I'm sure many of you have seen my posts along the same lines as CresNut's...

I hate the proliferation of the unqualified into my business... kind of like a dog who pissed on a fire hydrant only to have 70 other dogs come and piss all over it too. I have bitched, pissed and moaned ad infinitum about AVAD, their insidious D2b program, electricians who don't know shit and pretend they do (apologies to guys like Larry), Companies like Bose and Sonance selling directly to builders... even our beloved CEDIA for setting up an hour and a half class at IBEW to tell electricians all they need to know about "them home theeters" .

This bitching has led a lot of you to agree and others (especially QQQ) to tell me to wake up and watch my business instead. Being a businessman first who combined a love of AV into a job over 20 years ago... I have seen a lot of evolution. The business is so different now, god only knows (well god and maybe Wesley Mullings) where it will be 20 years from now.

Honestly, most of the posts here are simply to keep an open eye and mind on whats happening. Our voices really do lead to changes... look at CEDIA fighting these ridiculous legislations that could have us all either gone or part of an electrical union. Ultimately though, David & QQQ & Impaqt are right... form your own business plan... be willing to modify it daily and be willing to get the hell out when it finally does get overrun. For the here and now though... market the client you want to market to and do every job to the best of your abilities... let your body of work speak for itself.

The basic problem is that we are all after the same high end client and more and more of these are being approached by people who would never have approached them two years ago. Since these folks are either getting the desperate trouser drop in price or are getting hosed by picking the wrong contractor...it is sending waves through the industry. While I keep a watch on things, my philosophy is that you do your part by not supporting Zon. Many a middle class American will be playing with his Crutchfield purchased Zon system installed by Tom, Dick & Harrys AV as of yesterday install crew... so be it.

Others will be playing with the wonderfully automated... individually amplified multi zone system that you set up. You'll do a killer job at it and they'll tell their friends who may turn out to be great clients or may tell you they purchased a rack full of shite at BB and want you to install it. As the big boys here say... you now have a choice. Isn't that why you are in business for yourself?

Brands are brands... the stuff written about brands being secondary is totally true. We got let go as a Vidikron dealer recently due to low sales and picked up Dream Vision the same day. The brand the client is buying is YOU. The electronics that end up in the house are secondary to what YOU provide which is ultimately the right mix for the client. The ones you don't get are hard to swallow but you've got to learn how to do it.

Press on CresNut.. but do as I have done and plan an exit strategy from this biz if it becomes the total pile of crap it has the potential to become. I am planning on getting into home reconstruction as soon as the bank account gets big enough (and you can bet they'll all have killer systems).