How Adrian Almost Went Bankrupt TWICE | Worst Mistakes Made in the Audio Industry
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- Опубликовано: 15 июл 2024
- Wants to know the WORST mistakes Adrian's ever made in the audio business? Watch this before you dive head-first into the audio industry as Adrian gives you more tips about being an audio dealer in this Audio Dealer 101 Part 2.
If you haven't watched part 1 of the series, click here: • Making Big Bucks, But ...
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Audio Excellence Inc. is a high-end audio/video store in Markham, Ontario, Canada, a suburb of Toronto. We've been in business since 1991.
Check out our interviews with designers and audio luminaries like Daryl Wilson of Wilson Audio, Paul McGowan of PS Audio, Paolo Tezzon of Sonus Faber, Wendell Diller of Magnepan, John Atkinson of Stereophile, Dan D'Agostino of D'Agostino Master Audio Systems, Nelson Pass of Pass Labs and others.
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Edited by: Alison@audioexcellence.ca 
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Incredible... who needs to go to Ivy League business school when we have Adrian sharing his life's journey ? So real world, so practical. Well done !
Thanks!!
Adrian the audio world is better off because you made it through the difficult times ! ! It took a LOT of courage to share this with us . . . these RUclips videos are getting better by the minute :-)
Very kind of you!
Wow…. Adrian, that is just a tremendous amount of useful information.. that said being in business and especially the audio industry an is unbelievable amount of work..the fact that your doing well is definitely a credit to your dedication and determination.
Thanks! I have an amazing team and they do most of the heavy lifting. I just come to bother them!
Congrats on the Lifetime Achievement Award from the TAF '23. I always enjoy talking to you at the Toronto Show. More to come I'm sure. Cheers.
Thanks!
You're a greay guy, Adrian. If I were only near, would certainly be your Customer. You transmit a great deal of trust. Greetings from Spain.
Thank you very much!
The school of Hard Knocks hurts. Mine was trusting my father. It took me 15 years to recover the $ loss. Again another straight from the heart video.
There are some absolute pearls of wisdom there for everybody. Well said, Adrian 🙏🎧🙂
Thanks!
Honesty is currency not found in a bank, but rather the human mind. Thanks for your openness Adrian.
Very nicely put! I'm going to steal that! lol thanks so much
@@adrianlow2114 Not a problem Adrian. Use accordingly.
I think you just covered the highlights of a 4 year business degree. - you should charge tuition. Great video as always.
i enjoy watching your tutorials i am an audiophile from the 80s and to this day i still am one . Adrian i went thru the same thing a good business profitable money galore then i got cocky vacation 3 times a year and the whole time i was being robbed by my own brother to this day we do not speak and this was approaching 08/09 crisis and lost everything but my love of music jazz / classical and my gear puts me at ease thanks for your heart felt honesty and good fortune to you for many years to come
wow thanks for sharing!
Adrian, you are a class act! If I lived anywhere near you I would be a customer. Maybe someday I can visit your store. It would be an honor to meet you.
Entirely my pleasure!
I started a few businesses in my life and I’m over 50 now, so I appreciate what you’re sharing. Kudos to you for doing this for the young entrepreneurs out there. 👊🏻
Many thanks
Dear Adrian, thank you for sharing this part of your journey with us 🙏
So happy for you that eventually you've succeeded 💯💪
We went through more or less the same thing, I've trusted people and experienced the same things. It's obvious that it's not restricted to land borders.
Thanks for your good advise and thank God you didn't loose your love for Audio because of your bad experience's 😊
I sincerely hope to meet you someday.
All the best to you and yours and take care 🎶🎶🎶👍
Thank you!
Thank you for sharing this Adrian. Leadership starts at the top and I see you take that to heart.
Thank you!
The production quality of your videos is exceptional. Well done !!
Thanks!
Adrian thank you for your candour and honesty. Very wise and sage words. Very best wishes - Adrian
Thanks, Adrian for the useful information. I've been in business for decades and one other thing to remember is invoicing and billing. It's a big deal.
Agreed!!!
Thanks for another great video. Your honesty is refreshing. Good of you sharing your experience and knowledge with others. Love your emphasis on the importance of continuous learning. Things are constantly changing and evolving in business so staying up to date on the latest information and sharpening your skills is critical if you want to stay successful over time. Climbing the mountain is hard. Staying on top is even harder.
