It is actually much easier to learn these tasks today with all the free education offered on the internet and through organizations like SCORE or joining local chambers of commerce.  I have found both of these organizations to offer great help for free or close to free.
     My oldest son will be a senior next year in college majoring in business and I have suggested to him that if he does not find a job right away he might consider starting up a small business.  My thought to him was if you bury yourself in a small part of a large company you will never learn about all the things that make a comapny big or small work like sales or marketing to name a few.  His reaction was not positive or negative but I said to him even if you made a profit of the minimum wage he would learn much more than if he had worked at McDonalds and even if the business folded he would be young and the experience would help him find a better job.
     Someday I hope to be big enough to hire an accountant for instance but for now the job remains mine.

Down time

     I am spending some time off at the Joni and Friends family retreat as a volunteer.  Everyone needs some time off and I am spending some vacation time with a purpose.  Families come to Marinatha Bible and Conference Center that have a disabled family member and a volunteer like me helps care for the disabled person giving the families a respite from the 24/7 care of the disabled person. 
     There are all sorts of disabilities here and I have served at this camp for 11 summers now. These week long camps receive families in great stress often.  The care givers get a chance to connect with other families facing the same challenges and it is often a healing time for a family that might otherwise not stay together as the divorce rate for a family with a disabled child is in the 80% range.
     Another statistic that really grabbed my attention this week was the 90% of downs syndrome babies that are currently aborted.  Down syndrome is easily tested for these days and our culture seems to regard these persons as disposable.  I have served as a buddy to downs syndrome children here and I find this to be a great tradgedy.
     I more often have served adults but the point of this camp is to serve the whole family no matter what disability is present.  A vacation where you travel and see another culture or just relax in a beautiful perhaps tropical setting is a good thing, but I find my batteries recharged by this kind of ministry even more.  The volunteers work hard here but I really get away from the business here and return with a new energy.

Small business driving the ecomomy

     I am not an economist but it seems to me that small business is important to the ecomomy.  A small business can often offer goods and services cheaper than a big company and so when a consumer needs something and needs the best price for the good or service the small business will usually get the job.  I have sons in college soon to enter the job market and they might get a job at a big company but it is more likely that they will need to get some experience at a  smaller company before becoming CEO of a big one.
     I kind of hope they will consider starting a small business.  If a small business fails when you are young there is much to be learned and plenty of time to move on with a career with some practical knowledge of how a business works.  With a big company if you lose your job when you are older like my dad did when the Phantom jet program ended and he was laid off at McDonald Aircraft it is much harder to find a job that continues to advance your career.
     One of the major enemies of small business today is the banking industry.  If you have lots of money they are willing to make loans but if not you have to look elsewhere.  Penalty fees are easier money. 
     This week and the next I am volunteering at the Joni and Friends family retreat.  I have been doing this for many. years now and being in business for myself allows me this flexibility.  It is a wonderful ministry to families effected by disability and I am motivated to work in a small business in order for this ministry to be possible.  Large corporations need workers too and some enjoy climbing the corporate ladder but I prefer to build a new ladder.

Business today: unnecessary meanness

     Everyone in business has relationships with a variety of others such as suppliers, accountants, tax advisors, employees, bankers, and competitors.  The most important persons in any businessmans life is the customer.  When I was driving a limousine for a living one time at a meeting one of the drivers in jest suggested the job would be much better if we got rid of the customers.  He suggested dispatch could just send us from place to place and we could give the appropriote radio code when we arrived and then dispatch us to the next location without any customers in the car.  At the end of the shift we would just return to base and then go home.  It was a brief interlude in an otherwise serious business meeting.
     I enjoy my customers very much and would not think of doing less than my best while in the customers living room caring for a piano.  There are many challenges to running a business especially when the business is small.  I have independent contractors helping me and they do a great job.  I like to think that they think the same way about the customers of mine they serve. 
     I am a customer too of my banker, my accountant, my suppliers and a number of others.  I wish I could say Renshaw Music was important to these folks but there is a lot of unnecessary meanness in the marketplace today.  At one time a banker was the friend of small business.  At a bank today everyone is outwardly friendly but banks make a significant percentage of their income from penalty fees.  They smile as they tell you the $30 fee was not a bank error.  It of course was not an error but the funds are taken on purpose. 
     The battle is not often with providing good service to the customer but with protecting company funds.  I find I need bankers, suppliers, accountants and others to support my business but finding professionals in these fields that really want to help my business succeed is a great challenge.

