2. misc-audio
  3. 1173119379

Has anyone heard of this?

Hi guys, I tried to post this over the weekend, but I don't think I was clear. I am doing a marketing project and had to come up with a small buisness idea. I need to get feedback from people outside the college community so I thought this would be a good place to start.

My idea was a home theater store where you can rent out a home theater room or 2 channel listening room by the hour to watch movies. This would be different from a demo room at a retail store, because there would be no sales pressure involved. Let's say there could be a room with a modest home theater setup, a mid-level setup, and an all-out-assault setup. Also there might be a couple 2-channel setups for music. You could come in and relax and listen to CD's or music on your computer, get coffee, etc.
Now, the more I put into this project, the more questions I have to answer from my professor, so, as of right now, lets say people can bring in their own source material to listen to, maybe there could be some available, but then I would have to address copyright stuff. Also, there could be an advertising aspect as well. To cut down on cost, I could have some of the systems on loan, or at drastically discounted prices if I advertise the store that provided them to me, at least in the begining. So, all that out of the way, my question to you guys is:

1) Has anyone ever heard of a setup like this before
2) Does this seem like something that would be profitable
3) How much would you pay for something like this (per hour, lets say for now)

Also, there could be some big events, Super Bowl, March Madness, World Series, etc.
This could be aimed at people like me, with no money to invest in this hoby, yet love it, or people shopping around that want the experience first, buisness outings, and students & buisness study rooms/private working space.

So lets say 5 to 6 rooms, one may be a 2-channel system with Paradigm signature S2s, maybe a 2-channel setup with B&W 700 series, a home theater with Klipsch reference, a home theater/surround sound audio with Paradigm Studio seris, maybe the Klipsch THX Ultra 2 system in one room, and then the big dog with B&W 802's or Martin Logan or something.

Let me know what you guys think. I'll be heading to the mall to interview people in the next couple of weeks with these same questions to see what the general public response would be. Thanks for your time
turk944
chadnliz
3,736 posts
 
besides all the previous things to know, how about "people with no money" renting your "all out assualt" room, how long before speakers get damaged or any other equipment by people who dont appreciate the price and fragile nature of speaker drivers. I can admire a creative thinker but you need to put this to bed and come up with a better way to channel your creative business thoughts.
And in a way there already exists a way poor folks can get some...and I stress some of the great video , but not so much the audio end of entertainment...........it is called "Rent A Center"
bdgregory
1,708 posts
 
My 2 cents . . .

This is conceptually not far from the Sports Bar business model, or maybe the Dinner Theater, except the latter two have much lower cost structure for facilities, and probably higher business volume potential.

I frankly think it would be near impossible to turn a profit the way you have described the business (ie primarily from Rents), simply because of the math equation layed out by McFarland.

If you were to stick with the sports bar model and maximize revenue from service of food/beverage, maybe there's a chance. The only part I can't get my mind around is whether there's enough people like us who would want to go there and spend time and money. I personally may patronize such a business, but my wife would say, hell no, let's go to the dinner theater, and my kids would say hell no, let's go to the sports bar.
turk944 OP
17 posts
 
Thanks guys, there's definitely more work I need to put into this, but I appreciate the feedback
ausjoe
98 posts
 
I wouldn't go for your idea myself but what I do frequent is acoustically well designed places to listen to live music with high end pro audio equipment. They are a real pleasure and the artists seem to appreciate these venues also. Ya try to break even on the tickets and make your money on the booze. Your trying to make a niche from movie buffs and/or audio buffs who will pay a premium to hang out at your business. Can't see it but maybe I'm missing something.
beheme
231 posts
 
Kinda remind me of another great idea that never really worked: make you own pizza restaurant. Back to your idea: I think that Mcfarland is right, the cost divided by expected number of sessions would be prohibitive, especially with hi-end stuff.
More to discover