Spencer, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
I sort of fell into my business name because it’s so simple it makes sense. A lot of people come into my shop and say “this is such a weird combo, I had to check it out!” Which is a win for using the name as marketing. Driving traffic to a brick & mortar store in today’s environment is tough but having a name that is direct, obvious, and has a unique catch sure helps bring people in. Obviously the shop sells turntables, and trail gear which seems to be interests of about 90% of people who walk in the door. One of my most commonly heard customer sayings is “Wow, this place is like my dream. My basement/garage/rec-room/house is exactly like this.”
Spencer, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’ve spent most of my life being an entrepreneur. I blame my grandmother for taking me to thrift stores and yard sales at an early age. I also blame my Mom for telling me that I wasn’t allowed to purchase pokemon cards, but I could trade for them. This combo meant I was always looking for things I could trade for Pokemon cards, but obviously I had to “win” at every trade. Aka: make a profit. I got very good at learning how to value things, long before the age of smartphones and instant eBay checking.
I was lucky enough as I got older to get jobs at several small businesses and learn from those experiences. Some of the things I learned were from mistakes or things I disliked about how they ran their business. Other things I wanted to emulate. While working these jobs I still continued to side hustle and sell on eBay, Craigslist, Bonanza, etc. Meanwhile I was learning that in small business, customers come first. The experience a customer has will directly correlate to them telling friends and choosing to come back. If I cared about profit more than my customer I would end up making a quick buck then going out of business. If I cared about my customers happiness then they would end up coming back for generations. I remember at one business I worked out seeing a dad come in with his son and saying “man I remember coming here with my dad 15 years ago and I’m so excited to be brining my son in now!” THAT is what I aspire for my business.
I’m lucky that the business survived Covid. I think my ability to grow the business naturally, treat customers well, and also be flexible really helped. The ability to do repair work for customers, and do custom audio setups has always been something more personal than Amazon can ever compete with. I think often I’m more about selling my passion than selling an item. People don’t want a backpack, they want an experience hiking. They don’t want a turntable, they want an experience listening to music. I help start that experience in a positive way!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I was taught my whole life that debt is bad. Due to this I’ve had a hard time taking on debt in order to grow the business. Lately I’ve been forcing myself to accept that debt can be beneficial. Taking a loan in order to have more inventory, or expand my space, or hire employees can be huge for increasing my ability to make more money. Growing completely organically has worked for me, but I feel it’s kept my pace of growth slower than it should be. I’ve seen this most directly in the past year since pulling a loan in order to move into a bigger space, and at the same time improving it with better lighting, shelving, signage, and also putting money towards advertising. Though my business now holds debts I have also seen record revenue coming in which wouldn’t be possible without taking on this debt. It’s a balance that is hard to find, but I think I’m starting to get there.
How’d you meet your business partner?
I don’t have a co-founder, but my first employee has essentially become my business partner. I feel really lucky that he has taken such an interest in the shop and he’s great for advice, help, suggestions, and he works at the store occasionally. Probably 3 months into being open (this was almost 7 years ago) in walked this guy. He was super enthusiastic about everything. I was mostly just trying to make a sale and survive a the time, not really thinking about growth potential, but in he comes and instantly he saw something cool that he wanted to be part of. He hung out for probably 3 hours and asked if I was hiring. I told him I couldn’t afford to hire anyone since I was so new, but if he wanted to come work on a Saturday I would give him a stereo receiver that he had wanted. He agreed and showed up the next week, and it worked great. He was perfect with customers, showed initiative, and had great insight. Here we are 6 and a half years later and he works as an elementary school teacher full time but still works 1 day a week and we have regular “meetings” about the shop. Usually this just means we grab lunch and discuss what is working, what we’d like to change, etc. I’m incredibly thankful he came in that day. He told me months later that he happened to just be walking by because he was on the way to donate platelets.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.turntablestrails.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/turntables_and_trails_seattle/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/turntablestrails/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/turntables-and-trails-seattle?start=20