Networking on facebook

In order to resuscitate my professional network, I have been using some of the online tools that have become available in the past several years. Having been out of the workforce for so long is no excuse for not staying current with current technology. I’ve signed up with several job posting boards, and most recently, facebook.

I graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in 1981, long before there was an internet. I recently came across my “facebook” from my freshman year at RPI, complete with high school yearbook pictures of all the incoming freshmen. But RPI was an engineering school, and always technologically advanced. It has always generated graduated comfortable with technology. So imagine my surprise to find that only 8 of my classmates have registered with facebook!

Am I really so old that facebook isn’t relevant? I found other people of my age listed in other networks. Have all the old engineers registered somewhere else?

The only pleasant surprise I had was when looking through my high school alumni. One of my best friends was one year behind me. When I checked that class year, he was the only person registered. I was just glad to see he was still alive; there was a time when I thought he might not make it.

Colleague reaction

I’ve been an at-home-Dad for about 8 years. In that time, most of my professional network has become inactive. I’ll update my networking activities in some other post. But today, I had thoughts about the state of my current contacts.

My current contacts fall into several loose categories:

1. Parents of my childrens’ friends
2. Neighbors
3. People I encounter almost daily at the gym where I exercise.

One of the advantages to staying at one health club for 7 years is that many people know me. I’ve chatted with people in many different fields, including entrepreneurs, real estate professionals, photographers, videographers, doctors, and engineers. Some of these people have even been workout partners for between six months and 18 months. My longest term workout partner is also someone that has been very successful in developing real estate, both commercially and residentially. He’ s been very successful, and I always thought that when I was ready to return to work, he would be someone that might be willing to provide me with introductions.

So today, we chatted briefly, since we were on different schedules. We talked about how my daughters were becoming more independent, allowing me to be at the gym this morning and leave my daughters unattended at home for a little while. He commented that my job would get much easier now that they were becoming more independent. I agreed, and said it would give me a chance to more seriously consider re-entering the workforce. He laughed and said I shouldn’t do that. I should stay home and enjoy the easier days. I tried not to leave it at that. But it wasn’t the warm offer of help that I had been hoping for.

Passions

I am a believer in the philosophy of doing what you love and the money will follow. If you are passionate about something, you will enjoy doing it, and do it well. If you can turn a hobby into a career, it can only be for the good.

Along those lines, I am passionate about the following areas:

1. Music – I started playing the trumpet in grade school, and I took up the guitar in college. I made the mistake of not playing music at all after graduating college, and it was many years before I played my guitar. In the interim, I was a passionate collector of vinyl records and CDs, and came close to opening my own CD store in the late-1980s.
2. Stock market – In 1983 I worked at an office that had a communal subscription to the Wall Street Journal and several employees that actively speculated in the market. I was interested enough that I enrolled in Villanova University and obtained my MBA at night. When I finished it, I considered looking for a job in the money management industry. Instead, I stayed with my current employer, which had paid for much of my education, and advanced through the management ranks of that firm.
3. Sex – Yeah, not much career opportunities here. Still, worth putting on the list. And I did once look into a franchise opportunity selling adult sex toys. I’m not sure how I would tell my daughters what their Dad did for a living.
4. Physical fitness – I was always a heavy, out-of-shape nerd, long before nerds became geeks and, in some circles, cool. When I turned 40, I was badly out-of-shape and decided to do something about it. I’ve lost the fat, improved my strength and  eating habits. I’m in the best shape of my life. I enjoy reading about fitness and helping people achieve their goals. I’ve considered opening my own gym, perhaps a franchise, or becoming a personal trainer.

Selling music instruments/guitars on the internet

I first considered opening a music instrument store when I left my last job as Environmental Services Manager at Consulting Services, Inc. (CSI), a company that was later purchased by XL Capital. It was 1999, I had purchased an acoustic guitar, and the dot-com stock boom was going full steam ahead. I would sit on the front porch of my home in Havertown, PA, smoking cigars, reading stock analysis reports, and Music Trade magazine. There was a small guitar shop about 2 miles away from my house, but I was too new at playing guitar again to spend much time there. Shortly, he went out of business.

