A few years back I did an MBA to help my science career, it seemed people make research investment decisions based on the business cycle, as much as the science. As something of an idealist it was my insight into how the world actually works, as opposed to how I would like it to work, and an MBA helped in that regard.
Dial forward a few years, with a little COVID lockdown in the mix and a little hobby of mine, fixing up and restoring violins, started to take off…. all on its own. Iit seems that if you repair your children’s instruments (2 boisterous boys will do that), then in time trade them up to a more serious instrument, rinse and repeat a few times as they move up through the sizes you learn a lot. then you help a few friends out with their violins and suddenly you realise “Hey I quite like this” and others appreciate the honesty of it as well.
With my MBA hat on I realised I had probably tapped into a niche market segment, that of value conscious parents who are looking for quality instruments but without the high street prices and live in my local area. The who/what/how of a basic business model seemed to have written itself. And when you can typically acquire, refit and repair and fix up a secondhand instrument and resell it for around half the price of a new instrument its real value to the customer and there is enough change in the way of margins along the way to cover your time as well. It also sits neatly in the sweet spot of something I like doing, am reasonably good at (and getting better according to my luthier teacher) and people will pay money for.
Mr Porter and his famous forces tells me that where I live has low competition, it was well serviced by music shops, but they have closed down for one reason or another. I suspect because a lot of people want to shop online for music accessories and instrument however violins are something people are generally reluctant to mail order…as they need to be felt and played, a lot of fine tuning to work , personal assistance to get the right one. Being local and having expertise seems to be important (and also provides a bit of VRIN protection). The alternative is a river crossing and a 30min drive to the nearest specialist strings store for the average parent as well. Supply of student instruments seems plentiful and with some introductions by luthier friends wholesalers are happy to supply to me new instruments too, for when i can’t get secondhand ones.
Marketing tells me that as I’m a player (a violin player… before you ask) and also a parent of children learning violin there is good potential for customer intimacy and insight. This should be supported by branding that should say quality, but not in a classically serious way (ie expensive) yet approachable, like an old time fiddler might be. Some elements of logo design that incorporate elements of violin-ing are a nice touch and living on a street that gets a fair flow of parents seems to help for exposure too . Relationships with the local music teachers and schools also helps, as that is a significant channel for typical customers.
A little market test on the local marketplaces (facebook and gumtree) , with a brand went well, what was most interesting was people stopped haggling and starting asking for advice (this branding stuff works).
Probably the thing I like most is the circular economy, too many a violin ends up at the back of a cupboard and are eventually thrown out. With a little work they can be kept going and passed onto the next family. I guess the great thing about violins is they tend to improve with age, as the tonewooods mature (along with my good self of course). The environmental aspect is also a source of delight for parents, which is nice, the experience seems to be less transactional and more about a shared love for music (theirs or their childs)..and its helps that it’s easy on their pocket too.
So secondhand can be better than new and an old tech dog can learn new tricks!
