Industry Innovator: Establishing a Niche

| March 4, 2009

For Nick Rail of Nick Rail Music, the key to success has always been in finding
his own unique niche.
 
When Nick Rail was a child, he felt overshadowed by his older brother, who by the age of 5, displayed prodigious talent in drawing and painting. “I wasn’t jealous of his gift, but it left me looking for my identity,” says Nick. “To my good fortune, my elementary school decided to start a music program when I entered fourth grade. I was able to join band, took up the cornet and I was off and running.”

In high school, he traded the cornet for a trumpet, then the trumpet for the tenor sax. He soon added the bassoon and flute to his repertoire. After graduation, he attended the University of California—Santa Barbara with the intention of becoming a band director. Over the next three years, he grew discouraged by the idea of about teaching and the state of education, and spent a year at Allied Music in Elkhorn, Wis., studying band instrument repair.

When he returned to Santa Barbara, Nick got a job at La Grandeur Music, where he worked for 10 years. “In addition to building and honing my repair skills, I learned sales, inventory, road repping and eventually management,” he says. He   
planned to buy the business from La Grandeur’s owner, but the two men couldn’t agree on a price. When the company’s new owner took charge, Nick was quickly motivated to strike out on his own.
He found his niche: serving school music programs. “We rent, sell, repair and teach band and orchestral instruments, and our team of road reps visits schools to service the needs of the music programs.

“I liken the business to gardening,” Nick explains. “We’re the guys you go to for help in making your garden grow. We help you plant the seeds of little musicians and are there to nurture them as they grow.”

As Nick’s customer base expanded, so did his business and he now owns five locations in Southern California. He believes first impressions are important in this business and works hard to keep his stores inviting. “Store appearance is crucial to good business and its importance increases every year as more and more ‘the mom’ becomes our primary walk-in-the-door customer. Moms want neat, moms want clean and pretty, and moms want a sales presentation directed with their interests in mind.”

And while his band program is flourishing, Nick believes you have to be entrepreneurial to survive and grow in today’s challenging market. “Some of our best promotions have been NAMM’s New Horizons band, which has more than 100 members, and Yamaha’s Sounds of Summer, a program we’ve had excellent results with for 20 years straight.”

Nick also credits his stores’ success to having a great crew. “It may have been my idea to open a store, but our company simply couldn’t be where it is today without our great team of employees. Hiring right, training right and rewarding right while maintaining a healthy sense of humor are the keys to a good business—and what gives us the ability to be passionate about our work and succeed in the marketplace.”

Nick Rail’s Guiding Principles

1. Define your niche and then work your niche—don’t try to be everything to everybody.
2. Gradual growth is better than rapid growth.
3. The obvious traits of hard work, tenacity, perseverance, honesty, respect and open-mindedness.
4. Embrace the Internet and technology.
5. Keep a smile on your face. Without a sense of humor, it’s not even worth getting out of bed in the morning!