🖐 Happy Miercoles!

Issue #73 is a 3-minute read...

📀 This Ex Lead Singer Makes Crazy Money

“If I see another f’ng Donny Osmond record, I’m RIPPING OUT MY HAIR PLUGS!”

Dan’s baritone voice booms off the white brick walls.

I’m killing a few minutes (okay, an hour) in Dan’s vinyl (record) store before going to the gym to swim.

He takes a rough, long breath and crashes onto his mahogany, wooden stool (it wimpers every time he does this).

Slurping volcano-hot coffee from a filthy Rolling Stones mug, he’s in Nirvana.

I can smell the two Camel cigarettes (that he’s trying to hide) burning way below the gray, metal workbench since there’s no smoking in his record shop. 

Supposedly.

He doesn’t look up.

His busted black fingernails just keep flipping perfectly through old vinyl records on his bench.

“I wanted to close this place in 2009, ‘12, ’16, ’19, ’21, '24, and LAST WEEK,” he complains.

“Really? I asked, standing a safe, 4 feet away, looking through the New Arrivals bin.

I always thought you were killing it at this place. Why would you quit?”

“Ever hear of Apple Music or the internet?” he asks like I’m the town idiot.

“Yeah, Dan. Of course, I answer.

But you’ve got serious crowds in this place on the weekends.”

"Yep. They travel 30, sometimes 60 miles to come here. But that’s not it.

If I didn’t know my numbers, I’d have gone bust in ‘09.”

“What happened in ‘09?” I ask. And what numbers?”

I’m thinking Dan’s a pretty good businessman since he’s STILL IN BUSINESS.

Unlike the 3 donut shops, 2 tattoo parlors, taco café, pet grooming school, and tarot card salon that came and went in the 5 retail spaces around Dan’s store.

“In ‘09, this whole damn vinyl business got interesting,” he mutters, smiling.

Hey, here’s a mint Kind of Blue LP for your collection,” he says, handing me the Miles Davis classic. I’ll sell it to you at cost.”

"Dan. What happened in ‘09?” I pushed him.

“Oh, yeah. Vinyl got hot.

All the tech dudes with their phones and downloads wanted something to do and talk about, so they started shopping for and collecting vinyl. Seriously.

Vinyl helped them feel special. Like Jagger in ’67.”

I’d read a bit about the vinyl industry.

I love collecting vinyl, and, as a former singer-songwriter, I’m happy in vinyl shops.

“Is this industry still healthy?” I asked.

“Yep. Big growth every year for the past 16 years,” he answers, taking a 9-second drag on one of the lit Camels.

But you gotta know what to buy, how to price it, where to sell it, and who’s gonna buy it.

And who’s drinking your milkshake,” he says, trailing off.

(Dan loves the movie ‘There Will Be Blood’ and quotes it ALL THE TIME).

“Impress me,” I poked at him.

“Ok, smarty boy. You’re some kind of consulting guy, right?”

"Yep. Tell me something I don’t know.”

Dan made my week with his numbers.

For the next 8 minutes, lighting 2 more cigarettes and drinking his black mud coffee, Dan rattles off stat after stat about:

• the recording industry

• bands and songwriters

• collectors

• Apple music

• Millennials

• Gen Xers

•  and the top selling records for the 60’s, 70s, 80's, and 90s

And after the awesome speech on stats, he goes another 4 minutes on:

• Cost, profit and margins for vinyl

•  Inventory do’s and don’ts

• Online databases

•  Importing vinyl from Asia and Europe

• What to sell in the store vs. online

• And his competition, including the 2 big vinyl warehouses in the city

And that’s just it!

Your business has to be in your blood.

In your head.

In your soul.

And at your broken, black fingertips.

You have to know the details, stats, trends, ups, downs, pitfalls, and customer psychographics for what you build and sell.

Do you have to know it all right away? No.

Do you have to know it all in a week? No.

But you have to know it.

And live it.

And love it.

Dan’s know-how of the vinyl industry and his business is at the top of the charts (ok, kill me, a music pun…)

Anything less, and he’s out of business with the tarot card salon.

You see, collecting vinyl is a hobby for me.

It’s a lifeblood business for Dan.

So, how well do you know your numbers?

Stay curious and keep opening doors for your business.

Erik

P.S. I appreciate your sharing this newsletter with your friends and contacts.

P.P.S. If you dream of getting to $150K of sales, it’s time.

When you’re done overthinking it, here’s your custom 1-on-1 discovery call calendar link to see if we’re a good fit to get you there. Faster.