Well said
Great words for all of us. Not just for business as these ideas can flow into our personal lives also.
Thank, I think I will put on an audible book, it’s been a while.
A very timely video, as I'm currently in the process of setting up a HiFi store in my city, I will definitely be sharing this video with my partners.
Good luck! Best wishes
A very good video. Thanks!
Thanks for taking the time to share your valuable lessons. I definitely took note 👍🏻🔈
You're welcome!
Hi Adrian, nice to hear your story. Very informative and useful. Warm greetings from Singapore
The price of some of this stuff, I am not surprised!😮
Adrian: This is outstanding info for most small business owners or dreamers. Too many people think self employment is easy and you make a lot of money. If it was easy, everyone would do it. So true, most also do not understand that cash flow / margins are not profit. All most customers see is how much they are playing and thinking about how much you are making. Love lease liabilities and buy assets. This video speaks very well about you as a person, forget audio shop owner. Lasting 20+ years and still going is no easy task. Good for you! You deserve to enjoy all the fruits of your labor. And as you know, past performance is no guaranteed measure of future success. You can never take your eye off the ball until you retire. It's a different world than being an employee. Cheers!
Thanks!!
Great video Adrian.
Very honest and as a business owner I do agree with everything you said 100%. I’m in construction business and people working for you can make you or break you . Best is to grow just enough to manage it yourself with few trusted people. Also competition is big factor. Thankfully you survived but as you know most of hifi stores in Ontario went down. Business can be rewarding but dealing with people on both sides of the fence ( employees and clients) is very challenging.
I also learned hard way not to be too friendly with employees…. Never ends good lol.
Business in Canada is very challenging and even after all this years,often feels like we just few treats from falling. Always a fight and learning.
All the best
Very true indeed! Thanks for the advice
Working 'in the business ' bit me, too.
Great video for anyone interested in running a business. Thanks for sharing.
My pleasure entirely
Thanks for sharing Adrian, I’ve heard of family and friends taking advantage of people financially in the hundreds of thousands, I just can’t imagine how that must feel to be the victim. Wish I lived in Toronto, being a retired audiophile it would be a pleasure to volunteer in your store a few days a week. A friend on mine did that here in Montreal for years, he loved it but was bilingual where I’m not.
Thanks 🙏
Thank you!
thank you for your honesty Adrian... great video
Thanks!
Hello Adrian my name is Scott Clarke from Oakville Ontario Canada : I use to be the manager of Oakville Audio with owner Christian Royse and I am so sorry that man screwed you , I remember Christian keeping low inventory to keep the business manageable and sell the display unit as new units just out of the box so no deals lol Oakville was a wealthy town and full retail is usually what we got from them no haggling in Oakville hee hee You are a super swell fella Adrian and everyone likes you because you are an honest and thoughtful person and care about people. ..I hope I can and visit you one day and say hello to you because you truly are a sweetheart of a guy Adrian, I hope I get down there to Toronto soon to say hello to you and Vince at Tricell and maybe Angie as those are pals of mine as well , Everyone is getting older for sure and I am very happy Adrian you were able to keep your business , Hold strong Adrian all the best good sir
What a great video 👌 thanks
Thanks!
Been there done that... Know your own weaknesses is really important, especially when things goes great.
Very true
Hi Adrian - Love your recent videos. There is too little honest communication in the world today. Would love working with a dealer like you, but I live in the US.
Thank you
Great and very interesting video.
Thanks
Great video. Your insights work with a lot of businesses. I’m so irritated that your accountant got to keep the stolen money. I’m forwarding your video to my daughter who runs her own business. Thanks.
Thanks for the kind words
Very interesting and informative based on years of experience.
Thanks
Thank you, that is very helpful. I failed because I gave too many discounts in the hope of being attractive for further orders.
Another fantastic video
Thanks
Very nice and important business insights.
Thanks
All sound business advice Adrian - I've been running my own business with two partners for 15 years... Although I haven't had those same near misses, we have had our share of pitfalls and up's and downs. I don't think the up's and downs go away, but I think experience can prevent or at least prepare you to respond better when they arise.
Thanks Paul, I'm truly glad you and your partners do very well!
@@adrianlow2114 we've had our fair share of problems, its the nature of entrepreneurship but thanks!!
