Musical Instrument Store Business Plan

MusicWest will initially maintain a small staff of over-achievers in order to take advantage of the higher overhead of our key competitors. We will operate with a staff of four full-time employees and one to three part-time employees as needed. It is our philosophy that each employee should be empowered to make crucial decisions on the spot where it benefits our approach to customer satisfaction. This staffing approach allows us the need for only one manager for day-to-day decisions needing a final word, keeping hierarchy to a minimum. MusicWest will be very selective in future hiring, and will reward employees as the store prospers in future years. It is crucial to our business that we keep employee turnover at a minimum, as consumers in this business like to develop long-term relationships with their sales representative. Our key employees will be experienced musicians known in the community.

7.1 Organizational Structure

MusicWest will require its staff to be multi-skilled. Each employee will likely oversee many aspects of the business on a given day. Our main divisions will be Sales, Service and Administration. Our focus on customer service will depend on all of our employees knowing as much about each area of the business as possible. A complete book of structures and policies, along with successful actions, will be created and maintained from the date of opening to streamline the process of adding new employees as they become necessary. Ongoing training for all employees will be necessary in order to keep our edge on the competition.

7.2 Management Team

Kayle Moore – Co-Owner
Operations Manager

Qualifications:

Kayle is a 16-year veteran of the wholesale jewelry industry where she worked her way from an entry-level shipping clerk to the CEO/COO position with Shube’s Manufacturing. Over her 16-year tenure, Kayle took the company from 60 to over 300 employees and from $1 to over $15 million dollars in sales. Kayle’s strengths are writing and carrying out sales programs, and keeping a company within its financial limitations. Kayle, who plays the clarinet, has had a lifelong interest in music and plans to translate that enthusiasm, along with her management skills, into making MusicWest a successful long-term investment.

Related Management Strengths:

• CEO/COO level responsibility.
• Ability to get others to produce to their potential.
• Writing sales programs to generate and maintain consistent sales goals.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Maintains mutually beneficial vendor relations.
• Ability to anticipate and adapt to changing economic conditions.
• Experience negotiating complex sales contracts, including financing and shipment options with large corporate clients such as Wal-Mart and Target.
• Implemented the use of EDT computerized ordering software with clients to streamline the ordering process and allow the manufacturer to stock less raw inventory, simultaneously reducing overhead and increasing profits.

David Moore – Co-Owner
Store Manager

Qualifications:

Dave is currently the Store Manager of Marc’s Guitar Center in Albuquerque. Dave was previously Store Manager for King Music’s Westside location, where he was able to turn around a declining location and outsell the company’s flagship store for two years straight, despite fewer customers and staff. Dave has been a musician for over 23 years and toured professionally in the 80’s. Dave has been involved in sales and sales management since the age of eight. Dave has taken many sales/management courses and has had full profit and loss experience. Dave was the co-owner of a 7,500 sq.ft. retail furniture store in the early 1980’s.

Related, industry-specific strengths:

• Music Store Management. (7 years +)
• Direct purchasing of up to $400,000 in inventory annually.
• Top sales producer in the musical instrument combo department, in addition to his full time management responsibilities at both music stores where he has worked.
• Outstanding employee relations, with lower than industry average turnover.
• Excellent relations with vendors.
• Vast knowledge of Musical Instruments and the Musical Instrument Industry locally and nationally.
• Superior customer interaction/retention skills.

Additional Qualifications:

• Sales, Sales Manager and Finance Manager in the automotive industry.
• Trade show management and Sales in the Wholesale Jewelry Trade.
• Certified computer skills.

C. Ray Himes
Service Department – Manager

Qualifications:

• Graduate of the prestigious Roberto Venn School of Luthiery in Phoenix, Arizona.
• Trained in all aspects of fretted instrument repair from the simple to the complex, including re-frets, neck resets, crack repair, wiring and modification work.
• Completely versed on new construction of electric and acoustic guitars, from the planning and design phase to final product.
• Instructed in all phases of managing a full service repair shop as part of his training at Roberto Venn School of Luthiery.
• Trained personally by Dave Moore in the area of guitar sales and accessory sales, in addition to his repair duties at King Music Center and Marc’s Guitar Center.
• Great at improvising and solving difficult problems as they arise.
• Good woodworking skills essential to this position.
• Ongoing commitment to furthering his skills and knowledge of fretted instruments, in order to provide extensive repair services to clients.
• Plays in a local band: “Tanuki.”

7.3 Management Team Gaps

We believe we have assembled an excellent team of employees that will complement each others’ knowledge and skill levels. We feel weakest in is the band instrument repair department. As soon as finances permit, a knowledgeable repairman with this background would be highly desirable. We already know of one excellent candidate, who is currently working for Albuquerque public schools. The addition of this person will be a huge benefit for our store.

7.4 Personnel Plan

The personnel plan highlights our intent to hire as few employees as possible, in order to keep control over how our customers are treated during the crucial first stages of our business. We will have two full-time salespeople and two to three part-time employees to call upon as traffic demands. In addition, all key employees have agreed to work at lower pay structures to keep personnel costs at minimum during the critical first two years.