How I Started A $1M/Month Brand Dedicated To Car Audio – Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Hey there entrepreneurs, my name is Sushant and welcome to Treptalks. This is a show where I interview successful e-commerce entrepreneurs, business executives and thought leaders and ask them questions about their business story and also dive deep into some of the strategies and tactics that they have used to start and grow their businesses.

And today I’m really excited to welcome Johnathan Price to the show. Johnathan is the founder and owner of down4soundshop. com. down4soundshop. com distributes car audio products worldwide. To fellow car audio fanatics who enjoy building their own car sound systems with their friends And today i’m going to ask Johnathan a few questions about his entrepreneur journey And some of the strategies and tactics that he has used to start and grow his business So Johnathan, thank you so much for joining me today.

Really appreciate

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: your time. It’s my pleasure. I appreciate you having me on as well

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: So, you know, I was a little bit surprised when [00:01:00] I was, you know, looking at your website and doing a little bit of a research and I talked to a lot of entrepreneurs and, you know, it’s, it’s relatively difficult for a business to reach 10 million plus in revenue.

And, and I believe your, your business is 10 million plus in revenue. Um, and when I looked at the products, I was like, you know, this, this product seems like this should be available at a lot of places. So, you know, not, not really specialty product. Uh, but I don’t know about this industry. So I was a little bit surprised that, you know, uh, your business is doing as well as it is.

And then I also saw that your social media, you know, you have a huge following on social media. Is it really, because. The people who are into their cars are really car fanatics and, you know, they are into these kind of products and, you know, once they come to know about your product, your brand, your social media, they’re basically [00:02:00] become your brand fans and, you know, buying from you again and

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: again.

Yeah, that’s basically it. Uh, when I started my. Journey, I was, I didn’t sell anything in the beginning. I was just uploading videos to YouTube and Facebook and stuff like that. And I was growing a social media, but I didn’t know why I just thought I’d be cool on the internet. So I just kept, uh, sharing these videos of going to different car shows and stuff like that.

And, um, the more, uh, and my, I was always into car audio. So when I would go to the car shows, it would. Like the systems that I had in my vehicles were always like super loud and everything. So it drew a lot of attention and, and the people that would get in, they would, uh, after they got a demo of the, um, the system, they would say, well, where do you get your stuff from?

And I would just, at that time I was sponsored by a couple of companies. Uh, I was just getting discounts on product, but I would, because I would just tell them to go to that brand’s website, like, Hey, go, you can go [00:03:00] buy it from here or whatever. So anyway, that happened for a while. And then one day I was at a car show and somebody asked that same question again.

They’re like, uh, where do you get your car audio from? And it was like, the light bulb went off in my head. I’m like, man, I could be selling these people this stuff and because they were already. Like building, I was building that relationship with them in person. I always go to all these events like more now, so than ever.

Uh, but I go to events in person because you have that face to face interaction and that relationship building that you can do in person that you just can’t get over like zoom or whatever. Like it’s, it’s always different than being in person. So anyway, I was building this and I was building my following, but until that time it was just.

Because I thought I was going to be cool on the internet, but then I’m like, okay, I need to figure out how to start a business and turn this into like making some money off of it. So, because once you have a person following you for like legit authentic followers, not people that pay for followers and stuff like that, [00:04:00] but when you have authentic followers, you’re constantly engaging with them.

I mean, my, like my. Personal Facebook, I share everything publicly. I’m not a, like, I’m really transparent and everything. And so it gets a lot of people that find me inspirational and motivational or whatever, because I share the good times and the bad times. Like everything about entrepreneurship, isn’t always sunshine and rainbows.

You got some bad days that come as well, but. Anyway, so I’ve always shared it publicly and it gives people that relationship with me where they feel like they know me on a, a friend level. So when they’re looking for car audio, or they see one of my videos, they’re like, Oh, I need to get some of that. They know where to come get it now.

So that’s kind of how that rolled into what it is today.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: That is really awesome because, you know, these days when I talk to some entrepreneur, that’s actually a strategy, right? So it’s like you, uh, you know, if somebody wants to start a business, especially today, the strategy is you go, you start posting on social media, [00:05:00] especially if you’re passionate and you kind of build the following.

Uh, before you launch your product. So if you have a following, it almost, and, and, you know, especially if it’s, uh, you know, the, the following connects with you in some emotional way, then if you put a product in front of them, You know, they’re going to buy it So that’s kind of the formula these days of launching a product or a business and to me It seems like you almost kind of stumbled into it.

Like you were doing things. You were just sharing your passion And and then one day the light bulb went off Um, when when was this how many years ago? Um, was it that you started your business? so

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: it was um So since I didn’t know anything about business at the time, I’m like, what could I sell basically that wouldn’t cost me a lot of money cause I didn’t have any money, uh, but I could, uh, sell at these car shows and take with me.

So I’m like, okay, I could do stickers and t shirts. So that’s what I started out with. But that obviously didn’t have anything to do with the online [00:06:00] website or anything like that. So, uh, anyway, I would get some shirts made and some stickers made. I’d take them to the car shows. And when somebody would listen to my vehicle, I would ask him like, Hey, would you like to support me by buying one?

These and, um, and so that was, and they would most of the time. So it would help me basically cover the cost of gas going to the event, or maybe if I was lucky, the, uh, gas and hotel and some food or whatever. But anyway, that was the infancy of the business. And when, um, I got, I got it started there and as it continued to grow, it just like went into products and.

Okay. What was the question again? Sorry, I was going.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: No, I think I think that’s great. I mean, you know what I what I mentioned was you kind of Accidentally stumble into it. I mean, it’s, I think, you know, that’s the journey of a lot of entrepreneurs where they, you know, in books these days, they talk about product market fit.

And it seems like, you know, you, because [00:07:00] of your passion, you connected with the market and then eventually by testing out small products at first. And, you know, you kind of learn entrepreneurship through that process. Um, can you talk a little bit about. When did you actually start to put some of these sound audio products?

What, what was your first product? And, um, did you actually start a website initially or did you, were you still selling the

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: product in person? Gotcha. Oh, you asked me the, the last question was, uh, how long ago it was about, I started my first, like the YouTube channel about, I think 11 or 12 years ago. So that’s when I kind of started the ball rolling on social media.

But again, I didn’t know what, what I was doing it for. I just thought I’d be cool on the internet. So, uh, when I first started selling some light stickers and T shirts and stuff would probably be, um, about nine, eight or nine years ago. And then. Seven years ago, I moved to Las Vegas and, um, [00:08:00] I ended up starting to do it full time.

So that’s, so since then, uh, I’ve been doing this full time and that’s when it really took off, like when I started devoting all of my time to it. Um, so anyway, that was the, the, uh, time schedule on that. Uh, as far as like, um, testing products and running them. Um, it took me a while to get started on. Like a website because I’m not a computer tech guy at all, and I don’t know anything about websites and, um, I’ve stumbled upon a, he was a fan of mine in Australia that, um, he was wanting to buy some stuff from me, some t shirts and stickers and stuff like that.

And. He’s like, Oh, do you have a website? I’m like, no, I don’t have a website. I’ll just, just PayPal me the money. And I’ll like, I’ll ship you the stuff or whatever. He’s like, Oh, for whatever reason at that time he was saying that he couldn’t do that, they have to buy through a website or whatever. I can’t remember.

I’m like, man, I don’t have a website. I don’t know how to do it. And he’s like, Oh, just download. [00:09:00] Whatever, I can’t remember what, uh, brand of website it was, but hosting site. And I’ll just put them on there and then I could buy from you. And I’m like, okay, so I downloaded it and I was trying to figure it out.

I’m like, man, I don’t know. I could get the shirts on there, but I couldn’t figure out how to do different sizes or colors or like all the different swatches and options on it. I mean, I’m like, screw this. It’s not going to ever be anything that I need to have anyway. I’m not going to worry about it. And I forgot about it.

And a couple of weeks later, he messages me and he’s like, Hey, I was wondering if you had the stuff on there so I can buy them. And I told him like, man, I couldn’t figure it out. It’s too difficult. And it’s not going to be anything I ever need anyway. So I’m not worried about it. He said, Oh, it’s easy. Like, if it’s so easy, why don’t you do it?