When the person who defrauded people was released from jail, why couldn't his, ill obtained, assets be located, attached, & you & the other debtors be at least partially refunded? Court order. What they purchased, with your $, be recovered, sold or distributed to their victims? Here in the U. S., I think that this is possible! I'm on your side!
Degenerate gamblers steal in this manner. The accountant didn't buy a house or bank the money.
I don't have a business but love your talks
Thank you
Working at Audio Excellence would be my dream job Adrian, too bad it's a bit far for me.. (I'm in Hamilton) Thanks for another great video!
Glad you are enjoying them
There was no restitution order entered against that thieving accountant? That would be unbelievable!
Great video. I know some of what you covered. Hire people to complement your strengths and to shore up your weaknesses. You don't necessarily hire someone with your skill set because you don't need two of you. If you have two people with the same skill set, you don't need one of them.
As to the accountant who stole from you, didn't the sentencing include restitution to the businesses he stole from? It seems to me that the investigation should include bank accounts that could be seized and used for repayments. Now, if the accountant is really good about hiding funds or had spent the funds, that may not be possible but I would be seeking restitution as part of the process.
well said
Great honest info. One thing I would like to add is to treat your business as an asset to be sold in the future. What is your exit plan? Great businesses build inherit value. In my experience I just made a job for myself not a true business.
well said. In my case, they will literally be carrying me out!
That's certainly the plan for all the "serial entrepreneurs" I come across these days.
Gone is the time when the successful entrepreneur contented themselves with building one business & concentrating on running & growing it successfully.
I meet too many 🤡s these days that start a business & then as soon as it's profitable they're off in a mad dash to start another one, and ANOTHER one, and ANOTHER ONE AGAIN!🌈🤪🤑🤪
Always unrelated businesses too; maybe they think that they're managing a kind of stock portfolio where you don't want to concentrate your assets in just one or two sorts of investments?🪤🤔
Some of these hyperactive jerks own 6 businesses at once; they spend 90% of their time getting their most recent one up & running, & then spend 2 hours a week at each other one to take a quick look around & count their money!🙄
Eventually most of 'em "rise to their level of incompetence" ("The Peter Principle", another great read!); they either crash & burn the entire house of cards by making any one or all of the mistakes you discuss above, or they get *lucky* & just get themselves in just enough difficulty to realise that they've reached their physical & psychological limit & be satisfied with what they've managed to achieve up to that point.
It's here where the idea occurs to them to sell those businesses that they have "added value" to; but as an exit plan, it all too often is done by these fools to raise money to start YET ANOTHER new business that they can't (& don't!) manage properly!🫤
As I said to frens many times, in business, people do not see the instances when you cry alone.
Oh so true!
Great insights!
Mr. Pete--------->
aging hippie
Thanks!
I really like your videos. And I am coming from a land where there are no such thing as high end audio. More or less no one in my country could afford to buy a pair of speakers for $2000 or an amplifier for that sum.
Im living in a so called ”rich country”. But what this means is that no one here starves. Very few live in the streat. But no one in this country (maybe with 5-10 exeptions) have a monthly salary of 2000 dollars before tax. The net salary of such an income is 40-50% so the net salary is 800-1000 dollars.
I belev people in Canada, USA, Japan and Switzerland (and other countrys) that could buy high end audio might have at least 1200-1500 dollars net (after tax) per month. Maybe even more.
Another factor is to have great support from family and friends. You mentioned telling her you will do till it fails but she obviously had faith in your dream and you were successful. I remember my father in-law asked me if I made my million yet? I said no but I have spent it.
lol nice!
Agree about everything, but i think you miss the management of product inventory: product rotation,slow moving, product that can be obsolete in 6 month etc. GiustinoPalmieri Italy,
Wow if you can’t trust your own lawyer and accountants that is indeed tough.
His son Jay is waiting in the wings to take over. This man has a mind for his assistant not business lol.
In business, don’t expect what you don’t inspect.
Wish I had known this! Thanks
Cash flow is not profit
I was a Builder, and at times I would have a few hundred thousand dollars in my accounts.
I thought that was my money
So I purchased nice cars and houses, to find out in 2008 when the banks wanted their money back
I worked for an international company. The quote was : "Cash flow is king!" Make your clients pay in 30 days and pay your suppliers in 90 days. Make interests in between.
Indeed!
