do you have any idea on how to make hobby become a lifetime business? let's say, got people like small animal, and etc. for me, i like audio things, speaker, amps, and etc. btw, i dont have sufficieint knowledge on this, so, what should i do? furtheremore, i scare not much people is willing to spend such money for a good audio set.....just like many audio shops in shopping malls... closing down one by one... really sad... so, should i take my hobby as my career or business? if yes, what should i do? if no, why? thx

if u have ur own modal and u can take the risk.
before that, should do more planning and survey first.
Besides that, u also need to improve the current skill of the particular business or u find partner who can trustworthy to share with.
this all just my own opinion. ;-)
so hope we can share more here..

its is possible for hobby to become a business, two possibilities, either you do it very well, or you kena goreng hutang keliling pinggang. do alot of research before doing it, hows the market, location, modal etc etc etc....

if ur interested in audio stuff but shudder at the thought of audio shops closing one by one, why not just offer ur audio services? i mean, like setting up PA systems, sound systems for event halls etc etc..

then once u build up ur reputation/capital, u can start retailing ur items online (like on lowyat.net).. or setup a small shop selling certain audio stuffs.. by this time, im sure ur main income source will be from the events, so maintaining the store shouldn't be a problem..

of coz, this may take a long time and u gotta know know the right clicks, but im pretty sure the sweet taste of success is worth it in the end..

im guessing about 5 years? good businesses dun start easy
im still noob, so flame me if u think necessary. i will take all critism about biz..

the thing is, i have very limited knowledge about audio at this moment... i like to play around with my speakers... and i foudn that i learn audio things very fast and easy... because i just wan to know more and more... i have a good pr skill also... and i like business.... i just came into a wrong course.... if i have a chance to choose again, i will take business instead of engineering...

u mustget someone who has a same hobby also what... not easy.... what they think is, it is impossible to make hobby a business..l.

on doing now, still no see the result yet....

why not work for a few years first? event house, or music clubs etc etc.. gain industrial knowledge and at the same time can build ur capital. its good that u know ur direction.

refering to my above response, get more experience first.. u can alwiz find investors if ur proposal can attract ppl.. my dad was my biggest investor..

but, i studied 4 yrs for my degree in engineering oh... will it be wasted if i work in audio line... do u think audio line can survive??

knowing a hobby inside out is one thing, but having the business skills is another. there are lots of things that you need to know and do before your customers starts handling over their money to you.

you got to think, how to sell, how to make customers to come visit you, how would you advertise, which method to advertise, how to make everything work with your limited budget etc. And you must also think of a Plan B if what your plan did not go as planned. But all in all, you will gain a lot of experience through all this activities and do make sure you survived to not make those same mistakes again.

heck, i have frens study biz in monash but end up as insurance agent.. wat matters (to me at least) is u make money or not..

i did hotel management, but never touched hotel line oso.. lol

wat kinda engineering u take? it might not be a total lost cause..

regarding audio line can survive or not, its very subjective... there is alwiz a certain market supporting audio industry..
its a matter of whether u can penetrate into that market or not i.e work for the right company, sell the right equipment, etc etc..

when i think of audio, things like concert, events, gatherings, conventions, shows, cinema and a whole bunch of stuff come to mind..

sorry if my post is messed up coz i havent had any shut-eye since yesterday.. lol

so faast give him pressure liao..

true tho.. should know what to expect.. u sound experienced.. any success stories to share?

Research, passion, research, passion, action action action, more passion, more research, more action, done, you are there.

sounds steamy..

say is easy la, but when wanna work it out, not very easy one...

pal, if you want to success, u need to sacrifice. if you keep thinking on the negative way. for sure there's no way for you to start your 1st step. coz you are alway doubt about your thoughts. try to start it from something simple like gain more knowledge on your hobby & how to do business. then slowly find a way to get you modal. this will slowly bring u to the road of success. pyramid is not build in a day or months, it's years.

just my 2 cents. no offenced

actually everything requires hard work. it means spending a lot of time and effort to get it going. sometimes have to dig in when you work so hard and end up hitting a wall. must not feel demotivated. have to remotivate yourself always. that's the part that separates the losser from the winners.

[quote=Evangalon,Jul 19 2006, 11:37 AM]

wat kinda engineering u take? it might not be a total lost cause..


i did EEE for my degree lo..how can it applicable for audio stuffs?

make amps, design dacs?

Hello , long time never post mesage liau.. anyway regarding hobby--> business

1. work at a company where it provide audio systems for people.

2. learn how to at least built a audio system. Then, take note of the company partners "(may be ur future partner)" that are involved. Get to know various kind of audio products from amplifiers to cable types. You can see theres the japanese stuff and the american/german/italy stuff.

3. from time to time, experience will come and together with ur interest, then only try to look out for partners to do this king of stuff. Now, at this stage, comes the business part, this has really nth to do with ur interest. The only thing interesting is the money that you can earn form ur work.

If you have an engineering degree in electronics like me, it can be an advantage because good sound system has good amplifiers. Amplifiers are a very common thing when you are studying electonics.

Hope this will help.

maxi, thanks for ur advices... my problem is that, i dunno where can i work at, like the normal hifi shop? supplier? or manufacturer?? the salary will be very low if compared to work as engineer, right??

http://www.lhm.net.my/profile.htm

Companies like this is a good platform for a career.