Piano Choices; To rebuild or throw it away

     It is hard to think of a piano as something to throw away.  Enough neglect, however, can relagate a very fine piano to the dumpster.  There were once many fine American ;iano brands such as Baldwin,Mason and Hamlin, Chickering and many others.  It is true today however that the last American brand standing is Steinway.  A Steinway is a very fine piano but a medium sized grand can cost up to $100,000.  There are Asian pianos that have American sounding names designed to fool the public and the Asian makers have indeed gotten better in recent years.
     As a piano ages natural wear occurs on all the moving parts but more so in the middle of the piano that gets more use than the top and bottom.  A tuner can replace worn parts as needed but the touch becomes very uneven even with good regulation.  Parts can eventually fail causing one note to cease to play.  A rebuild is when you replace all the moving parts in the action and also the strings,tuning pins and pin block as well as refinishing the body.  When you do this you can even do things like repair cracks in the soundboard and refinish the soundboard and replace any decals on the instrument.  A good rebuild on one of these fine pianos can cost $20,000.
     Pianos are neglected for many reasons.  Often the decision maker does not realise what a rebuild is and what can be done to one of these instruments.  I have seen rebuild Baldwins that look just like they came out of the factory.  If a piano is 100 years old and I see many still functioning at that age if they have received even minimal care, with a rebuild one can expect  many years again of great service from one of these pianos.  Which then is cheaper, the new Steinway or the rebuilt Baldwin?
     I have put forth this argument many times and sometimes there is agreement but the funds are just not there and I understand that.  I also know that if a piano is not used the perception can become that it is not fixable.  I do hate seeing one of these fine instruments on the road to the dumpster and if you have influence in the displsition of one of these instruments I hope you will consider these facts.

Tuning or caring for the piano

     I have been in Chicago now for a week working with some customers I have known for many years and meeting some new families.  I did enjoy teaching but this job does have some very unique rewards.  One day I am in a suburban home and the next in a high rise with a beautiful view of Lake Michigan.  The pianos I work on run the gammit too from beautiful grand pianos at home in a concert hall or one of those luxury condos on the lakefront or a more humble instrument in a modest home.
     Tuning is a beginning of the job.  Piano care involves much more.  With many customers the piano is not only an instrument but a piece of furniture.  You don't put in a case and then into a closet like a trumpet when not in use.  Pianos are made mostly of wood  snd so changes in humidity can have a devistating effect on a piano placed in a bad place in a room.  The rule of thumb for piano placement is never on an outside wall or next to a direct heat source.  I sell a great line of polishes and can offer on my web site beautiful woven coverings  for a piano top that can protect a finish from the dreaded potted plant that have left rings on some very fine pianos. 
     For some of the families that I serve the piano is a new addition to the family and the hope is that the children taking piano lessons will learn to play well forever enriching their lives and perhaps creating a family tradition of fine players.  The piano is a complex machine and if I do my job well the customer will develop confidence in my work and look to me for advise about piano care and perhaps direction about an upgrade to a better instrument when the player  or players have that need.
     Piano care can be expensive, however and if the choice is make a house payment or tune the piano a piano can sometimes get neglected even when everyone understands the need for the care.  I once had a customer with a player piano which the husband loved and wanted to press ahead with an overhaul until the wife said in my presence " it's the piano or me".  I don't know if that piano is still around but differing views about  spending money on a piano and just the finantial realities of the household can effect piano care.
     There are many fine tuners offering tuning and technical services but I think another very important part of my task is to listen carefully to my customers and provide education about the machine and how it works and then respond to the level of care desired by the customer.  

Following the work

     My next trip to Chicago is imminent again.  That is not all bad as I will get to see my two sons once more.  I really like the slower pace in Florida now but my large customer base in Chicago is demanding my attention again.  I can make myself very busy by setting up my schedule weeks in advance and packing it full for a couple of weeks.  I can also plan each day with appointments very close together so there is a minimum of travel time between jobs.
     I bought another tuners business in 2006 and when I became a large business managing my time and deciding which jobs I should do and which ones I should send out to the tuners that work for me became an important part of my job description.  I sort of knew that going in but I didn't know if I would like the duties of a manager.  As a business grows the owner at some point has to decide whether to keep the business at a size that one can do all the work alone or press ahead and grow the business further so that help is needed and then suddenly the owner becomes to some extent a manager.
     Decisions have to be made about giving work out and giving the work out generates other tasks like bookkeeping, payroll, more complicated record keeping, and often a more complicated business structure to be maintained.  There is also the increased liability when you send another worker into your customers living room. Every tuner has made some kind of mistake such as spilling something on a carpet or knocking something over and had to replace something or repair something for a customer but when your tuner is in your customers living room you become liable for his mistakes too.
     In spite of these problems I find I like these management tasks.  The tuners that work for me have been doing great work and the experience they get from their work for Renshaw Music not only helps them pay their bills but become better tuners.  I think most of them come to appreciate just doing the work without the responsibilities of maintaining and growing a customer base.  One of the management tasks is also to keep finding new tuners and new customers  as tuners and customers sometimes leave the company for a variety of reasons.
     Another reason to grow the business is so that I can concentrate on my strengths and begin to delegate tasks in which I am weak to others that can work in their strengths. In this way I think my larger company can better serve my customers. I said in a previous posting that it would be easier to work for someone else than to be a business owner.  In the same way it would be easier to maintain a smaller business that to expand to a business with 5000 customers.  I think I have again not chosen what is easy but taken a higher road.

