New Business Advice

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Hey guys,

Just looking for some advice at this point, or maybe pointed in the direction of someone who I could get in touch with to get some info about what I’d need to get something up and running.

I’m thinking of advertising myself as some kind of pedalboard/pedalboard assembly/pedal/tone/rig consultant. I get a lot of queries about my gear and have helped a few friends with their setup/pedalboards etc in the recent past and it’s been a lot of fun and I get a lot of satisfaction out of it.

I’ve never looked into having my own business before, so a real noob here. Would just be really helpful to get a little insight into anything/everything I’d need to consider.


Thanks in advance

Keir
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Comments

  • dindudedindude Frets: 8534
    First thing to consider is size of market and if you can actually carve a living out of it, assuming that’s what you wanted to do rather than just a hobby business.

    The UK guitar playing community is a fairly small market to start with, lots have pedalboards but those who are willing to pay for a service is really tiny.

    When I was actively making Smorg pedalboards, and was getting a decent buzz, great review in Guitar Magazine etc, I did the very honest maths (you have to be really honest with yourself) and it was only ever going to be a hobby business at best and vanity business at worse.  

    Problem is with the pedalboard and rig market is that a tiny amount see the value in it, look at the amount of threads on here that decry spending £60 on a pedaltrain as the bit of wood they found in Homebase cost them £4 and does the same job. 

    Wiring up a pedalboard ain’t so difficult either unless a complex build - again when active with Smorg I had it as an option and had very minimal uptake. People change pedals so often that hard coding it is really the preserve of the pro musician heading out on tour. 

    However, there are those who make a success of it - look at Custom Pedalboards as an example, I think the guy is (or was) an active member here. but even they have diversified into selling pedals etc.

    Obviously there’s GigRig, that’s a pretty pro orientated service, but again they have a product to sell as well as the builds.

    Don’t mean to sound negative but the market is a small one that’s all and I think it needs to be a service along with other offerings.

    I still build Smorg for myself (and very occasionally others if I have time) and still love it.
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