Great if you can do it, who the suppliers could give you 90 days credit terms ?😅
Or be Hi-Fi Express, & don't pay 'em at all; just empty your 55-odd stores on Saturday Evening & be sipping pina coladas in the Turks & Caicos on Monday!🎉🥳🚢
Gutsy. Thanks.
Why wasn't any of the money that was stolen returned?
If you're clever enough to be an Accountant, you were clever enough to have thought very carefully about all the ways you know how to play "The Long Game".
Assets were either transferred offshore, to a spouse or other (trusted🤣🤣🤣) family member, or you "honestly" had a gambling addiction & we all know that "the house always wins"...
Do you rememberbember that most dominant of headphones manufacturers, Koss?
A nice family owned enterprise, passed from father to son as it grew & grew.
It's still around, albeit as a mere shell of both what it was as it tries to recover from what was done to it by a highly trusted senior comptroller who stole $10 Million dollars from them by creating a duplicate set of books over about a 10 year period (!!!).
And the entire "personal audio" headphone bubble market got completely missed out by them with the collapse of (just about) their entire retail network. It then took Koss several years in the wilderness to reorganize, & as a corporation I also think that they never really recovered from the loss of outside investor confidence that crisis created, & yet still left a Koss family member tenaciously remaining as President...
Thanks for sharing. Some of the issues you mentioned are common in small businesses that can’t afford an auditor. Segregation of duties is the key. I have been doing accounting, auditing and data analytics for years. Perhaps you should hire me. 😄. One successful business man told me “hire someone better than you”. That makes sense.
Agreed!!
Interesting video Adrian. Care to share your YTube favorites you follow?
Some include PBD Podcast, anything Tesla related (I like and follow the company), Seth Godin, Gary Vaynerchuk, Tony Robbins, Peter Diamandis, anything re AI, lots of fellow audio channels, Jordan Peterson etc
If you want to make a million dollars in this so called audio hobby is to start with two!
Wrong - you had a competitive advantage… those newsletters you used to mail out and give updates on your family life! Makes customers feel like they are part of a larger family
He's been doing those for a very long time, true; I still have one I dug up from 2007(?) when Adrian was celebrating the birth of his son(?)...
But was he cranking those out pretty much from Day One, when you most need to have the plan & the message about differentiating yourself from the competition (especially since you just left Angie & American Sound, & even 20 years later you're both very much in the exact line of business🤗)?
Or did the newsletter idea only get put into motion a few years later?
After all, you've had to have been able to create a customer mailing list to send the damned things to; & that means that you already had enough time to generate a bunch of customers to send them to in the first place!🧐🤔
as if the slimmy accountant wasn't made to pay the stole moneys back?😮
One has to fail to succussed
The accountants do it all the time! We lost 200,000 last year because a CPA wrote herself a check using the firm’s money. She got into jail for 6 months then got bailed out, and at the end be able to keep the money she stole and even get a better job after that…
whoa! that REALLLY ads insult to injury !
Your timeline does not add up.
@@tkjho sorry, I was meant to say last year
@@simplereef4854... actually, I think you meant to say the year BEFORE that?🤔
Great video. But please no chewing gum while filming.
Yes, my mistake.
I didn't even notice.🤔
Don't write blank cheques😢
I didn't. He stole the checks and forged my signature
@adrianlow2114 sorry to hear that Adrian.
Yo, whoever is editing needs to chill with the zooming and filter changes. Feels like I'm watching a middle schooler's class presentation.
It kinda works to subtly hammer home a point.
Kinda.👽
Badest mistake probably, doing a video with a gum.
If your business goes under, I have one simple trick for you ...
Get a job
lol. Very true
It's not a simple trick. It's a dirty one!😏
I don't care about your small business owner problems.
Forgot your meds I see
Why, why you give this comment at all, what was your drive, to add this on Adrians content ,what went through your mind .when you wrote down your comment?
Very useful content Adrian, finally somebody in this industry who put light on an issue which is often on the side
🤪
Here’s a tissue to cry in. 📄
Begs the question why you clicked onto it & started to watch it after seeing the title of it.
I mean, you DID read the title of it before you started watching it, didn't you?🤔
add: bookkeeping 101
well said
I need help with the "learning to get your business to walk so that it'll be able to get into shape to be able to run" startup advice, myself...😑