Mekasonic Loudspeaker : On the ride
Mekasonic Loudspeaker : On the ride
My venture of making mekasonic Loudspeaker was started in a small rented 10' x 10' room on the roof of a three story building. As the activities were in progress, l felt a shortage of space and money. At this point, I was rescued by Mr. Amitananda Das (M.Tech from Calcutta University - Dept of Radio Physics & Electronics) a very good friend of mine, who came forward with some funds and also a better accommodation for my workshop in a portion of his house which was lying vacant. His kind gesture helped me to proceed comfortably. Moreover, with his high academic background he also helped me to solve many technical matters.
I am also grateful to my friend Dr. Ajit Pal (Former Professor, IIT Kharagpur) who used to help me quite often for making equipment for loudspeaker testing.
Products identified and developed.
Shape, size, models, technical specifications, brand name and packaging finalised.
Now, the most difficult part of the journey is called marketing.
Whatever you make - good, better or best, market is the supreme authority to say the last word - it will sell or not.
There are many ways and means to start marketing efforts. If you have sufficient funds, the easiest way to start is making publicity. Most small business ventures cannot afford publicity at the beginning.
It also depends on what type of item you are going to sell. In my case the product was Loudspeaker which is not a very common item. Target buyers were Individuals, audio equipment manufacturers, sound system hirers, P.A system and component dealers.
As I had some background of handling audio equipment of my friends and relatives, that was my primary market place by way of recommendations and trials to introduce my mekasonic speakers with enclosure which were mostly custom made as per buyer's choice.
Some Custom made Speakers for different buyers
I am also grateful to my friend Dr. Ajit Pal (Former Professor, IIT Kharagpur) who used to help me quite often for making equipment for loudspeaker testing.
Products identified and developed.
Shape, size, models, technical specifications, brand name and packaging finalised.
Now, the most difficult part of the journey is called marketing.
Whatever you make - good, better or best, market is the supreme authority to say the last word - it will sell or not.
There are many ways and means to start marketing efforts. If you have sufficient funds, the easiest way to start is making publicity. Most small business ventures cannot afford publicity at the beginning.
It also depends on what type of item you are going to sell. In my case the product was Loudspeaker which is not a very common item. Target buyers were Individuals, audio equipment manufacturers, sound system hirers, P.A system and component dealers.
As I had some background of handling audio equipment of my friends and relatives, that was my primary market place by way of recommendations and trials to introduce my mekasonic speakers with enclosure which were mostly custom made as per buyer's choice.
Some Custom made Speakers for different buyers
This was not a regular method for selling products as the requirements were often different for each buyer. I decided to focus on three sizes of loudspeakers - 8", 10" and 12".
In each size, I made two or three variations of power handling capacity. After building up some inventory for all models, I started visiting some audio equipment and electronic component dealers.
In Kolkata, Madan street and Chandni chowk area is well known as electronics market. In fact all cities have such wholesale markets in different areas for different items.
The advantage of such a market is to get a large number of dealers in a small place.
This is also a place where you can see products of other brands, with a quick check on competitors price range, quality etc.
You can also find many repair and service shops in these areas. If you can develop friendships with some of them, they are a good source of information about other makes and sometimes they can provide important tips which may be useful to improve the quality of speakers.
Initial introduction to dealers is a long, time consuming process. It is difficult to get their attention for a manufacturer of an unknown brand. It requires patiance to convince a dealer about the products.
However, as there were not many competitors that time, I managed to get approval of some good dealers to try out my mekasonic brand loudspeakers.
It took some time to mature the first sale, receive payment and a fresh repeat order. That was a complete cycle. Once this process is achieved, it gives an entrepreneur a kind of satisfaction and fulfilment.
So, this was the first part of the venture. The ball started rolling.
In June 1978, I wrote an article about speaker enclosure in "Electronics for you" magazine which was published in July, next month. As that was a special Loudspeaker supplement issue, I also decided to put an advertisement in that issue (photos enclosed). This was my first advertisement for mekasonic loudspeaker in print media.
My article in EFY along with the publicity gave me a big mileage and in a short time I started getting enquiries from dealers and individuals all over India about my products. This also helped mekasonic brand to get some recognition and a boost in local sales.
In each size, I made two or three variations of power handling capacity. After building up some inventory for all models, I started visiting some audio equipment and electronic component dealers.
In Kolkata, Madan street and Chandni chowk area is well known as electronics market. In fact all cities have such wholesale markets in different areas for different items.
The advantage of such a market is to get a large number of dealers in a small place.
This is also a place where you can see products of other brands, with a quick check on competitors price range, quality etc.
You can also find many repair and service shops in these areas. If you can develop friendships with some of them, they are a good source of information about other makes and sometimes they can provide important tips which may be useful to improve the quality of speakers.
Initial introduction to dealers is a long, time consuming process. It is difficult to get their attention for a manufacturer of an unknown brand. It requires patiance to convince a dealer about the products.
However, as there were not many competitors that time, I managed to get approval of some good dealers to try out my mekasonic brand loudspeakers.
It took some time to mature the first sale, receive payment and a fresh repeat order. That was a complete cycle. Once this process is achieved, it gives an entrepreneur a kind of satisfaction and fulfilment.
So, this was the first part of the venture. The ball started rolling.
In June 1978, I wrote an article about speaker enclosure in "Electronics for you" magazine which was published in July, next month. As that was a special Loudspeaker supplement issue, I also decided to put an advertisement in that issue (photos enclosed). This was my first advertisement for mekasonic loudspeaker in print media.
My article in EFY along with the publicity gave me a big mileage and in a short time I started getting enquiries from dealers and individuals all over India about my products. This also helped mekasonic brand to get some recognition and a boost in local sales.
Amazing nostalgic write-up. I was one of the fan of Mekasonic speakers....In mid-eighties I've prepared my own Hi-fi audio setup with Mekasonic 8inch woofers. It was not very easy to build the system. Being a hobbyist I used to visit Kolkata Chandi chawk area i.e. Madan Street. Nababharat, Navrang etc. was famous electronics spare shops. Coming back to Mekasonic speaker, today I was searching if I can get that stock once again to rebuild my project and landed in the blog. So much thanks for the post. Wish to know the present position. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteAmazing nostalgic write-up. I was one of the fan of Mekasonic speakers....In mid-eighties I've prepared my own Hi-fi audio setup with Mekasonic 8inch woofers. It was not very easy to build the system. Being a hobbyist I used to visit Kolkata Chandi chawk area i.e. Madan Street. Nababharat, Navrang etc. was famous electronics spare shops. Coming back to Mekasonic speaker, today I was searching if I can get that stock once again to rebuild my project and landed in the blog. So much thanks for the post. Wish to know the present position. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteAmazing nostalgic write-up. I was one of the fan of Mekasonic speakers....In mid-eighties I've prepared my own Hi-fi audio setup with Mekasonic 8inch woofers. It was not very easy to build the system. Being a hobbyist I used to visit Kolkata Chandi chawk area i.e. Madan Street. Nababharat, Navrang etc. was famous electronics spare shops. Coming back to Mekasonic speaker, today I was searching if I can get that stock once again to rebuild my project and landed in the blog. So much thanks for the post. Wish to know the present position. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comments.
DeleteI left from Mekasonic in 2004. I brand is now used by someone else.
I have a youtube channel in the name Making Loudspeaker.
You can see speaker related videos there.
If necessary you can contact me by whatsapp at 9007400622
It is very encouraging to learn how the breakthrough in the market happened. And a repeat request is the proof of technical quality. I am glad Motherland India got to this quality made at home.
ReplyDelete