Marketing off season in Florida

     I have lived in the Midwest most of my life but like many others in Florida as my parents got older I have gradually been spending more and more time in Florida to help with their care.  There are some here who could be termed snowbirds.  This is someone who lives here in the winter and migrates to a northern home for the summer.  I am calling myself a snowbird in reverse.  I still have a large customer base in Chicago so I have to go there several times a year to work.  The problem is the piano business is busy in the winter so that is when I am taking these trips north and slow in the summer so I am mostly in Florida in the summer when it is 200 degrees and in Chicago when there is three feet of snow on the ground.
     Marketing in Florida in the summer then presents the greatest challenge.  Here are a few ideas that I hope will generate some feedback from my readers.
     1) Buy a block of tickets to a jazz or classical concert featuring a pianist and offer them in pairs to anyone who buys a certain amount of piano service.
     2) Offer a free service such as a piano cleaning to any customer booking a tuning this summer.
     3)  Offer several tunings as a package with a discounted price for a customer who books the first tuning this summer.
     4)  Offer a product such as a piano lamp to a customer who books a tuning this summer.
     5)  Offer a $10  gift card to anyone booking a tuning this summer.
     6)  Offer a gift such as a metronome to the first customer to call to book a tuning each month of the summer.

     I have always tried to make the needs of my customers drive my business decisions and I sincerely hope readers in south Florida will help me do that this summer.

staying encouraged

     Being in business for ones self is something that I suspect many dream about.  I feel fortunate to own Renshaw Music and every time I write a check to one of the independent contractors that work for me it gives me a sense of satisfaction that I am having a part is someone else taking care of their families.  A big part of my motivation to grow the company is to support the American economy and to help individuals support their families and improve their standard of living.  I also have two sons and having this enterprise to leave to them gives me great satisfaction.
      It is not east to stay encouraged though when you are a one man show.  Working a job for someone else would be a much easier lifestyle.  With the business it is hard to clock yourself out.  when I was a teacher part of my time after school was spent grading papers, planning music selections for my band, etc. but this is much harder.  The secret I think is to keep focusing on the long term goals above.  Life is short and I think I am taking the higher road so I choose to press ahead.

Marketing in a narrow line of service or product

     Large companies hire advertising experts to design marketing campaigns even for a product or service that is universally needed.  These companies often have many competitors and have to capture a portion of a very large market. There is often a large budget for their marketing efforts
     If your product or service is needed by a very narrow market as the case with my piano service business marketing becomes even more basic to turning a profit.  New customers are like gold in difficult times and finding new customers with the desire and ability to pay for Piano service in this economy has been very difficult.
     I  have found help in looking at my Dad.  There are shelves full of books in every bookstore about marketing techniques and they are helpful, but the most important thing about marketing I think is an attitude.  My dad did not always succeed but he had a tenacity about any task before him that I hope I also have.  The thing about marketing that makes it most difficult is that the results are not immediate.  The temptation if the market is narrow and you do not see immediate results is to scale back or give up.  This can be deadly to a small business.
     My dad worked for the McDonald Douglas aircraft company in St. Louis and was laid off when the Phantom jet program stopped.  He did a variety of things after that including working once at a maintenance job for a company that had workers on strike and Dad had to cross a picket line which was not only difficult but dangerous.  For a while he was a stock broker which he enjoyed but was not a big money maker.  Dad came from a farm background and enjoyed gardening.  He taught me how to work.  Whatever he put his hand to he had a determination about doing it well and sticking with it until the job was done.
     Marketing is part of the work in running a small company and I find my attitude about doing this job well and giving all that is in me to the task is at least as important if not more important than the techniques.  I still try to learn and practice good marketing techniques but I also try to imitate my dad's attitude about work when I give my attention to the task of marketing.









   

Your Piano care

     My work has included many years as a teacher and I don't think I ever thought about how a piano works.  It was like my car in that I only cared that it did work.  Since becoming a piano tuner I have come to see the piano as a very complicated machine requiring much care to work well.  Sometimes a piano cannot be tuned because of parts that don't work at all or work so poorly that the player becomes too frustrated to play.  If the player is a child this is particularly important as the parent wants the child to enjoy playing and practice and a child will become frustrated often long before an adult will.
     An out of tune piano can also drive the player to quit but the other aspects to piano care that are important are repair, regulation and voicing.  I will deal with regulation today.  Regulation is making adjustments so that the parts that move work well.  A key can stick because of something that needs repairing but the same result can occur when a part of the mechanism is out of adjustment.  There are 9000 moving parts in a piano and an individual note can be regulated but there are 87 more notes that potentially can become problems.  Regulation is most beneficial is the same adjustment is done to all 88 notes if needed.  There are about 23 things to regulate on a given note and a complete regulation must involve regulation steps being done in a certain order to get the best result.
     New pianos can come needing much regulation so whatever the age of your piano it would be a wise thing to do to ask your tuner about regulation, probably the most overlooked aspect of piano care.