He says, okay. So in like 10 minutes, he had did a test store, had all the shirts on there, all this, uh, colors, like all the options and everything like that, and all the stickers and all the colors I’m like. Man, that’s when it occurred to me that you need to have people on your team that can do stuff, either can do stuff that you can’t do, or they can do [00:10:00] stuff, and they love to do it, you may can do it, but you hate doing it, because I mean, I could have probably figured it out, but it would have took me a month to do what he did, like, so, uh, that’s when you realize, like, okay, you need to have people on your team that are good at things that, You either don’t like to do or you don’t know how to do, because obviously if I wouldn’t ever figured out having a website, I wouldn’t have been doing like God to where I’m doing 20 million in sales, like of car audio products.

I would still be pumping gas at an airport. So, um, anyway, he, he was a huge. Um, help to get me started in, uh, in the idea of, I really need to have a website. So that’s, um, kind of how that got started in with doing my own now moving forward. Uh, about three to four years ago, we really started getting into.

Doing our own brand of products. So up until that time, we were more so just a dealer or [00:11:00] distributor for a bunch of different like top brands that we were running in our vehicles and stuff. So we were, before we had any of our own products, we were running, say. A certain brand and then we were also a dealer for it.

So I would go to these shows and I would demo the product for the people. They would get excited about it. I’m like, Hey, go to my website if you want to grab some of it. And they’re like, okay. So that was kind of how we were doing it. And we were obviously over all this time, we’re building our following it more and more and more.

And people are also building this relationship with us either by being a customer or just a supporter or a subscriber or whatever it might be. So they were, um, we were building all this, this whole time. And finally they started asking, uh, Hey, I’d like to, do you have anything under the down for sound name brand?

I’m like, well, I mean, stickers and t shirts are like, no, I’m talking about car audio products. Like, no, not really. Uh, or actually, no, not at all. And, uh, they’re like, oh, we’d like to buy something with your name on it. And I’m like. Okay, maybe I need [00:12:00] to start like doing my own thing. So we started getting into that, uh, manufacturing our own, uh, like amplifier speakers, batteries, wire, like all this stuff under the down for sound brand.

And since people already know the down for sound brand, because they’ve been purchasing other products from us, other brands from us under like the down for sound, uh, name, they. Like I already had all the trust with us, the trust and the relationship. So when we started releasing our own brand of products, like it was even easier to like make it happen or make sales because people will already have that trust with your brand.

It’s just like having a household name brand. Uh, when you go to like, when you think let’s go get a cup of coffee, there’s a name that comes to mind that you, that everybody’s going to say, like Starbucks, you already know this household name brand. So you’re going to go, usually go to the place that you know, that pops to your head first.

So when it comes to car audio, people have been watching my videos all this time. [00:13:00] So anyway, that’s kind of how that, uh, rolled out. Do you

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: think that the reason for, for your success? Of course, there’s, there’s an element to that, you know, there is this market or there’s a, there’s a niche, uh, group of people who are very much into cars.

And, you know, of course, you know, they’re passionate about car audio and they want to have, you know, different kinds of things on their car. But do you think the reason you have been successful, um, At least partly is because people were able to connect with you as a person or as a, as someone whom they saw on social media and they look at, look at as a fellow car enthusiast and so they’re more willing to purchase from you because I’m assuming that the products that you’re selling, they’re not, um, they’re not exclusive, like, you know, they can go to other places and buy those, those similar kind of products or brands.

Um, yeah. So, [00:14:00] so do you think that, uh, you know, which one is it, is it really that, you know, you are at the right place at the right time, or is it that some part of it is your personality or the way people are connecting with

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: you? Oh, 100 percent is having the connection with people because, and I was going to bring that up earlier when you’re talking about people wanting to build their social media to, for their business and everything like that.

And what I’ve found is that’s kind of, I understand that some people have, some people have a really successful business and they just want to add social media onto that and, and start growing that. But when you’re. Let’s face it. We’re all bombarded with advertisements all day long. So most people’s like click off of them, like get that away from me.

So if you start a page that is just for advertising, basically just for products and you’re just going to be like, Oh, we have the sale, the sale, the sale, uh, or this for sale. It’s, it’s going to be a very hard thing to grow [00:15:00] because people are so. Um, run down with ads all day. They’re, they’re like, I don’t want to see more ads.

Why am I going to subscribe to that? So the way that I did it was I built my following organically the right way, but just like you said, just by sharing my passion, like I like going to shows, I like it, like seeing people’s reactions to these videos and everybody liked that as well. So they, that’s what helped me the most is, was building the following the, the, the right way on the front side again, I didn’t know what I was doing or why I was building it other than I thought what I’d be cool on the internet at first, but once I had the idea to start a business.

I already had this legit following and the people that had a great relationship or they felt a great relationship with me like a friendship Uh, I already had that with so many like thousands of people before I came out with products or wanted to sell something. So um, they didn’t feel like I was Just like luring them in to sell them on something.

So [00:16:00] that’s, that’s, uh, it’s definitely a hundred percent, very important to start your social media, uh, the right way. Uh, and people will say, Oh, I’m like, I’m a landscaper or a plumber or something like, there’s nothing exciting about, I’m like, dude, there’s people out there that make so much money just off of making videos of.

The dumbest stuff like so don’t tell me you because you’re a plumber or a landscaper or whatever. You can’t make it interesting I just I came across a guy’s video the other day where he literally cuts people or like he will clean up people’s yards for free And video the whole transformation process.

He gets millions of views Like doing that. And so I’m like, if this dude can have people watching him cut grass and he, he’s getting paid and obviously he has affiliate links and he, he may sell, uh, lawn care equipment or whatever it is. I’m like, if he can do that, I don’t care what you’re doing, you can somehow find out how to monetize it.

So, uh, anyway, that’s kind of how I [00:17:00] grew, um, the following and leveraged it into sales and how it made it. A little bit easier because I already had that authentic, um, relationship with the following.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Makes a lot of sense. Um, can you talk a little bit about your products on your website?

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: Um,

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: I see, uh, I mean, uh, I’ve seen in my research, you have a huge warehouse.

So to me, it seems like you have a large number of SKUs. Can you talk about the main categories and what exactly are you selling? And, um, and then I would definitely want to talk a little bit about your, you know, the customers who are buying these products.

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: Yeah, so, um, we’re obviously a car audio. We under the down for sound brand, we offer almost everything, um, minus sub woofers right now.

So we have some in the prototype stages and we’re testing them and stuff. So in the next six months we will have those, uh, but we offer basically everything else, um, wire. [00:18:00] Batteries, sound deadening material, tons of different types of speakers and tweeters, uh, a ton of different amplifiers. So basically, and connectors and fuses, like all the little trinket stuff and things for installs.

But so basically everything else, uh, everything to do with car audio, we offer it under the down for sound brand minus the subwoofers right now. But, uh, we’ll be, and we’ll be getting those in, in about six months. So. And the

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: idea behind this is so any, every car obviously comes with a sound system. Usually, um, the idea behind this is that, you know, if somebody is a car enthusiast and they want to kind of soup up their sound system, they would purchase this and they would replace the existing audio and they would put like these new, um, better sounding or maybe even louder sounding, uh, speakers and so forth.

Um, so can you talk a little bit about your customer? Who is the customer? [00:19:00] Are they, are these really like younger guys? And, and what is it that they’re kind of getting out of installing these sound systems on their cars?

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: Yeah, it’s, uh, you, I would assume like, if I didn’t know any better, I would assume that all of my customers are teenagers or college kids or whatever.

But car audio has such a broad range of people. You never know what, like, we never know what my next customer is going to be. Yes. We have your typical fall or customer base is going to be by teenagers and college kids. And then the next one is 40 to 50 years old. So you might be like. What, this is kind of crazy, but the reason why, or what we found is because guys are basically having midlife crises and they’re, they’re, they’re like, okay, I was into car audio when I was a kid.

I wanted my, now my kids are moved or they’re moved out. They’re out to college or they’re out of the house, whatever. Now I have some more money for myself. I want to get back into what I [00:20:00] like to do when I was younger, before I had kids, or now I just have some extra money and I want to get into a new hobby or whatever.

So, um, That’s the range of people that we, we sell to. And again, you never know. Like if it’s going to be a guy or a girl, what color they’re going to be, what ethnicity like is, and that’s the cool thing. That’s the thing I love about car audio is I don’t know anybody that doesn’t like good sound. Like everybody wants to have a nice sounding, like whatever music you listen to, you want it to sound good.

So you can like with our products, you can. You can enhance the sound, like say you have a factory system and you want to add a little bit of base to it or something. We have like options for that. Uh, we have line output converters, so you can keep all your factory, because a lot of the newer vehicles, they have infotainment systems.