Two issues were dominant in the pages of Music Trade from those days: MARS (since bankrupt) and Guitar Center were spreading everywhere, and undercutting prices for all the existing retail channels; the internet was spreading quickly and instrument sales were slowly happening on line, despite the difficulty of buying an instrument without first playing it. There was a lot of space dedicated to discussions about buyers trying instruments at their local retail store, and then buying it at Guitar Center or on-line for less than retailer paid for the instrument at wholesale. I remember thinking how the internet would never be a good source of music instrument sales, since a musical instrument is such a personal choice.

Now? I’ve bought one electric and two acoustic guitars on e-bay, and I am delighted with all of them. Also, I recently sold a Gibson ES-345 guitar on e-bay for a friend, although not for as much as I was hoping. (See! Bargains still exist on e-bay.) Typing “guitar” into Google yields 135,000,000 hits. Narrow it down to “guitar sale” and the hits are a more manageable 6.350,000. Apparently many people have decided to sell instruments on line.

So if I want to sell instruments on line, what would I use to differentiate myself from those other 6million hits? If I work out of my house, my overhead is low. So I certainly can match most low prices. But there has to be more. I need a supply of instruments at a low price, but that I would be proud to be affiliated with (sorry, cheap Chinese starter-guitars). Through Music Trade I found a supplier of reconditioned used guitars, that only sells to people with legitimate tax IDs. So one possibility would be to obtain a business tax ID number, and order used guitars for resale. Another would be to offer my services to buy trade-in guitars from people buying new instruments at local guitar stores. For instance, when I was at Georges Music, they told me they don’t accept trade-ins, accept in very rare cases. Perhaps they could give my nm,e out as someone that gives money for good condition used instruments. Then I could resell them for a profit. Its not worth the effort to Georges, but it might be for me.

Retail management

One possibility that I have not considered is a higher-ranking position within one of the large retailers located in the Philadelphia area. This possibility required some research on my part. A typical Guitar Center location employs many people to operate. Many employees are at the level of floor salespeople. There are also some back-room people responsible for certain operations. And ultimately there is a store manager. But that manager reports to a district/regional manager. Additionally, there must be people responsible for the relationships with suppliers, whether it be Gibson, Fender, and Ibanez in the guitar department or Pearl and Zildjian in the drums department.

In that scenario, the position becomes similar to any major retailer, only involving music instruments instead of clothing, kitchenwares, or auto parts. Is that what I want to do? Is that something that would make the best use of my talents?

I think the answer to both of those questions is a “No”.

Large retailers

There are many large music instrument retailers. Many of these retailers first entered into a rapid growth mode in the late-1990’s. Among the multi-store companies with locations near me are:

• Guitar Center
• Sam Ash
• George’s Music

George’s Music is the smallest of these chains. As such, there may be greater room for growth withing the organization as they open new stores. Unfortunately, they already operate several stores in the Philadelphia region, and I don’t know if they want to open any more in this area. Stores opening in other parts of the state or country may not be suitable for me to pursue, but may allow other local managers to relocate, freeing up positions within this region.

Both Guitar Center and Sam Ash have multiple locations in the Philadelphia region. Guessing by the size of their stores, they won’t be opening new stores in this region. However, again based on the size of these stores, there may be ample opportunities to work within their existing locations.

Obstacles to retail jobs

I think about a job in retail frequently. But I am careful to control my daydreaming and not fall in love with some idealized version of what it is. I am susceptible to that particularly because I have never held a job in retail before.

As I see it, there are several obstacles to me successfully holding a retail job:

1. The salary often stinks. The country is loaded with low-paying retail sales associate jobs. If I return to work, it doesn’t make economic sense for me to take a $25,000 per year job. After subtracting the costs of commuting and taxes, the added take-home money to my household might be between $10,000 to $12,000. While that is money, its not much for the trade off in lifestyle that it would require. Losing much of what little time I currently see my wife would not be good for that relationship.
2. The hours are long. The one assistant manager position I applied for entailed 46 hour workweeks. It also included one weekend day per week. My wife works once per month for a Saturday-Sunday weekend combination. I have no friends or family that I could rely on to watch my daughters during the one day I was working on a weekend when my wife also worked.
3. The hours are inflexible. The schedule in many stores is determined week-to-week by the supervisor. My wife’s work schedule is very inflexible. When a surgeon needs to operate, my wife needs to be there to provide anesthesia. Period. She has no regular quitting time, and has no idea of her call schedule more than one month in advance. The inflexibility of her schedule is one of the reasons why I ended up being an at-home-Dad, rather than continuing in my management career.

For me to have a job in retail, I need to overcome these three main obstacles.

