Millions of people earn a living by working jobs that put food on the table, pay the bills and help them save for the future—but they’re just not excited about their careers. Many of them daydream about earning a living doing something they truly love.
However, you need more than passion to make money. You need to know how to parlay it into profit. The secret to turning passion into a successful career is a formula that adds passion and usefulness together to create value for the consumer.
Alain Villafranca is a good example. He left corporate America and channeled his undying love for music into owning a Music Go Round® franchise in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The Passion
He grew up in Honduras playing drums, guitar and bass before coming to the United States in 1993 to attend college at Albertus Magnus College in Connecticut. He went on to attend Old Dominion University in Virginia, where he earned a master’s degree in economics.
He would go on to work for an economic development group, a communications company, an engineering firm and a senior care company. Throughout his white collar career, he experienced layoffs and closings, which pushed him toward business ownership.
However, during that time, Alain remained an active musician. He did some studio work for himself and other artists. He recorded jingles and played guitar for his own personal enjoyment. His love for making music surged while his satisfaction with corporate America ebbed. Alain and his wife Bari, who worked in advertising, sales and management for their local newspaper in Virginia Beach, Virginia, began looking at franchise opportunities. When they discovered Music Go Round, Alain saw the perfect outlet for his musical passion.
The Usefulness and Value
Alain had the passion, but Winmark, the franchisor of other resale brands including Once Upon A Child®, Plato’s Closet®, Style Encore® and Play It Again Sports®, provided the business model and brand recognition.
Music Go Round provides cool used music instruments and gear at a significantly reduced cost to musicians and aspiring musicians in each store’s community. At the same time, Music Go Round buys used instruments and gear to replenish inventory for both in-store and online sales.
The value for the consumer is the affordable cost of acoustic and electric guitars, basses, drums, keyboards and other instruments, as well as amplifiers, speakers, mixing boards and other musical equipment. Value also comes to customers in the form of receiving cash or deeper discounts for bringing in their used instruments and gear.
The usefulness and value of Music Go Round appealed even more to Alain when he realized the brand was also an online retailer selling new and used instruments and gear from its franchisees’ stores through its website. E-commerce is quickly becoming essential for retailers to employ because consumers are using all avenues to research and buy products. While consumers still visit brick and mortar stores, they make 51 percent of their purchases online, according to a UPS study.
A Budding Passion for Music and Retail
Alain and Bari, who is dabbling in the bass guitar, opened their Music Go Round in 2015. It was the first in Virginia. Their son, who is in grade school, enjoys hanging out in the store and has taken up playing the guitar and piano.
Interested in a business opportunity in the thriving resale industry? Click here to learn more about Winmark Corporation’s franchise brands.