So everything’s going through that air condition, your, your heated seats, your, like all the options are through [00:21:00] that. So you don’t want to try to remove that and put a aftermarket head unit in, it wouldn’t be like a. Easy thing or a smart thing to do in my opinion. So we have a thing that you can basically keep all that, but, uh, you can get, um, uh, RCA outputs to add an amplifier to add some base back there.

So anyway, from mild to wild, we can make it happen for people. And most of the people that are buying this are you’re doing it yourself type people that. Want to do a project on the weekend or want something to do, build it with their hands. Uh, but we do have a decent amount of people that will purchase the stuff, uh, whatever they want, and then they’ll take it to somebody and have it installed.

But most of them are do it yourself type people.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Are there any fitment issue kind of a thing that, you know, um, some cars take different kinds of products versus others and so forth?

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: Yeah, definitely. Um, I mean, you have your most vehicles like they’ll like have a six and a [00:22:00] half inch speaker. It’s a very popular size, but obviously different vehicles come with different sizes you.

So yes, different vehicles require different ones and we offer. So when we started doing speakers, we’re like, okay. How many different speaker sizes is offered in all the different vehicles or most of the vehicles that we deal with. So we went through and like found out all the sizes and then we had, uh, we’re like, okay, we need to make all these sizes.

So no matter what somebody wants to put in their vehicle, they can do an easy directs. Swap out from their factory speakers to our nice aftermarket speakers and make it, uh, pretty bright budget friendly as well. So it makes it really easy for them to upgrade their sound. Um, we, the speakers that we released, uh, are very, I hate even calling them budget friendly because people assume that they’re cheap and low quality, but they, I’m very fair with my offering.

I’m not trying to make a million dollars off of a single [00:23:00] person. I’m trying to do it off of. A million different people like I want to have a ton of people just make a couple of bucks off of each one And do it that way so everybody gets a great deal on a great product So people can upgrade their speakers in their vehicle Uh for say they have two six and a half inch speakers in the front doors Two six and a half inch speakers in the back doors.

They can get replacement speakers for that for 99 Like four speakers for 99 bucks. So it’s it’s very Budget friendly for somebody that’s just looking to upgrade their sound a little bit. But obviously if somebody wants to get crazy, we can, from mild to wild, we can make it happen, uh, no matter how crazy they want it to be.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: What is the, um, what is the craziest speaker system you’ve seen? Like what, what is, um, Is the idea behind this is that, you know, you’re going on the road and you’re, you know, your sound system is going and everybody outside can hear it. And, you know, and [00:24:00] they’re like, you know, who is this? And he’s getting kind of this, you know, uh, bump out of it that, you know, everybody’s looking at.

Is that kind of the, the, the, the idea of it? And. What are the craziest sound system you’ve seen?

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: Yeah. Some people, um, I could actually send you a video of my personal vehicle. So we have like a demo vehicle that we take all around to all these shows. Like two weeks ago, we were in Canada with it. Uh, this last weekend we were in, um.

Where were we again? Uh, Columbus, Ohio. And then next this coming up, we can, in three days we’ll be in, um, Tampa, Florida with it. So we take it everywhere, but it’s, it’s a really crazy system. And, um, it has nine 18 inch subwoofers. It has, um, 72 mid range speakers and all the doors is a, uh, Chevrolet Tahoe. So it has speakers everywhere.

Subwoofers everywhere, 150, 000 [00:25:00] Watts of power. So when I turn it on and the subwoofer start moving, it’s literally about to rip people’s shirts off because there’s so much air moving from so much power and the subwoofers moving. So when people get in and experience that they’re just. Obviously blown away and that hypes them up for a car audio and it makes for good videos.

Like for social media, when you, when you post that and you see somebody’s hair flying all around, you’re like, what is that? I got to go check it out. And then we always put like a little advertisement in there down for some shop. com. So anyway, it’s, it’s tying all those things together. And, um, so for the craziest system, I have one of the craziest ones, especially that goes to all the different shows.

But yes, our customers are a lot of times, and I don’t condone this, but a lot of times our customers are the ones that are. Annoying people going down the road, blasting their music. Um, but I’m not one of those people, unless I’m doing like, I’m attempting to do a viral video and get reactions from [00:26:00] people, I’ll go around town and like, turn my music up and do some crazy stuff or go through some drive thrus and that’s some of my most viral videos is going through drive thrus and getting people’s reactions to it.

Um, but I don’t, I do that. Like maybe two times a year. Other than that, I really don’t even listen to music when I’m driving around. I just go to these shows and play it at car shows or car audio shows where people know that there’s going to be a lot of loud music there anyway, and they’re not going to be annoyed by this very loud car audio system.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: I think, uh, I mean, The fact that you are traveling so much it to me, it seems like you’re traveling a significant amount to these car shows. I think that’s, that’s probably that, that helps you be close to the community, right? Because all these car enthusiasts or people who are interested in these kinds of things, they are there and you’re, you’re going there.

I think that would probably, that’s probably, you’re probably one of the best form of marketing. Can you talk a little bit about, you know, um, your customer [00:27:00] acquisition and. Are you kind of like a well known brand within this community because you’re so involved, not just on social media, but you’re also there in person talking to people, connecting with people and so forth.

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: Yeah, a hundred percent. I believe in the, in the history of car audio, I don’t know anybody. That, and I know people that’s been in it for a really long time. Like, I don’t know anybody that’s grown a company in this car audio space as fast as I have to the levels that I have. And when people ask me, what’s your secret or how did you do it?

Because there’s a lot of people that find it motivational or inspirational. And then there’s also people that have been into car audio for 10, 20, 30, 50 years, and they’re just doing a million dollars a year or half a million dollars a year. They’re like, who’s this dude think he is coming in here. Doing 10, 12, 15, 18, 20 million, like year after year after year, just [00:28:00] growing, growing, growing.

And I’m like, I, I share everything that I do on my social media, the, the good, the bad, but mostly it’s me traveling every weekend. I’m like, okay, when you look at what you’re putting into your business, Come, come ride with me for a year and see like, everybody’s like, every time I turn around, you’re on an airplane.

I’m like, yeah, because I’m, I’m getting out there with the people. And again, like you said, when you have a following and you start getting, um, a lot of followers, people think you’re internet famous or whatever, and they want to, they also want to meet you for that reason. So, they want to meet you, they want to buy from you, and being out there with the people is, you, You can’t put a price on that.

And that’s why I’m always gone. Luckily, I have a very understanding wife, but I’m, I’m always gone. And, uh, I try to take now that it’s growing to like bigger levels and I have a lot of team members, um, I’m able to. Sometimes we’ll, uh, do, like, I call them double whammies. [00:29:00] We’ll, we’ll take the team with us, like, even this year, we’ve, I’ve been taking, uh, private jets to events and I take my teamers with me.

I take my daughter and my, um, wife with me and we’ll go out a couple of days early and like, and. Next week, uh, sorry, next month, we’re going to, um, Orlando, Florida. So we’re going to go down a couple of days early and go to, um, Universal Studios for a couple of days and like have fun. But then on Saturday it’s work time.

Like we’re going to the event and we’re like going to do that. So you get to mix in some family time and business and pleasure and stuff like that from, um. Doing what we do, but that’s, that’s the secret. If you want to call it that, like just always going, and I’ve always done this. It just in the past, it wasn’t near the frequency it is now.

Cause I, one, I couldn’t afford it. And two, I didn’t have somebody that I didn’t have, uh, the logistics figured out of where, how I could get my vehicle to all these different places. [00:30:00] For instance, like I said, Canada. And then Ohio and then, uh, Tampa, Florida, like, so trying to figure that out. And then me to get back here to the business and be with my family during the week, and then get back on another airplane on Friday, fly down to Tampa, do the show for that.

And then on Sunday, I fly over and pick up my parents, uh, and bring them out for the beginning of October, because that’s my dad’s birthday, my birthday, my mom and dad’s anniversary and my daughter’s birthday. Like just always on the go, but that’s. That’s how I’ve done it. Like, and when I, these other companies, they don’t do that.

You either don’t know the owner of the company whatsoever, or if you do know them, you’ve never seen them like you, you won’t ever see them at a show. Like people will say, why should I buy from you instead of buying from Amazon? And I’m like, I mean, you’re free to buy from wherever you want to, but will you ever see Jeff Bezos at a show letting you listen to his car audio?

