Business expansion: the challenge of being small

     Protecting relationships with current suppliers
When I began the retail business I approached many suppliers of goods that I wanted in my store and some of the big manufacturers of what I needed refused to make me a dealer.  Some of the reasons given were that other dealers were too close to my location.  Some had a mandatory waiting period, and many had big minimum order requirements.  Most refused to give any credit to a new dealer.  The suppliers that did accept me and especially those that gave me a credit limit I have worked hard at maintaining a good relationship with.  Making regular payments and placing even small orders have often been difficult.
     When Selmer refused to make me a dealer I was discouraged as this company has bought out so many other brands and I so wanted to participate in school bidding but that was not to be.  I did find some other suppliers at least for the student line instruments.  I have continued to have some contact with the Selmer representative and hope someday I will be able to add them to my supplier list.
     The other thing that is easy to neglect is marketing and advertising.  Keeping your name out there requires continual effort at finding new places to market and advertise as well as identifying the places that advertising has worked in the past.  When you go into retail and you are not able to hire a lot of help attending networking events and making physical contact with potential customers becomes a big challenge.

Bank officers: pickpockets that are computer literate

     There are various costs to doing business.  In my piano tuning business there has been one cost that I have never experienced.  I have never had to write off or even received a bad check.  My customers are the best.  this is actually the norm in this industry.  I guess it has something to do with the type of folks that own and take care of their pianos.
      Some other costs would be things I am not good at or things where my time is better spent elsewhere like accounting.  I use quickbooks and I can do many things like reconciling bank statements but I occasionally employ an accountant to deal with problems that I need someone with better skills. 
     Anyone who is in business has to use a bank and today most find that bank fees are a significant cost. Some are hard to avoid and some are scams set up by banks to extract money from their customers.  One common scheme is to drive an account in the negative with fees and then bounce everything that comes in after that event until the account can be made positive.  Citibank is a master at this but all banks seem to do it.  If there were an alternative Citibank would have no customers but I have concluded like other customers that one bank is like another in this regard.
     If I had access to customers money like Citibank does I could never treat my customers this way no matter what the profits were.  Bank fees are not even profits to a bank but free money as a bank does nothing to earn the money.

Fender Rhodes expertise: A Renshaw Music distinctive

     I will be getting another Fender Rhodes keyboard in the shop next week for repair.  Renshaw Music works on player pianos and reed organs also but I especially enjoy working on Rhodes keyboards.
     Most of these great instruments that come to me are about 40 years old and the Rhodes owner is usually in love with the completely distinctive sound of these wonderful instruments.  They are totally distinct from other pianos or keyboards because of the steel tines that vibrate when struck and produce that unique sound.  My shop is one of the few that have a stock or original parts.  The present day digital keyboard has interior parts that are really  computer technology.  A Rhodes is mechanical in that a striker strikes these steel tines and create vibration and then that pitch is amplified.  There are even mechanical dampers like a piano.
     The work on these instruments is in many ways like working on pianos with some additional understanding of electronic repair.  Unlike working on a present day digital piano, however, these were not designed to be throw away instruments.  With the right kind of care these instruments are almost indestructible.  Even the most expensive digital piano is outdated and unusable after 40 years because of newer technology but a Rhodes that is maintained can continue to be an effective tool for the working musician.
     I have a number of Rhodes customers in Chicagoland and a growing Rhodes business here in South Florida.  If you are a Rhodes owner I would love to serve your maintenance needs.

Budgeting again: Back to the basics

     A couple of years ago I took the crown budgeting course and began working with a paper budget.  It was a time that I was making good progress in saving and giving, something I had not been doing consistently before.  It was difficult to follow with an income that varies a lot from month to month.  The effort, however, has it's rewards. 
     The business is getting to a point where I can start paying myself and budgeting with personal income is now even more important.  With the business I have been focusing on careful oversight of income and expenses.  If this is not good there is no personal income but the personal income must have the same oversight. Before taking this course I always thought of a budget as restrictive but I have come to think of this task as liberating as I now know better what I have and where money goes and can then plan the use of resources toward financial goals.