Starting a DIY Audio Business?

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Hi All,

So I've spent the dreaded lockdown period turning my passion for speakers into something that can hopefully generate some revenue on the side and fund future projects. I've built myself a website and a YouTube tutorial to go with some small Bluetooth Kit speakers I'm selling (easy to make with the intention of getting people into the DIY Audio game).
JCR Acoustics – Science Employed by Art
Make a DIY Bluetooth Speaker With Just a Screwdriver!? - YouTube

I'm asking to see if anyone has any tips or experience in doing something like this. The feedback I've generally got is the content and product is good - but it seems my outreach is very slow and I've yet to make sales outside of friends and family. Does anyone have any pointers - besides to make more content (I think this may be the key here for YouTube) and keep pushing my Instagram and Facebook I'm stuck for more ideas. Once lockdown lifts in the UK I'll also look to approach some craft stores if they've survived.
JCR Acoustics - Instagram
JCR Acoustics - Home | Facebook

Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I know this isn't really what the forum is for hence posting in "everything else" but it could be a great discussion as I'm sure there's a whole bunch of people itching to do something similar. Also please feel free to check out my content and show some love! :D

Thanks All!
 
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You have a Quality Website and Video!:up:

To achieve a recognizable name brand along with decent sales numbers, I believe its comes down to two main paths. Invest heavily in marketing, pay magazines for reviews and ads etc, or peddle your product slowly and build it up over a decade or more.

My brother built a successful business with guitar pedals and incrementally he had ads in magazines, sales increases, known guitar players using them etc, to a point where He couldn't keep up with the production demand by himself.

Good luck! Fidelity is very attractive. Prefer that on my table rather than most others I've seen.
 
Website and products look great!

I think the hardest part is convincing less-skilled people that:
1. They have what it takes to make something that looks good.
2. What they make is going to sound way better than mass-produced crap.

Good tutorials definitely help build confidence!

I used to watch a lot of this guy's videos on YouTUbe: Kirby Meets Audio - YouTube

His videos for making bluetooth speakers evolved into kits & plans and then a store and 200k+ subscribers. Unfortunately it progressed into soul selling to sponsors, so I lost interest. But maybe some ideas for growing your channel there.

With your 3D printer and design abilities, I'm sure you'll be able to come up with a nice range of kits for different skill levels.

Good luck!
 
Thanks guys for the feedback so far!
It's definitely going to be a learning curve. I thought the design part would be the hard bit!

As I am producing the kits at home with my 3-D printer it was always my intention to scale slowly by purchasing more printers and only look to injection moulding if the demand warranted it. It's just that initial getting off zero with regards to YouTube videos and social media but I think the key will be consistency and new content as you've suggested.

This is only a side hustle for me at the moment so I can play a longer game with it. Used to love watching Kirby Meets Audio. In fact he really got me to get into this thing more seriously. Guy seems to have gone AWOL the past few months though so not sure what happened there. I also have some real old radios that need a refurb which could generate some views. Will take your advice on board.

As with anything the right ideas and consistency is key I'd imagine.
 
It might be worth looking at the example the Chinese have set. Find a way for the youtube 'reviewers'(pitchmen) to get excited about your product. We've all seen things instantly sell out when the right person hypes it in a youtube video.

Adwords are expensive, facebook ads are a bit less expensive and when they are facebook posts used as ads their effect multiplies but word of mouth is the best driver of sales.
 
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