No. [00:31:00] Will you ever see him? No. Like, why not support the small guy that’s out here with you guys, and having a good time, and letting you hear my vehicle, and I hear your vehicle, we talk, and all that stuff. So, anyway, that’s, that’s how. I’ve grown this company as fast as I have, um, is just being out there with the customers and and obviously treating people like you want to be treated.

I’m, I’m big on that as well. Like, um, like, and people, I get that comment all the time after somebody meets me and, um, in person, they’re like, man, I, I heard, I heard about you from one of your haters and they said that you’re a stuck up prick and blah, blah, blah. And he’s like, man, I hate that I judged you on like a haters comment because.

I came to this show to see for myself, like how, what kind of person you really are. And you looked really busy, but I came up and asked you a couple of questions. You talked to me just like we were friends. And like, you weren’t better than anybody, even though you have a million followers or whatever, it’s like, man, that meant a [00:32:00] lot to me.

You don’t have a customer for life. And I’m like, that’s just me, man. Like I would want somebody to treat me that way. And I’m. You treat, like, treat me with respect, I’m going to give you respect. And that’s, that’s how we keep rolling. So anyway, that’s it. No, I think, I think,

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: I think, I think that’s, that’s great.

And I think you, you know, some of the things that you’re doing around managing your personal and business life, you know, where you’re able to now take your family and, you know, kind of spend, do some personal time, you know, and then the other day you can do your, you know, your shows and things like that.

I think that’s probably,

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: um,

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: You know, once you get to a certain level in business and you have, you are that busy, I think that’s probably the right way to do it is kind of mix your personal and family and, um, business and, you know, uh, kind of make time that way. Um, I’m very curious. Um, so you said that you now have your own brand name products.

Can you talk a little bit about. you know, how you, [00:33:00] um, went about getting those manufactured are those from, uh, United States or mostly like, uh, Asian, like China manufactured, uh, uh, uh, coming here and how, um, yeah, just talk a little bit about that and how do you manage. Uh, the quality of products and, and so forth.

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: So the way, I mean, I’ve, this is another thing. I literally give people the blueprint of what I’ve done. And I share like basically everything. So there’s been a lot of people that have tried to replicate what I’ve done. Like, Oh, like, this is how he gets it. And like, Oh, the only thing you have to do is buy it from here.

Sell it and just keep doing that. But the problem, the part that they miss is what I have built already. Like I’ve built this following. So it’s, it’s not as easy as people think it is because if you don’t have, you can have the greatest product and a lot of it, but if you don’t have anybody buying it, it doesn’t matter.

And if, why is somebody going to buy it from you [00:34:00] and not me? So like I tell people they have to ask themselves that, like it can be done because I did it, but you have to figure out how to do it as well. Anyway, when I was looking at doing my own products, there’s a, you want to do, and this could be in any, uh, industry or whatever.

Um, so in my industry, since it’s car audio, I’m like, what, where is a big car audio product convention? So in Las Vegas, there’s a thing called an event every year is called CES, the consumer electronic show. Huge event. Like everybody knows this one, the latest. Anything electronic comes out. It could be with vehicles.

It could be new tvs. It can be Appliances, but it obviously has a section for car audio. So i’m like, okay, let me go there And I and when you go there, there’s a lot of um, a lot of the manufacturers they come over from china, uh, vietnam Uh, Korea, like they’ll have, they’ll be over there and they’ll set up their boost there so you can kind of see some of their products and [00:35:00] everything like that.

And so that’s how you get to where the stuff is going on, but then there’s. Uh, the hundred different vendors there. So you’re like, which one do I, which one do I go with? Cause there’s so many basically offering a lot of the same things. And so then you have to, it can be like, which one you interact with and you get a good vibe from, um, or.

You look at their, their product there and you can tell a lot of the quality there in person. Um, but then you want to say you pick a few different people that you want to get some products from, like, okay, uh, we’re going to send you an email, request some samples with our logos and like, and we want to help design it and do make these changes and stuff.

So when you do that. They’ll ship you whatever product you’re wanting to, uh, sample or, uh, prototype. So after you do that, you like, say you do an amplifier, you’ll get the amplifier in and there’s machines called [00:36:00] amplifier dynos. Like it’ll tell you how much power the amplifier is putting out at different impedances, and so you can literally check to see, to make sure that they’re not like saying, it’s going to put out a thousand Watts and it only puts out 400.

Like you can check and that way, and they know that now. So I think there’s a lot less of the, um, being shady or scamming from these companies because they know we have this equipment that’s going to actually test it to make sure it’s doing what they say it’s going to do. So we’ll take that and we’ll put it on, make sure it does that.

And then we want to real world test it, put it in our vehicles or put it in some customers vehicles. Hey, take this out. Play the music loud, beat on it real hard, see if it lasts and like, and if it fails, what were you doing when it failed? What caused it to fail? So anyway, that’s how you meet the people, how you go through getting samples and how we test it.

And then once we test it and we’re like, okay, this is, this will be good. And then you have a, uh, MOQ, a minimum order [00:37:00] quantity that these companies have. So. A lot of times, uh, the minimum order quantity is going to be, uh, whatever price, say a hundred bucks for this amp. And if you order 200 of them, double that, they’ll give you a few percent off, because obviously the more you buy something, the better price you get.

Usually. So, um, anyway, then you place the order for it. And this is where a lot of people find out how difficult it is because. What does it take to place an order? A lot of the companies require 30 percent down, 30 to 50 percent down. And then the rest of it, when it’s loaded into the container to come here.

So when people were like, Oh, like, yeah, this is good. I can do that. But a lot of people, one struggle to even do the minimum order quantity on a single product. Um, especially in amplifiers, because they can range from a hundred dollars a piece to a thousand or 2, 000 a piece. So if you’re getting a hundred.

2, 000 items, that’s 200 grand on one skew. So it can eat up a lot of a person’s [00:38:00] capital really fast. And you also have to sit on that for that time of it getting manufactured and it being shipped over here that can take anywhere from two to three months. A good run, uh, up to when the whole pandemic and stuff was happening, we were waiting a year to get something.

So, um, that’s kind of the things that you face. So you have to find out the logistics of it. Uh, once it does get made, you have to get freight forwarding companies to have it shipped over here. And once it gets to California for us, you have to get, um, trucking companies go pick it up, bring it to the warehouse, then you have to make sure you have enough people there to unload it off the thing, count the inventory, but that’s kind of how the.

Like it starts to how we get it to our warehouse, like the whole process there. So, um, it can be done. It just can get difficult at times because you eat up a lot of capital. You have to invest the capital capital for a while and then. When you get it in, I tell people when you get it in, that’s when the really hard part [00:39:00] starts is now you have to convince people they need to buy this from you.

So as you know, like every product that’s, that’s ever been introduced into the economy, not all of them all have always been awesome. Some of them, like people are like, this is a great idea. And they have a ton of them made and then they introduce it into the economy. And they’re like, no, I’m good. I don’t want one.

So you had invested. 100, 000, 100 million, whatever it ends up being and people are just like, nah, I don’t want it. So then what do you do like, it’s a, it’s a really bad time, uh, but such as entrepreneurship, because in entrepreneurship, nothing is guaranteed. Like you do all this work, all this work, and you come up with these great plans and you hope for the best.

But until somebody says, yes, I will give you my hard earned money for your product. It’s just an idea. It’s a great idea that you’re an idea that you thought was great. But until somebody is going to trade you their [00:40:00] money for that product. That’s all it is. So, uh, yeah, there can be some, um, trying times for sure.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Entrepreneurship definitely is very risky and everything that you shared. I think it’s so, so true. Um, so you are kind of the the face of the business, your kind of, you know, the marketing and sales, you know, you’re out there selling, you’re creating content and everything. Can you talk a little bit about, you know, you, you talked so much, you know, uh, of course there’s probably a need of a lot of team, uh, team members to manage everything.

Can you talk a little bit about your team? How many, um, I’m curious, how many SKUs do you have right now on your website? And, um, And how many team members now you have, uh, who’s managing what and, uh,

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: uh, how’s your business running? Uh, SKUs, uh, total with down for a sound, um, we are approaching 500 [00:41:00] SKUs for our own brand of products.

But with everybody, like all the other brands that we sell and everything, uh, we’re just. So total we’re at 4, 520. So 4, 520 products on our store. So, um, so you asked, like, how do we do that and how do, how do I manage that? Yeah, what

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: does your team look like and who manages

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: what? So my team right now is approaching 20 people.

Um, I would say I run a pretty lean team and a lot of people wonder about that as well, like, how do you do so much with, uh, what some view a small amount of people and I just. Think that you have to keep people efficient and focused and doing a good job with the social media side. When I first got started, obviously, or any business starts, the person that starts the business is doing everything.

