Home Theater Installation business in Quad Cities? (Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls: work, custom home)

[elbereth]

I was wondering if anyone could give me any info on Home Theater businesses in the Quad Cities area. Are there many of them already there? Is there even a market for it yet? Also if anyone knows what kind of business licenses etc would be needed to start a home theater business or where I would go to find that info, I would much appreciate it. Thanks for any help.

[jmartin2]

In reviewing the Home Theater Installation Directory there seem to be a limited number of home theater installation businesses in this area. If you are willing to address the simpler installations such as mounting a Plasma TV as well as speakers then there is definitely a market. If all you want to do is the high end custom home theater rooms, that will be much harder to sustain.

As for what you need to start this type of business. Contact the local Small Business Administration and they should be able to provide all the information you require. SBA can be found on the web at www.sba.gov from there you can locate the local office.

Jay

[WoodwardGirl]

We have two or three such businesses in Cedar Rapids, and I work a lot with one in Cedar Falls, so I'm sure there are several in the Quad Cities. There is a demand for it, although I think most of them also deal in other things like home automation, security, central vac, etc.

There are a couple of things you can do to start a business. One GREAT resource is SCORE: Quad Cities Score Chapter 432 Those guys (and gals) are wonderful. The SBA was already suggested. They have a short publication that literally lists all the things you need to think about and what state or local agency to contact about each, including permits, licensing, etc. It's part of their Free Business Startup Kit, so get one of those.

Is this a business with which you are familiar?