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Why is it so hard to find installers?


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Hymer 
Silver - Posts: 695
Silver spacespace
Joined: November 20, 2004
Location: United States
Posted: December 20, 2006 at 1:18 PM / IP Logged  
Mn / Wi same thing... Lots of premoddonas and very little knowledge... On top of that either they just want to install, not do anything else, or they want to wrench and no electronics...   What happened to wanting to learn something new just for the helluvit????
Tire Proz Stillwater Mn
High End Restyling and Comlete Repair
candy&chrome 
Copper - Posts: 52
Copper spacespace
Joined: December 05, 2005
Location: Canada
Posted: December 26, 2006 at 12:13 PM / IP Logged  
i live up here in canada where for the most part we are busy all year with different types of installations from cruise control -stereo-custom-and remote starts. but are you guys paying out in peace work? where i work we are paid hourly, and i think that helps as far as getting staff in the door, because lets face it, if your a newbie your gonna screw up, and even the best installer has his bad days. unfortunatly for the company it costs them money when that happens, but that is a saving-grace when your a rookie and need the time to figure it out, i have worked for the same company for almost 10 years and i'm 28.....i'd like to think i'm an o.k installer with good beleifes and a strong work ethic.....so i can't complain about my wage....but i know i'm reaching the MAX wage for the industry without getting into something else. so if there was another company with better options and a higher salary it would only make sense to move on, but my back is only gonna last so long, but eventually i WILL open my own shop........but i owe all of my strength to who i work for, because they have treated me well over the years. and to the guys that are making 90k......hell even the guys that are making 50k i hope you deserve it, because that is some serious cake.i find it hard to beleive that someone can make that kind of dollar doing this stuff. where do i sign up? haha! if i made that kind of money doing 12volt whew! unreal!
canada's cold eh.
wkndracr 
Member - Posts: 8
Member spacespace
Joined: December 28, 2005
Posted: December 27, 2006 at 10:32 PM / IP Logged  
Where I work we do a combination of dealer and retail. we cant seem to find anybody good as well. The company is pretty large as we also do radio and instrument cluster remanufacturing for major OEM's, therefore we also get good medical,dental 401k with matching, even a pension, and we use company vehicles. problem is, someone who is old enough to have the experience also needs more than what they're starting installers at. I started when i was 19 13 years ago at $6.50/hr, now I'm salaried at a little more than 50k. I doubt i could go to another shop and start at 50k, not that i would leave anyway. I would tend to say anybody who is really good is already comfortable where they are, and not looking for new jobs.
cavsfan 
Member - Posts: 37
Member spacespace
Joined: May 24, 2006
Location: United States
Posted: December 28, 2006 at 7:34 AM / IP Logged  
wkndracr wrote:
Where I work we do a combination of dealer and retail. we cant seem to find anybody good as well. The company is pretty large as we also do radio and instrument cluster remanufacturing for major OEM's, therefore we also get good medical,dental 401k with matching, even a pension, and we use company vehicles. problem is, someone who is old enough to have the experience also needs more than what they're starting installers at. I started when i was 19 13 years ago at $6.50/hr, now I'm salaried at a little more than 50k. I doubt i could go to another shop and start at 50k, not that i would leave anyway. I would tend to say anybody who is really good is already comfortable where they are, and not looking for new jobs.
What company do you work for?
wkndracr 
Member - Posts: 8
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Joined: December 28, 2005
Posted: January 03, 2007 at 6:16 PM / IP Logged  
I work for Model Electronics, in Nanuet NY
specialaudio 
Copper - Posts: 58
Copper spacespace
Joined: April 15, 2006
Location: Canada
Posted: January 03, 2007 at 6:55 PM / IP Logged  

In my area toronto canada, i know of 2 shops (not custom) that went tits up in the past three years. But on the flip side, i know of a shop that has been doing work for about 20 years or so. having said that, that one is a family owed and opperated shop and they dont really do custom work either, just all kinds of car electrial work. 

There are alot of people who like to do car audio, people dont think of it as a carrer.
where does it take you after words?
Just a Quick question.... What kind of shop would be better to make some doh, a custom high end, or just a everyday fix it up shop?

93' Cutlass
another-kelly 
Silver - Posts: 618
Silver spacespace
Joined: July 11, 2004
Location: United States
Posted: January 03, 2007 at 9:03 PM / IP Logged  
dang i need to get to know more people in the business. it's taken me 4.5 years to get to $16 an hour with my big box retail job. really wish i lived closer to maryland. busted my butt to file for $35,000 last year. if there were anyone in the kansas city market like this i would jump on it in a heartbeat. everytime i check the adds, the only installers wanted is satellite dishes for TV.
Mike M2 
Platinum - Posts: 2,652
Platinum spacespace
Joined: June 29, 2005
Location: United States
Posted: January 04, 2007 at 8:20 PM / IP Logged  

The guy i said earlier that was unhappy with 46k was from Best buys when we hired him. He was a manager at a very high output store. He left us......for 3 days, and is back. He found the grass isn't always greener on the other side. He averaged 30 hours a week for 46k, hmmm, thats almost 30 bucks an hour he walked away from.

I had another guy(who posts here) email me. I told him the whole picture, good money, benefits, etc., but the catch is a lot of driving(which we pay you by the mile). He lives out in the sticks and said he was only willing to travel 20 miles! Where he is that won't even get him near a town with a friggin Burger King and he wants to do alarms? Heck, he lives 75 miles from our nearest office. I got guys that do a couple hundred miles a day, (which sucks) but you get paid well for it.

It's a balancing act, one month you have less work-more workers, the next month more work-less workers...

Mike M2
Tech Manager
CS Dealer Services
Mike M2 
Platinum - Posts: 2,652
Platinum spacespace
Joined: June 29, 2005
Location: United States
Posted: January 04, 2007 at 8:27 PM / IP Logged  
Specialaudio, we have found there's no money in audio. The big box competition is too stiff to give a good price and still make a living. As for high end, well, that can be good but you need a good rep and a name to survive. The money is in dealer work, but that takes tons of capital to get going. This is all we do, no retail store at all, about 40 employees total. I think we are the second largest Avox dealer in the country(excluding retail) and do business with 150 dealerships. All that adds up to our guys making good money...
Mike M2
Tech Manager
CS Dealer Services
wkndracr 
Member - Posts: 8
Member spacespace
Joined: December 28, 2005
Posted: January 05, 2007 at 9:39 PM / IP Logged  
I agree that the money is in dealer work. the big box stores killed us and thats fine with me. our dealer side has far outgrown the retail side since we started about 4 years ago.   personally, i'd rather work on brand new cars all day than someone's neglected POS.
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