They’re doing all jobs, all like, whether it’s. [00:42:00] Shooting the videos, editing the videos. They’re adding the products to the website. They’re trying to start the website. Um, they’re, they’re shipping products. They’re purchasing products. They’re doing everything. So as you continue to grow, like I was saying, you find.

You’re like, man, I really don’t enjoy shipping anymore. Okay. I need to find somebody that likes to ship. So, or pull orders or whatever it ends up being, you have to find those people. And as you grow, you also, you should be getting more revenue and more capital, be able to be able to get these people to do these things for you.

So, uh, when I first started with the videos, uh, obviously I was shooting all the videos and that’s, that’s the easy part. The hard part comes is when you have all these videos, you have to go and upload to your computer, put it on Sony Vegas or whatever, uh, video editor I was using. And then you have to.

Make it look good. You have to do all the edits to it. So a five minute video could take you a [00:43:00] day of editing to make a five minute video. So anyway, for, uh, I was doing that for the longest time and as my business started to grow, I’m like, okay, it’s not worth me doing YouTube videos anymore because the revenue that I was bringing in from YouTube was.

minimal in comparison to what I knew I could make with my business. So I’m like, why would I, why would I keep doing that? Or why am I going to give it so much energy or water it when I could be doing my business? So people would message me. They’re like, Hey man, I haven’t seen you upload a video in a while.

Like, well, did you like what’s going on? And I’m like, I’m like, I’m focused on my business, man. And they’re like, oh, we really loved your videos. And so then it occurred to me. I need to have that going as well, but since I didn’t have time for it, what did I need to do? I needed to hire a videographer so he could, I could have basically still keep the stream of videos going and, and I wasn’t ever [00:44:00] good at.

Editing videos. I, they weren’t fancy by any means. They were pretty cut and dry in my opinion. Some people like that type of style, but, um, you can, I mean, I enjoy videos that have good, um, animations and transitions and like that I can tell people I’ve done some work to them. Like I appreciate it because I edited videos for so long.

Um, but anyway, so. Ended up finding a videographer and now I take him with me everywhere. Like a flying, like if I fly out, like he flies out with me and it also makes it to where, when I go to these shows, um, I don’t have to be holding my phone up, like videoing the whole time. I can just really be.

Genuinely engaging with the, the customer or the followers, subscriber or whatever. And, uh, he can capture these really cool moments without me. Like sometimes somebody would say, Hey man, you changed my life about sharing this information or whatever. I’m like, man, [00:45:00] I wish I could, you got that on video. Hey, can I start videoing and you say that one more time, like then even if they would, they would, it would feel so generic and it wouldn’t be authentic.

So, uh, with him kind of being off to the side and not really close, he’s just shooting from sometimes a distance or whatever. People don’t feel that pressure as. As much as if I like that scenario popped up or whatever. Um, but anyway, so I was doing my social media, uh, or sorry, I was doing the videos and now he does all that.

So that’s a huge help. The second thing was I was doing all of my social media posts, um, all the product posts, the ads are trying to, and I’m horrible at creating like advertisements or whatever. So, uh, I have now have a guy that does all my SEO, a social media post. Um, he also helps me, uh, design, uh, products, uh, new products and the packaging for them.

He’s really talented. So I have a person for that. And [00:46:00] then obviously, uh, for running the business side of things, we have a whole front office staff. I have a front office manager that manages six people up here. And then in the warehouse we have, um. About 10 or 11 right now that with, and we’re working different shifts.

We have a morning shift and night shift. And, um, then we have my main guy for my, say my store and the back end is the guy that told me so long ago, he’s been with me since day one, that guy that said, oh, I’ll do the store for you. He’s like, Oh, the t shirts and stickers he’s been with me since day one. And he’s always been the.

The website guy, he, so without, he’s been the, uh, biggest blessing to my business that I had no idea I needed at the time, um, but he’s still with me. And he, he runs, like he can do product importations. He can do massive, um, like changes at once, uh, whether it’s [00:47:00] for sales or importing new products or whatever.

So, um, he does that and he’s in Australia. I’ve known this guy for probably. 10 years and I’ve never, I’ve never met him in person as crazy as that is. And he’s such a vital part of my business. I’ve never met him in person. I told him I’m like, man, whenever you get ready to come over and visit, like I’ll take care of all the costs and everything like that.

But, uh, just hasn’t, hopefully it’s supposed to happen this coming up year. So hopefully it does, but anyway. He does all the IT stuff on the back side of the website and that’s kind of how we, how we roll. That’s

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: awesome. I mean, I was thinking maybe, you know, you, you travel to Australia and I’m sure there’s a car community in Australia as well.

I mean, that brings me to my next question. Where is your biggest market? Is it North America? Are you selling globally as well?

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: Yeah, it is. Uh, North [00:48:00] America, uh, is 97 percent of where we sell products to, but every day now we’re shipping internationally. So we’re also having impacts of people all around the world, uh, to like, like we’re going to, um, Uh, me and my wife are going to London, uh, in October and then from London over to Egypt, and we have customers in both of those places.

So it’s crazy to me to every time, like when the orders come through, I always look at them and when I, every time I see an international one, I’m like, man, that’s crazy that somebody 7, 000 miles away from me. And this, this is a reminder of how doing business the right way. And also, um, Sticking with it eventually makes sense.

And, uh, one day somebody’s going to see you and they’re like, I don’t want to buy something from this guy. But it’s crazy to me that a person could be 7, 000 miles away and they somehow [00:49:00] see my video or see something I’ve done online and they’re like, I’m going to, I’m going to trust this guy with to send him my money all the way around the world and know that he’s going to send it to me.

That’s crazy to me that people that, uh, I mean, it’s awesome, but it’s, it’s just crazy as well, that people. Like that I’ve built this amount of trust. It feels really good that like people will trust us enough to know that they’re going to like get their product. And that comes from not being a fly by night type of company.

Like they, they, who knows, they may have been watching me for five years before they’re like, Oh, I’m just, let’s see if he lasts. Let’s see if he continues to be a good guy. Let’s like, they may just be sitting there watching. And finally one day they’re like, okay, I’ve watched. 99, dude’s videos and posts.

Okay. He’s not going anywhere. I guess I’ll trust him and I’ll buy something from him. So anyway, it’s a really good [00:50:00] feeling to see that. And I look forward to going to like. Anytime we go somewhere, uh, out of the country or in the country for sure. But out of the country, uh, like we went to Cancun, we saw some customers, uh, we went to Cabo San Lucas, uh, saw a customer with our, I didn’t see him, but I saw a down for sound sticker on there or on a car.

So I’m like that good enough. Um, then we went to, where did we go last? Um, St. Martin. Uh, we went there and there was, so I made a post, like, Hey, I’m in St. Martin. And somebody messaged me like, Hey man, uh, there’s a lot of us running your products down here. We’d really like to see you. And, uh, if we like, we’ll get a couple of people together.

If, uh, you could find a couple of hours. I mean, yeah, no problem. Cause, um, also on the good thing of that is like, if I go down there and there’s customers there. It’s a business trip. So I’m like, so always try to meet up with some customers while I’m there. So it, uh, like I said, mixing family [00:51:00] time or business with pleasure.

It’s a cool thing if you can figure it out. So, um, I told them that I would meet up with them and I go there. And there’s like 50 to a hundred people and I’m like, what, this is crazy for me. So I’m just blown away that there’s so many people and they’re like, so many of them are wearing down for sound shirts and, um, running down for sound products or products that they got from me.

I’m like. Man, what a surreal feeling to go to these places so far away from where I’m based at and see your products that you dreamed up and they end up in a person’s vehicle or they’re wearing your T shirts or whatever. And that one of the craziest things for me, uh, was when a customer in Egypt, uh, he was our first customer in Egypt, but he’s, he sends me a message on Facebook and he’s like, um, Hey, I want to order some products from you.

And, uh, I’m like, okay, cool. There’s a website and everything. I don’t really hear anything, uh, back from him and, uh, he messaged me a while later. He’s like, Hey, I just want to let you know I’m, uh, I [00:52:00] bought some products and stuff. I’m like, Oh, cool. Did you get them? He said, yeah. And I’m like, do you really live in Egypt?

And he said, yeah. I’m like, can you prove it to me? And he said, yeah, no problem. And, uh, he sends me some pictures of him sitting on, he has his vehicles, uh, with down for sound stickers on it. He’s wearing, uh, down for sound shirts, holding down for sound amplifiers on own camels. With the pyramids in the background.

