Small business: How Bold Music was built organically
When George Ramsay, 25, and Dean Williams, 27, met as students at Davidson College in 2010, never did they think they would own a thriving music business just a few years later.
In September 2013, with little start-up money, they opened Bold Music. They offer full-service, high quality and convenient musical instruction for people of all ages.
Williams said, “Charlotte provides a lot of opportunity to truly be agents of change and affect the next generation of musicians. Hopefully, we’ll be able to influence the establishment of a musical culture here in the future.”
Ramsay and Williams are both musically talented. Between the two, they have 17 years of teaching experience and can play acoustic guitar, electric bass, upright bass, cello, piano and drums.
Bold Music offers lessons in the privacy of your home. Ramsay, Williams and their 11 instructors give one-on-one lessons in guitar, bass, piano, drums, voice and flute. In addition, they provide instruction on composition, production and recording, band coaching and song writing. Costs range from $200-$350 for weekly lessons per month, depending on length of session.
During the summer, Bold Music has camps for middle and high school students at Sioux Sioux Studio.
Ramsay talked to me for C5’s Small Business Series:
(1) If you could talk to one person from history, who would it be and why?
“Jimi Hendrix. In my opinion, he totally changed the music game for the better. As a guitarist he is my all time favorite. He influences virtually everything I play.”
(2) What would you say are the five key elements for starting and running a successful business?
“Passion, motivation, confidence, teamwork (choosing the right people to work with) and a little bit of luck.”
(3) Where did you get your start-up funding for Bold Music? How did you go about getting it?
“We are very different than most start-ups. We basically built organically. We started with $5,000 of our own money, money we made through teaching. That was one of the fundamental things about our company. From the outset, we did not want to take on debt. We really built it slowly and steadily, and we did not rely on anyone for money.”
Williams added: “We had to be creative about growth because of that. A lot of grassroots, word-of-mouth, guerrilla marketing went into that – general hustling – lawn signs, social media.”
(4) How do you build a successful customer base?
“You have to offer the best products. You have to offer the best customer service. We don’t do anything to compromise the quality of our company, our lessons, our service. At the end of the day, everything comes back to that – are we sacrificing quality by doing X, Y and Z? And if it sacrifices quality, then we don’t do it.”
Williams said, “We have the best instructors in Charlotte. We have an incredibly intense screening process for them. They are not just good musicians, but they are all great role models. They build real relationships with our students.”
(5) Excluding yours, what local company or business do you admire the most?
“Midwood Guitar Studio. They are a boutique shop for guitar, bass, amplifier and effects. We think they are going to be a really good hub. They share a similar vision to us. They want to affect culture in the city too, and not just sell a product.”
Family history and my own fascination with people and their motivations prompted me to begin this series about Charlotte’s small business owners. Industry, situation and questions will vary. Have a suggestion for a small business owner or entrepreneur to interview? Email it to vanessainfanzon@gmail.com with the subject line “Small Business Series.”
Photos: Bold Music, Grain & Compass
This story was originally published August 30, 2016 at 10:00 PM with the headline "Small business: How Bold Music was built organically."