There are more audio system companies in Malaysia. You can try Kenwood electronics if you are damn good in technical stuff. Design noiseless amplifiers for car audio or home theater system.

Also, you can also go in to trading (sell audio systems).

Still, it all boils down to some determination.

kenwood electronic? is there any factory in malaysia??

beside lhm and kenwood, any other audio company... it is quite far for me to work in jb... prefer puchong, pj, shah alam, and kl area

bro, alot of fresh grad now a days are umemployed???why??is it because there's no job for them???no!!because they are soo choosy about their job, they will say, I study in hotel management, so I must do hotel job so that i wont waste my college fees, I studied Engineering, So I must do engineering work, when there are so many job oppurtunity out there, or may be open up your on business.

I study hotel course my selve and spend 30k just the school fees only, If I have the mentality like that I will still stuck in malaysia doing low paid hotel job, but now I am in england doing 6k a month and its not even related to what I ahve studied, and I have earned back my college fees just working for 7 month.

my point is, dont let what you have studied block your future, what you have studied can be an advantage, not totally wasted.before I came here working, lots of my fren also said to me, why you want to jump?why dont you just work here in malaysia, then your 2 years study and money all wasted la???If I listen to them that time than I am still stuck in the rat race.

I knowthis may saound hard, but try to convince your parent, Hang Hang Chu Zuang Yuan, if you know what I mean

I think there is some one wanna become DJ here, you can ask him.may be both of you can work together, its some how related.

First, you need to have a philosophy, and then you'll need a business model. Lets take your example for instance... you're and audiophile right? So you know stuffs about speakers, amps etc. Next, you gotta see what kind of taste you have, do you like loud music? Or crisp sound? things like that. Then you figure out if what is your edge, pricing? quality? service? product variety? And you've also got to figure out which type of customers you want to cater to. If you don't have at least all these questions figured out, you're going to have a tough time doing business.

By the way, there's a fairly new brand of audio products which came out, called SLS or something. See if there's anyone distributing it, if not, this is your big chance buddy.



Oh yeah, one more thing, would you pay for business advice?

Of coz saying is easier then doing it. Just like reading a story book is very fun, but writing one is totally different story, if you dont have the passion to motivate yourself again and again and enough action and effort to put into it, you will get nothing more then a conclusion of that you are not suitable for this.

Another example is cooking maybe fun, but to make a life with cooking, is totally a different story - can you stand other people critizising your food? Do you have any streategy to overcome any difficulties? can you stand for hard work and tedious job in cooking? and when you are interested in cooking, remember, to do a cooking business there are also business model, capital raising, and any other details not really related to cooking to deal with. The only way to overcome these is TONS of passion and action, and get someone to support you.

This post has been edited by rexis: Jul 20 2006, 11:15 AM

It may be a hobby, passion, indulgence, interest or whatever.... but the moment you turn it into a career, ie a business, you can no longer treat it as such.

from an idea u need to turn it into a business model. from a biz model to turn it into a biz plan. from a biz plan u need to turn it into a biz startup. from a start up u need to turn it into a biz operation. being a biz operation u need to turn a profit. above all else u must make sure that income generated will be able to sustain your subsistence (salary, expenses & such) and at the same time to be able to keep the biz afloat as well as grow and later to expand.

first cardinal rule.... it no longer a hobby, interest, indulgence or whatever... it is a business. none of the items are yours anymore... you need to detach yourself from the merchandise and your ultimate goal will have to be profit.

if u are really serious... here are the steps u need to undertake (this is just a simplified guide):


Step 1 - research

what is ur core business
what are ur products
what segment is your market
who are your customer (age, sex, income level)
what can your customer afford
who are your competitors
what will be your market share

Step 2 - biz model

where do u want set up
how big is your operation
what are your channels of distribution
what are your channels of marketing
how much you are ready to invest

Step 3 - Financial plan

u need to draw project all the cost and expenses that u might incur to start and operate the biz.

a. Start up cost including deposit for rentals, company registration, stock purchase, renovation of premise, advertising, etc.
b. projected itemised monthly cost... how much to be spent on salary, rent, utilities, stationeries, maintenance, etc.
taking all these into accounts you'll be able to calculate the amount required for startups and cash in hand to remain operational for at least 2-5 years.

total all this up and u'll have a figure that u need to have to make this hobby your career. then decide whether u have that much moeny or where to get them. if u r going to get loan, put the repayment instalment into your cost too.
u need to do a 5 years management account. including projected monthly cash flow, proforma profit & loss, balance sheet, and projected income statement.

after all this is done... you'll be able to see whether its feasible or not whether u'll be able to turn a profitor go bust... whether to be a business man or a salary-earning coolie.

if ur serious, give it a try, run the numbers and try it on for size. there are many other factors to consider to (ie rising interest rate, inflation rate, changing taste and fluctuation in demand, rising rate of wages, rental, etc)

or if u got the money, i can do all the above for u for a fee.... stop whining and wastte all our members time oredi... why dont u put your money where ur mouth is.

i will take MBA first. i would listen to business advices, but not pay for it lo... haha