I’m like, that’s crazy. It doesn’t get any more Egyptian than that. So I’m like, man, so when we were, um, so we’re going to be meeting up with him next month when we go out there. So that’ll be really cool. And then also you having that personal relationship with these people, when you go to these places.

You know, you can go to places and you can find like here in Las Vegas, you can go to the good areas or you can end up with in the bad areas with bad people. Like, so when you are building these relationships with these people, you get a vibe from them and you know, if they’re [00:53:00] going to be good people. So when you say you go to Egypt, you’re, I don’t know, 6, 000 miles away from home.

It helps a lot to have a local there that. Knows where you should be and maybe you shouldn’t be. So it’s, it’s a good thing to have in your back pocket there. So looking forward to that. Awesome.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Um, in every entrepreneur’s journey, there’s always mistakes made, lessons learned, failures. I mean, you’ve been running your business, you know, 10 years or so.

Um, And you’ve had great success, but any experiences where you thought, I mean, you know, I’m sure there’s many, but, uh, any, any big ones where, you know, it was like I could have done without this learning experience. Uh, what did you learn from it? And what can other entrepreneurs learn from

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: your mistakes?

Um, I would say like the, my biggest one was right when I was, I was getting started in a car audio and it’s after I started selling actual like [00:54:00] amplifiers and speakers and stuff like that. I had them listed on the website, but. I wasn’t getting any sales because when you’re a new business, you’re, you’re dying to get your first sale and it might happen.

And then it might be another month or two before you get your second sale. So you’re trying to figure out ways to speed up this process and speed up the volume of orders so you can make more money. Um, so when I was in, when the website was really in its infancy, um, uh, was, I was on my way home from a full time job and I get my phone dings and I’m like.

Oh, what is this? And I look at it 5, 000. Oh my gosh. This is, I mean, at that time I was making like 300 a week. So I’m like, Holy crap. Like I’m going to be rich. Like, this is amazing. And, um, so at that time I was just drop shipping, uh, products. I didn’t, I couldn’t afford to do buy ins with companies or stock products.

I didn’t have anywhere to stock them. So I was just drop shipping them. Um, so anyway, I got the order. I sent it over to the company to drop ship it. They ship it out. Um, and [00:55:00] I’m like. Man, uh, like I made that much money like that easily, man, this, this is amazing. So a month goes by and my phone dings again.

And it says, um, your account has been overdrafted. Um, 5, 000 or like, well, I think I had 300 in my account. So like 4, 700, I’m like. What, Hmm. What’s going on? So, I, and, and I looked, I click on it and I look into the details and it, it says, um, you’re, uh, the, basically the person claimed that it was a fraudulent charge.

They did a charge back, they got their money back. And I’m like, wait, I have proof that we shipped it. They signed for it. And so I, I submit all that information to the credit card company or whatever, and they’re basically like, eh, I don’t care. Mm mm We’re just gonna let the people keep their product. And keep the money like so hey, oh, and we’re going to give them their money back.

I’m like, what, what, wait a minute. So my very [00:56:00] first. Getting started was me getting kicked down like that on, I’m like, uh, you know, go from being so excited about it to learning the reality of it was, it was a fraudulent order and all the money got taken away and I had to pay for it. Like I’d already paid for the product out of that money.

So I’m over here, 4, 700 in debt. And not knowing what to do again, I’m making 300 a week. So I’m like, it takes a long time to pay off 4, 700 when you’re making 300 a week. So anyway, I’m like, so you mean to tell me people can just. Basically steal from you and get away with it. Like, what are you, what, what, and you call the, uh, cops near in the person’s town and, Hey, this is their address.

And they’re like, well, you want us to go track somebody down over some amps? Like, we’re not messing with that. We have people getting murdered or whatever. Like, we’re not going to mess with this little petty stuff. So you’re basically [00:57:00] just like left hanging and. Uh, at that time, I’m like, you know what, since people can do that, I’m not going to have an online website.

People can just rip you off. They can get away with it. I’m closing the, I’m closing it down. If somebody wants to buy something, I’ll just do it manually. So I close the website. I tell my guy Mark, I’m like, Turn it off. Like, I’m not dealing with this. I guess this is a sham. Like, I’m not doing that. I’ll just deal with people personally.

It’s like, okay, I wouldn’t recommend you do that, but I’ll, I’ll turn it off. You tell me too. So he turned it off a couple of weeks goes by. Somebody messages me and they’re like, Hey, I was looking to buy such and such products, but I didn’t, I went to go to your website, but I didn’t see it. And I’m like, yeah, I’m not doing it anymore through the website, but I’ll do it for you manually.

So I did that a couple of times and then I had somebody. Um, message, the, the volume started picking up and again, I was working full time jobs, like sometimes four at a time, like I was working all the time, so I was really busy, but, um, [00:58:00] so. The volume of that was picking up and a person messaged me at, I don’t know, 10 o’clock and they’re like, Hey, I want to buy whatever it was.

And I don’t see it until the next morning when I get up at six or eight o’clock. And I messaged him back. I’m like, Oh, Hey, uh, sorry. I missed your message. I was asleep, but I can get you taken care of. I’m like, Oh, sorry, I bought it from somebody’s website. And I’m like, Hmm, that hurt. So I’m like, maybe I need to turn the website back on.

And, uh, I turned it back on and. I had to come to a realization with myself of It’s part, it’s a cost of doing business. Luckily, 99 percent of the people out there are not crappy people. And they want to, they want to do business the right way. They’re not looking to scam people. They’re not looking to do fraudulent orders or anything like that.

So, I mean, we get them all the time now. But luckily, the vast majority of people are good people. [00:59:00] And, but at that time, I gave up. And I’m like, I’m not doing this. So, if I would have stuck with that mindset of giving up right then when times were hard, I was, I was knocked down. I was 4, 700 in debt because somebody scammed me.

If I would have quit and just like, I worked at an airport for 10 years, like pumping gas into airplanes and doing all other types of stuff with airplanes. Would I still be doing that today? Maybe so. Like, because that’s why I tell people like when you, when it looks really hard, when you want to quit.

That’s usually you’re just on the other side, like just on the other side of that as a breakthrough, like you’re going to have, then eventually, uh, obviously I paid off that debt. Like I kept selling stuff. I kept re, uh, restocking, reinvesting, reinvesting. I’m still reinvesting to this day, like a hundred percent of what we’re making.

And that’s another thing that I haven’t taken. I didn’t take a paycheck for a [01:00:00] long time. Until my accountant made me and she’s like, you can either take a paycheck or give me all this money to Uncle Sam. I’m like, Oh, okay. Okay, I’ll take a paycheck. At least let me get a little bit of it. Anyway, I didn’t take one for a long time, but, uh, I’ve always invested everything back into the business and, uh, I’ve sacrificed for long, like a very long time because again, I figured out the blueprint and what the return would be.

Like, okay, when you first start, like it was a 5, 000 investment. Okay. When you make that 5, 000 back, okay, let’s do it again. 10, 000, 25, 000, 50, 000. And like, you just keep putting it back in. And every time you put it in, it comes back out the other side on a, uh, a bigger number. And so now where, when I was first getting started as five or 10 now it’s multiple millions of dollars that we’re investing back in at a time.

So when that comes back, it, [01:01:00] it looks really good. So I’m like, but again, it’s just staying consistent. And if I would have given up. There’s no way I would have had millions of dollars to be reinvesting in a product right now, like, but I’m literally going back to zero all the time, uh, just because the cash flow that comes back from it every time is bigger and bigger and bigger.

And that’s what people are looking for. Not so much. And I’ve also learned it’s not so much for me anymore. Uh, I was, I did go through a selfish. Uh, stage when I was first getting started, it was like me, me, me. I wanted to, I want to do all the work. I want to make all the money and retire in a few years. I don’t know where I dreamed that up from, but like in social media, you’re always getting blasted with, Oh, four hour work week or like, Oh, I retired when I was 21 or whatever.

And I’m like, so I thought that’s what I wanted it to be. But, uh, I quickly found out that you need people to be helping you. You can only grow a [01:02:00] business so big by yourself. Like you have to have a team. So, uh, now I’m more so like, what can I grow my team to like, how many people can I help? Like, not this also as customers and also people I can help with providing them, um, uh, a career that they love to do and they’re able to provide for their families and some of my biggest wins for me is when my team members come in and they’re like, Hey man, come like.