Music instrument retailers – independents

Another path for getting into the music instrument retail business is working for an existing merchant. There are several independent stores located within 30 minutes of my house, including the following:

• West Chester Music
• Medley Music
• Swarthmore Music
• Springfield Music

Medley Music is the store that has the least opportunities for me. They are one of the 10 largest independent music retailers in the country. All of the sales personnel with whom I have interacted are more accomplished players than I am, or will likely be in the near future. The store is quite large, so it is also not likely to be sold for an amount of money that I am likely to finance.

West Chester Music is the furthest from my house. I have only been there once, but was very impressed with the friendliness and service offered. It seemed well run, therefore, has the least room for improvements under “new management”. As a small shop, working as a sales clerk or assistant manager seems unlikely, since they run a lean operation.

Swarthmore Music is the store I love to dislike. Laid out poorly, with a selection mostly kept behind the counter where it can’t even be ogled, let alone touched, the floor is cluttered with old display pieces and some amplifiers. I’ve not seen their books, but can only guess that they survive on offering instructional lessons and not instrument sales. They are located in Swarthmore, PA, which has a high-income, liberal demographic and the Swarthmore College, a respected liberal arts institution. I believe that this demographic should be able to support a music instrument store (and it does).

Springfield Music is a sister store to Swarthmore Music. Sometime in the past 3 years, Swarthmore Music bought Springfield Music, and consolidated operations under the single owner, Al. Al made several improvements to this store, and the floor plan is more conducive to selling instruments: the customers can come closer to the instruments than at Swarthmore Music. This store also has an instructional lessons business.

Music instrument stores

One of the first things I did when I left my last job was buy an acoustic guitar. It had been years since I had played guitar with any regularity; in fact, I hadn’t played at all in years. But it was one of the first things I brought back into my life once I had more time.

After buying a guitar, I researched the musical instrument retailing industry. I subscribed to two trade publications, and then let one lapse. For several years, I subscribed to The Music Trades until I reached several conclusions:

1. In 2000-2001, the music industry was under siege by the rapid growth of new store concepts like Guitar Center, MARS (since bankrupt), Sam Ash, and internet retailers.
2. A independent music store was unlikely to provide a large income, or much free time.

Since that time, I believe the industry has settled down a lot. In the past 7 years, independent music stores that remained in business have found a way to compete against the presence of big-box retailers and the internet. And I no longer feel that my income might be stifled by owning a retail store. And since my daughters are older, I no longer need so much at-home time.

To further explore the industry, I plan to talk with the Assistant Manager at my local George’s Music, where I have purchased a guitar, a drum machine, and routine supplies. We’ve established a relationship, and now I want to see what I can learn from him about life in the business. The store often advertises for help, both at the Sales Clerk and Management levels. I stopped by this morning, but he was off today. While I was disappointed he wasn’t there, I am also happy to see that they get some days off.

False starts

In the 9 years I have stayed home with my daughters, I have made several starts at going back to work. The most recent, and serious, attempt was at a local Barnes & Noble book store. I am a regular there, having purchased many books and fed my magazine habit. I met the store manager several years ago and she regularly gave me recommendations to help satisfy my oldest daughter’s reading habit.

One day, I noticed a help-wanted sign on the sidewalk in front of the store. The sign said they were looking for all levels of experience, including management. Since I have an interest in some areas of retailing, but never had a job in retailing, I thought it would be good to ask the manager about their opportunities. As well, since I didn’t have a polished resume, it would give me a chance to explore the opportunity on an informal basis, since I knew the manager.

I was quickly granted an interview with the assistant manager.

As it turned out, the management position was an assistant manager. Since the store is a very small location, with no cafe or CD/DVD sections, their salary was low. The manager said that if I had always wanted a job at a bookstore, than she would make me the offer. But that if I was serious, perhaps I would do better to apply at one of their larger stores. She offered to put me in contact with the appropriate people, but I declined.

Why decline? Perhaps it was the idea of working 6 days per week for a total of 46 hours (or there-abouts). With little flexibility in what hours I worked, or even which days. And a salary in the low-$20,000 range wasn’t much, especially when considering my existing high tax bracket based on my wife’s income.

So I passed on the job as assistant manager of a small Barnes & Noble bookstore. And I still have no retail experience. But I have not ruled out retail. I continue to harbor ideas about owning a music store. In fact, if Swarthmore Music ever comes up for sale, I’m interested.