Some people have requested or suggested I start a progress thread, so here it is for my metal record store, Vinyl Command
Since I'm getting a late start, I will post updates but I am not going to go back and write every little thing that happened along the way. Instead, I will open it up to the community to ask questions.
Some basics:
- myself and one business partner. No employees. We only outsource what we can't do ourselves, which so far has only been a few things that required a professional for legal reasons. I already had many connections in music industry before starting.
- we only sell metal (and some hard rock). We are focused primarily on vinyl records but also carry cassette tapes, CDs, T-shirts, patches, stickers, turntables, speakers and other music related items. We are the only store in Arizona (and one of a few in the US) dedicated to metal.
- retail store ~1000sf in Mesa, AZ and e-commerce (Shopify) shipping nationwide (no international yet - currently not enough demand and too much hassle). About 2/3 of our orders are online. Online continues to grow while in-store sales have stayed the same. We can handle way more volume before we need to hire help.
- opened August 1, 2023. Our first brick & mortar and first retail store. Currently on our first lease renewal - we negotiated the first lease to 18 months despite landlord wanting 3 years. Our renewal is for a 1 year term. In addition to not knowing whether we would succeed, there were also some issues with our plaza due to certain tenants that made us hesitant to sign a longer term. The problem tenants have moved, so now signing a longer term on our next renewal seems plausible.
- we were open 7 days a week since August 1, 2023 including all holidays. We got sick of being there every day when nobody would come in so we cut the schedule down to 5 days in March (closed on Sunday and Monday). It was a good move because there has been no effect on sales numbers and we don't feel so drained. I'm there on Wednesday and Saturday and my business partner is there the other days.
- organic social media (mostly Instagram) is huge for us, as is promoting at local metal concerts. We currently have just over 6100 followers on Instagram. We haven't tried any traditional advertising. Paying Google got us way too many regular people who are looking for a store with all genres of music, despite the fact that it's very obvious we only sell metal (nobody reads). We stopped paying Google but have continued to see our organic search grow, which has made us uninterested in paying for ads that didn't work. Paying Meta for Instagram ads was ok and got us some interest at first, but again it was difficult to actually target the right people (too many people from other countries, too many people just looking for free entertainment, too many kids with no money, etc)
- I designed pretty much everything including our first store T-shirt and crafted the brand image. My artistic background probably helped this. For our newest T-shirt, I hired a tattoo artist/illustrator who has done some awesome work for metal bands and record labels in the past.
- Our biggest problem that has led to some conflict and negative reviews are people who come to the store determined to not spend a cent. In the beginning we were extremely friendly and welcomed everyone to browse without any pressure. What we learned is that those people literally never buy anything, ever. The response from our real customers is overwhelmingly positive. Unfortunately, many people feel that hanging out and browsing with no intent to purchase is part of the "culture" of record stores and they feel entitled to seek out their free "retail therapy" and "me time" in our store.
Additionally, we get many people from Google who don't bother to read anything about our store and are expecting us to sell all genres. It really blows my mind that people will look up a business on Google and drive to it without reading anything.
Of course we don't mind people stopping in and having a look at the store or talking to us. What bothers us are people grabbing everything, making fun of the stuff we sell, pulling products out of packaging, damaging products, and in general wasting our time when we can be working on many other things such as processing online orders.
Some current numbers:
Year to date total sales are up 87% from last year. Our best month so far was December 2024. April so far is up 4% from March. Not making a good living from this yet, but I think being able to pull any profit at all before the two year mark is decent.
I took my first business trip for the store in late February/early March. I hunted for used metal records in Tokyo for a week. I had already done this before in 2020 for a friend's business so I had experience. The yen is currently weak (it has strengthened a little since the tariffs stuff) and Tokyo has an incredible amount of well priced music in a small area. It was really great and the stuff I found has been selling well. I don't mind sharing this information because it's already a well known practice among the record collector and seller community and there is a decent barrier. Airfare and lodging aside, most people also don't have the determination or stamina to go shopping for 8-12 hours a day like I do. I'm looking forward to going back to Japan when the time is right. I need to get over to Europe for some hunting as well. If any European metal heads care to share some useful information it would be greatly appreciated! I have some events and stores on my list already but could always use more.
I can't think of anything else to share at the moment and feel like this post is getting long so I will end it here.
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Membership Required: Upgrade to Expose Nearly 1,000,000 Posts
Ready to Unleash the Millionaire Entrepreneur in You?
Become a member of the Fastlane Forum, the private community founded by best-selling author and multi-millionaire entrepreneur MJ DeMarco. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has poured his heart and soul into the Fastlane Forum, helping entrepreneurs reclaim their time, win their financial freedom, and live their best life.
With more than 39,000 posts packed with insights, strategies, and advice, you’re not just a member—you’re stepping into MJ’s inner-circle, a place where you’ll never be left alone.
Become a member and gain immediate access to...
- Active Community: Ever join a community only to find it DEAD? Not at Fastlane! As you can see from our home page, life-changing content is posted dozens of times daily.
- Exclusive Insights: Direct access to MJ DeMarco’s daily contributions and wisdom.
- Powerful Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs who can offer mentorship, collaboration, and opportunities.
- Proven Strategies: Learn from the best in the business, with actionable advice and strategies that can accelerate your success.
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with the most..."
Who are you surrounding yourself with? Surround yourself with millionaire success. Join Fastlane today!
Join Today