Just, um, last week, uh, my office manager, he’s like, Hey man, come check out my new truck. And I like go out there and I’m like, man, that’s awesome, dude. Like it, it makes me feel like I got a new vehicle. And I mean, I drive a 2007 Chevy truck with 30, uh, 382, 000 miles on it. I’m not into material things like that.

As long as mine gets me from point A to point B and that’s cool with me. But when I see my team members getting cool stuff, I’m like, man, that’s awesome. Like, I feel like I got something new. I feel like I won because they won and getting their dream homes and everything like [01:03:00] that. So that’s, that feeling is way more rewarding to me than any amount of money that I’ve made.

To this date, like it feels so much better seeing somebody else happy and somebody else winning, uh, because of this down for sound thing that I’ve, uh, created and, and been growing is, is very fulfilling to me. So I’m really grateful for it. Those are

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: some, some great advice. And of course, you know, it’s, uh, I don’t, um, um, I don’t hear the same sentiments all the time from all entrepreneurs, but I think, you know, it’s, it’s, I mean, entrepreneurship is, you know, number one, it’s about, you know, getting freedom for yourself and, you know, financial freedom for yourself.

But I think, um, that’s why entrepreneurship is great is because it allows other people, you know, you to give freedom to other people as well, you know, to, to, to give them a great life and so forth. So that’s, that’s really great. I know we are a little bit over time, um, but I will go very quickly through my rapid fire segment.[01:04:00]

And

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: I got, I got time. If you got time, I’m good. Awesome.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: In this segment, I’m going to ask you a few quick questions and you have to answer them maybe in a couple of words or a sentence or so. Okay. Um, uh, I don’t know if you’re a, uh, a lot of, uh, you know, book reader, but any book recommendations for entrepreneurs

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: and why, um, seller be sold and blitz scaling.

Um, blitz scaling was one that I read that changed my, the trajectory of my company. And it made me understand that. Coming out, you’re always going to have problems, whether it be with your company or with products or whatever. Um, but one of the things that I learned from that book was your, you being indecisive and Not like you’re wanting to perfect whatever product it is.

Um, you [01:05:00] taking so long to perfect it is, is costing you money from that day instead of releasing like a version one. And then, because how many products do you know out there that have, for instance, iPhones, your own iPhone 15, like all these other versions have come out because they’re like. If they waited till, okay, we need to wait until iPhone 15 with all the upgrades before we release our product, Apple probably wouldn’t be a company like, because you’re, you don’t have anything to sell.

So anyway, the thing to learn from it is come up with something as long as it’s. Good like it doesn’t have to be absolutely amazing from day one as long as it’s good It’s a good quality product put it out there and then you’re you can get the feedback from the the customers like oh This needs to be changed you may have or you may already know that that needs to be changed before they even tell you that but You can use that to, like, grow your company and grow their product because you’re generating revenue at that point.

You’re getting some money in. So that’s, uh, [01:06:00] that’s been a big one for me. Sorry for rambling a little bit.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: No, that’s great. I mean, blitzscaling, um, I haven’t read it, but I know it’s, uh, Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn, who wrote that. Um, An innovative product or idea in the current e commerce retail or tech landscape that you feel excited about

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: man.

I’m I hate to be cliche about that, but I just bought the new iphone 15. I don’t have it yet But i’m i’m excited about it. I’m a i’m an apple boy. So, um, i’m excited, uh to get that I may get a new phone, like every, I think I’ve had my other one for two or three years or whatever. I don’t even know what model it is, but it’s done great for me.

So, um, it’s always cool to get the new one. So I’m excited about it because when, when I, I do still shoot some videos for. Um, like a lot of the stories, for instance, like I’ll shoot something on Snapchat, I’ll say that I’ll upload it to my Instagram story. And then also my personal Facebook [01:07:00] story on Facebook.

So I still shoot some videos and stuff. Like, it’s not like a. Totally went hands off since I got a videographer. I’m still very active and, uh, and doing live videos as well. But anyway, that’s something I’m excited about right now. And that’s why I’m getting the new phone because I want my videos and pictures to be as crispy as possible.

For sure. iPhone

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: is a great product. And I know in the U S they have like this program where you can go on like some sort of a subscription. So every time there’s a new word and you can like replace Phone so yeah, um a business or productivity tool or software that you would recommend or a productivity tip

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: um productivity tip, um, I would say for productivity A morning routine is crucial. Um, I do when i’m in town and a lot of times when i’m out of town um, I have a morning routine [01:08:00] that I do because along my entrepreneur journey, I lost My health, like, uh, I, I started. Getting fat, like I was out of shape. Uh, I was, I would get out of breath if I walked up a flight of stairs and it’s because you, you become so hyper focused on whether it’s making the money or I have to be successful or whatever, like everybody has this different definition of success for each person, but, um, a morning routine is, uh, And then if I’m, if I’m like, okay, I’m going to start back working out this afternoon or next week in the afternoons, when I get off work, something would always happen in the afternoons where I’m like, oh, I’ll do it tomorrow.

I’ll do it tomorrow. And it would never do it. So the way that I found that. For me, you need to have your time for you a hundred percent. And that’s in the mornings I wake up, like I’m on a routine. Now, uh, go to bed. I’m trying to be in bed [01:09:00] at eight 15. So your morning routine starts with your nighttime routine.

They’re directly tied together because if you stay up late, you’re not going to wake up early. Or if you do wake up early, you’re not going to have any energy and you’re not going to feel like doing anything. So, uh, I try to be a bed at eight 15. I wake up at 3 45 every morning. I go and do, uh, meditation, red light therapy, and a A P E M F mat all at the same time.

Then I go from there and do a, a cold plunge or a ice bath, some people call it, uh, for three to five minutes. And then I go and do strength training. Uh, so I’m working out myself, like I’m working on myself and I don’t. I do my best to not look at my phone during that time. That’s my me time and my, like, I I’m brewing ideas.

Uh, and if I come up with something like, Oh, I need to write that down real quick. So I’ll grab my phone and like, I’ll write it down, but I’m not checking messages. I’m not checking emails. Like, because as soon as you check one, you’ll blink your eyes in two hours while I pass, you’re like, what happened? So anyway, uh, very important [01:10:00] there.

Wow. Very,

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: very, very interesting. Do you have, uh, do you manage your daily schedule, uh, in a certain way? Like, do you, or do you rely usually just on your calendar or do you like write things down on what you need to get done? How, how you want to prioritize your day or anything like that?

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: Yeah, I mean, my wife is great to help me in this area because the, the bigger you get, the more you grow, the more podcasts you’re doing, the more interviews you’re doing, whether, or you need to be in these places in person.

And, um, I wasn’t the best at. Scheduling. And I kept having scheduling conflicts because I would, I’m like, Oh yeah, I have this at two o’clock with so and so. And then she would say, I thought you had something else with somebody at two o’clock. I’m like, Oh my gosh. I didn’t. So anyway, she’s been a huge help and she like manages my calendar and anytime like somebody reaches out, like, Hey, I want to do a, like have you on my podcast or whatever, [01:11:00] or like, I want you to come to my car audio show, whatever it might be.

We’ll check now, like I’ll have her check my calendar and make sure that we’re free on that. Um, and that’s, that’s like, that can be days, weeks, days, weeks, or months out. Uh, as far as daily stuff, I’m kind of, it can come into a, especially on Thursdays is a usually stacked pretty heavy for me because I get my haircut every Thursday.

I take my daughter to school and breakfast dates on Thursday, just a lot of stuff going on on Thursday. So I make sure that that day is really dialed in on. Getting everything done. But yeah, scheduling is as you continue to grow is very important, um, for multiple reasons. But one of the biggest ones is you don’t want to be, for instance, like, uh, you wouldn’t be happy if I didn’t show up today.

Like it doesn’t make anybody feel good. So, um, and when you are that person that always shows up and you’re always on time and you like, you get that reputation, like JP said, [01:12:00] he’s going to be here. He’ll be here like so, um, I feel good about that and people know that about me. Uh, so anyway, that’s a big thing Awesome,

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: uh a startup or business Um, so another startup or business in e commerce retail or tech that you think is currently doing great things

as bad

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: as As bad as it may be i’m so um focused on my my business I don’t watch a lot of TV and I don’t, um, I don’t look outside much on what a lot of other people are doing. So I, when you ask me that, I’m like, it is crazy. I can’t even think of one like fast that, like, that’s how I’m just, I’m in my, maybe I’m in, I’m too in my own bubble

[01:13:00] So, um, that’s totally fine. , totally fine. Um,

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Another entrepreneur or business person whom you look up to or someone who

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: inspires you? Um, man, it’s it’s hard to not think of elon, man he’s uh It’s it’s wow to and that that’s also a reminder of what’s possible like you can go From I mean, I mean, I love I mean everybody has their story, you know but to know that’s the extreme going from what he was dirt poor to Depending on the time of day or whatever, the richest dude that’s publicly known, like, I mean, I know there’s some people that you don’t know about that supposedly have trillions of dollars or whatever, but to go from like absolutely nothing, nobody knows about you to a very, I would be willing to bet one of the most known people in the world and one of the [01:14:00] most wealthy people in the world, it just shows me that Anything’s possible.

