Not at all. My intent is simple. By my logic you would not have to buy a track yourself if the racers had adequately supported the track voluntarily. You should want the track to stay open. How or if you help is your call. I am willing to help however I can.
From your perspective lets say you are the only music store in town. Everyone is town buys their instruments from Amazon and would then bring them to you for adjustment. Or say a customer visits your store to test different instruments and then buys the one he wants online because it is cheaper and they don't have to pay tax. This is why local businesses are important. You and your store provide added value to the instruments but these people go for the immediate reward of lower price. They may regret their choice in the long run when they need another instrument or want to trade in and your store is no longer open. It sounds like you are a good businessman and currently offer value that people are willing to pay. You have probably also adapted. How do tracks adapt?
Hopefully we can keep commercial tracks alive for a little bit longer.
Mrk
Actually, my installing a track in my home was not motivated by the lack of commercial tracks, but I am probably the exception. I expect there are other private track owners who DO live near a commercial track, though.
The music business is a good comparison, and much of what you describe does take place. Here's how we have adapted:
We aren't an authorized dealer for any name brand, thus we avoid the stocking requirements and the "test players" that try out instruments at dealers then buy online.
We do have customers who buy Amazon instruments and other ISOs (instrument shaped objects), and we will gladly provide repair for these (at customers expense). Our competition will not, they will only service what they sell. We also aggressively explain the differences between these cheap instruments and good ones, both through direct customer education and intense involvement with the schools.
Our income is balanced between four divisions:
1. Retail sales, including some readily available "lesser" name brand guitars, and many used band and stringed instruments reconditioned by our shop, as well as parts, books and accessories.
2. Instrument repair, mainly band instruments brought in by schools and individuals. Most of these were not purchased from us!
3. Band instrument rental, which is brokered through a national agency. This also gives us access (virtually never used) to dealer prices on name brand instruments.
4. Lessons, for all band instruments, guitar, bass, drums, violin, banjo, ukulele, etc.
Our "competition" is traditional music stores that are burdened by huge inventories of brand name instruments, and they must follow the dictates of those dealer agreements, i.e. buy 20 $300 guitars that will sell in one month and get saddled with 3 $2000 guitars that will take 2 years to sell, if you ever can lol. Their business is not their own...
But this is still not a recipe for success in the music industry, it is merely a strategy. One crucial ingredient must be added: CUSTOMER SERVICE! All of our technicians, salesmen, and instructors are 100% dedicated to "spreading the music", because we sincerely believe that music changes lives for the better.
You have to educate the customer where you can, and adapt where you can't. We don't sell price, we sell value, and this is the critical difference. If you don't believe in value (and have the passion and skills to sell it), all you have left is price - and the big guys will always beat you on that field.
