Award-winning retailer Sonus Car Audio, Clarksville, TN started a side business to its retail shop two years ago, which now accounts for a quarter of the company’s $1.3 to $1.5 million in annual revenue.
The side business, called Sonus Evolution, supplies installer tools and materials to other car audio installers and will soon expand into kit products. “It’s taken off. I think it will transition us out of retail 10 years down the road and hopefully faster,” said Sonus owner Micah Williams.
“We’re going to change everything about what everyone knows we all do. We’re going to make it so [retailers] are not afraid of fabrication. You’re not going to lose money when you say, ‘yeah, I can build that.’ Those days are over. We’re going to make it easier and more profitable.”
Sonus Evolution supplies laser cut tools for fabricators, and body filler, and it also offers installation training. It ships to all 50 states and 8 different countries.
For its next venture, it is working with specialized fabrication materials, such as different leathers which it produces via a 3D printer and 3D laser scanner. It also plans to offer tablet kits for the dash.
Tablet kits will become more important because radio replacement is posing more and more problems. When you take out a radio you are left with “connection issues and handshake problems” with the car’s factory features in some cases, said Williams. “Taking out a radio is an inconvenience. Tablets, they will go right through the factory Bluetooth.”
Williams continued, “Look how long it takes a dash kit manufacturer to get to market with a kit now.” With 3D printers, dealers can make their own, he said.
The company has 8 employees, including two devoted to Sonus Evolution. It recently began working with Hybrid Audio to supply speaker pods for specific vehicles that are loaded with Hybrid Audio speakers. Some of the pods can fit on the A-pillar of a specific car.
Source: CEoutlook