So I found that really inspirational, um, and motivational for me, uh, to know that, that the possibilities are endless, especially if you just keep pushing. And, and one of his things was he did, he kept risking it all like a hundred percent, just, just like I’m doing. He was doing the same exact thing going all in, all in, all in.

And like now it’s going all in with. Twitter, what 44 billion or whatever it was like, so going in all in on those levels is what it’s just the same. It’s because he knows now the, the blueprint of he’s like, okay, I went all in on Tesla and now like, look what it is. I went all in on SpaceX. It almost went bankrupt, but now look what it is.

I went all in on Twitter. Like, but now what is turning into so anyway, he knows the blueprint and that’s why he keeps doing this and, um, it’s inspirational to me.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Very, very [01:15:00] inspirational for sure. Final question. I know you shared a lot of great advice, uh, previously, but. Any final best business advice that you have ever received or you would give to other entrepreneurs?

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: Yeah, uh, the one that I like, I mean, my dad had a little snippet. He’s like, you can have anything you want in this world as long as you’re willing to work your ass off for it, which is very true. And, um, that’s what I’ve always done. I’m not the smartest guy out there by any means, but if you have an unwavering work ethic, you can, Easily surpass people that are way smarter than you but don’t have the drive that you have and I’ve done that so, uh, that’s a, uh, a big one.

So, um, you, you can, you can have anything you want as long as you’re willing to work for it. And again, like I said in the beginning, you can write on the other side of your big thing that’s making you want to quit. Like usually there’s a big breakthrough and if I would have quit, I wouldn’t be, I know I wouldn’t be where I [01:16:00] am today.

Like, um, and it’s. It’s a life that I’m very grateful for and very fulfilling, like having all the team members and beautiful family home, like just doing things that people like I wished and dreamed that I could be living the life that I do now. And now I feel like I don’t take it for granted by any means, especially not on purpose.

But uh, once you reach the different levels and you get there, it almost becomes normal to you. Like, so back in the day when normal was. Um, just hanging out at the house or, uh, just playing in the backyard or whatever it is. Like now it may be you’re hanging out in a multimillion dollar house, but it’s a home, like, so you get used to these things and even I’ll share this story and we can maybe end on it.

Um, but, uh, I had a realization not too long ago, uh, with my wife, um. As we had a day of traveling or whatever, we left our house, uh, gotten her SUV, Audi RSQ, [01:17:00] 850, 000 RSUV, drive over to the private airport, get in a private jet, fly across the country to our friend’s house that picks us up in another. Like a brand new Cadillac Escalade, 130, 000, 150, 000 SUV, uh, he pulls up next to the airplane, picks us up, takes us to his multi million dollar house.

We hang out with him, go out on, um, uh, some of his friend’s boats that have multi million dollar lake house. And they’re like, oh yeah, let’s like, we’re going out, uh, uh, you can take the jet skis and we’ll take the boat. And they’re like, these people. The P the friends that we went out with, we, we’ve met them a couple of times before.

We’re not best friends by any means. And they’re just like, Oh yeah, take this 20, 000 jet ski. They didn’t ask if we knew how to drive it or anything. They’re just like, Oh, just take it. Like, so anyway, that night we were laying in bed at our friend’s house, um, that we flew over there. Cause he had, he he’s in the car audio business as well.

Uh, but so he [01:18:00] was actually a mentor of mine, but anyway, uh, we’re laying there and I’m like, Bye. Man, I just had this crazy realization, isn’t it, because we didn’t even, I didn’t even notice it when it was happening. I just thought like, Oh, this is cool. Like we’ll drive over here and like fly across and hang out and like having a good time or whatever.

And I told her and she was like. Man, it is crazy because when I moved to Las Vegas, I didn’t have any money. Like I was flat broke. Like, I like I had a, my, the same truck I have now I had then, but I have this 1, 500 truck, but I’m just like, man, it’s crazy that it would be so easy to not even realize what all just happened that like, that’s not normal, like for most people, you know, like, So anyway, I’m just like, man, we, we need to take a moment and count our blessings and, and just make sure we’re being grateful for this because it’s, we need to be grateful for it.

And we don’t need to take this for granted. She was like, a [01:19:00] hundred percent. And that’s, that’s awesome. And we’re, we’re super grateful and having our team and. Uh, helping others and, uh, it’s been an awesome journey and I’m grateful for where we’re at now. And I definitely cannot wait to see what it turns into in the next couple, five or 10 or 20 years.

I can only imagine if it’s already here, uh, what it is like, who knows what it’ll end up being in 20 years. That should be pretty crazy.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Yeah, definitely. I mean, I think that’s, that’s a great lesson and realization. I just want to add to that. I mean, you said. You know, if you had quit at that time, you know, maybe you were working somewhere else or something like that, but I think that, you know, the other thing that you said that work ethic is, you know, really important.

And I think. The people who do have the work ethic or who are willing to work hard, even if you had quit at that time, you know, the people who have this, you know, mental idea of continue to moving forward regardless of anything, I’m sure you would have figured out a different way or a different [01:20:00] business or something else to, to still be able to move forward.

Now, that’s all fine, but then I think in life also, Luck, I think matters a lot as well. You know, I think you can put all your hard work and that’s important, but I think, um, uh, there’s, there is, uh, I definitely think a certain element of luck as well that, that helps people. So I think, you know, in your case, of course, you know, you’re, you know, you’re smart, you’re, you’re willing to work hard, but I think there’s, there may be a certain element of luck as well, which is, which is helping.

And I don’t think there is no. Luck doesn’t come without, you know, you putting in the work. So I think that’s definitely a prerequisite, but, but I think that’s, that’s,

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: yeah. I definitely want to add to that as well. Uh, luck definitely does play a factor and I heard somebody say this as well. I’m not going to steal this quote, but they said, I can’t remember who said it, but they said, uh, [01:21:00] I realized the harder I worked and the more I showed up, the more I did, the more often I got lucky.

Yeah, my luck kept going up and up and up and you’re like, man, you, sometimes you get to a point of where you’re like, when, when, when did I have my last loss? Like, cause you’re just like, or, or you, you also also have, um, have found out what winner’s guilt is. And I never heard of that and, or even thought of, I never even knew what it was.

And then I heard it and I’m like, man, that makes so much sense because you’re, you’re over here doing really good and you keep doing good, good, good, good, good. And you see like a lot of other people they’re struggling, they’re, you know, like. Man, I don’t even, I’m scared to even say any more good stuff on my Facebook because I feel guilty.

Like, I feel like I’m winning too much. So, anyway, I became familiar with winner’s guilt. So, uh, it was a really weird [01:22:00] thing, but it is, it is real. And you’ll, uh, they, they say, uh, it can be lonely at the top and like all these things. And I think that’s like one of the winner’s guilt things. But, uh, Like my wife and daughter has helped me stay grounded and very humble and, um, not take anything for granted and just be super grateful for everything that we have.

So awesome.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Well, Johnathan, I think we’ll, we’ll kind of ended. I think we went a little too long, but, um, really, really appreciate your time. Thank you so much for sharing your story for sharing the lessons along the way. You know, really an inspirational story, you know, coming up, uh, from having nothing to now, you know, you’re, you’re kind of at a place where you can have anything you want.

So wish you all the very best. And, uh, if anybody wants to buy your products, what’s the best way to do that?

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: Uh, you can hit us up on the worldwide web at down for sound shop. com. And we also have a bunch of different social media outlets. And I believe my team has sent that over to you. [01:23:00] So you can check out those links as well, but, um, yeah, we’d love to see you become a customer.

If you didn’t know anything about us.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Awesome, Johnathan. Thank you so much again and really appreciate your time and wish you all the very best.

Johnathan Price of Down4SoundShop.com: My pleasure. I appreciate you having me on. Thank you.