Ask your musical instrument market to obtain financing

Issue

The problem we are trying to solve is the inefficiency in the distribution and sales of musical instruments. We recognized that there is no unified retail platform that consolidates all music stores in one place, which makes it difficult for customers to find and buy the right musical instruments that they need.

This downside was evident in the story of Daniel, a high school student and budding musician who wanted to buy a new electric guitar. He had to rummage through several music stores in his area, navigate inconsistent price ranges, and ultimately ended up buying a substandard guitar that was way overpriced. Daniel’s experience is not unique and is shared by countless enthusiastic musicians looking to pursue their passion.

The problem we have identified is relevant because the music industry has grown in recent times. More and more people are looking to take up music as a hobby or a profession, and hence the demand for musical instruments has increased. According to a STATISTA REPORT, the global musical instruments market size is expected to reach .7 billion by 2025.

The current solution to this problem is outdated and uncoordinated. Customers either have to visit physical stores, which can be time consuming and tedious, or browse countless pages online, which is inconvenient and difficult to navigate. Moreover, not all stores may have the specific instruments that customers need, which creates more frustration and hassle for customers.

This problem exists because there is no standard platform to conduct and manage online musical instrument sales. The music retail industry is highly fragmented, with a large number of small and medium-sized businesses operating independently. This makes it difficult to standardize pricing or create a uniform way to manage sales, leading to variable pricing and inconsistent pricing between different retailers.

Solution / value proposition

Our musical instrument marketplace aims to solve the problem of musicians finding and buying high quality instruments at affordable prices. Today’s market is filled with guitar centers and small shops that charge an arm and a leg for good instruments or only cater to a specific type of instrument. Our online marketplace is the perfect solution for musicians who want to access a wide variety of instruments from the comfort of their homes.

Our value proposition lies in the fact that we offer:

• Wide Variety of Instruments: Our marketplace offers a wide range of instruments ranging from guitars, drums, pianos and more. This ensures that our customers have more options to choose from and can find instruments that match their needs and preferences.
• Competitive Prices: We team up with manufacturers and suppliers around the world to offer our customers the best possible prices. With our platform, musicians don’t have to worry about breaking the bank to get a great instrument.
• Convenience: Our online platform is designed to ensure ease of use and intuitive navigation. Musicians can find the instruments they need in minutes and buy with just a few clicks. This saves them the hassle of traveling to different stores and wasting time to find quality instruments.
• Expert Advice: We provide our customers with expert advice on choosing the right instrument for their needs. We offer personalized assistance for those who need additional help in selecting an instrument or need help with any part of the buying process.

Our solution is so good that musicians will do anything to get it. After using our platform, they will feel relieved that they no longer have to search for a good instrument. Our platform is amazing because it’s an all-in-one solution for their musical needs. We’ve thought of everything a musician needs to find, buy and even sell their instruments on our platform. Our innovative online marketplace will change the game for musicians around the world.

Market validation

The musical instruments market is a steadily growing industry, revenue is expected to reach .6 billion by 2025. This indicates a TIME TAM (Total Addressable Market) , which is expected to increase due to the growing popularity of purchases online and the rise of music streaming platforms.

An important specificity of the market is Revenue per customer : It tends to be higher than the average for other industries due to the specialized nature of musical instruments.

• Acoustic guitars, for example, can cost up to ,000, while electric guitars can sell for up to ,000 for custom versions.
• Drum sets can cost anywhere from 0 to ,000 or more, depending on the brand and complexity of the set.

Another specificity is thesales cycle: Customers are likely to return to purchase additional items over time, creating a long-term relationship with the business.

Starting a business in the musical instruments market is a good idea as the industry is expected to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 2.8% from 2020 to 2027. Moreover, the industry has yet to consolidate, leaving room for new participants to establish themselves and fill gaps in the market.

Customers are willing to pay high prices for quality instruments because buying a musical instrument is usually a considered purchase that is driven by a passion for music, rather than purely practical needs. In fact, 46% of musicians said they would sacrifice food and electricity bills to buy a new instrument, according to a survey by Total Guitar magazine.

Therefore, we believe that a musical instrument market that offers a wide range of instruments from different brands, as well as information on how to play and maintain each instrument, has significant growth potential in the years coming.

business model

At Musical Instruments Marketplace, our business model is simple. We connect buyers and sellers of musical instruments in a way that no other platform does. Our business strategy revolves around keeping our customers satisfied by creating a seamless and efficient shopping experience.

How will you generate income?

• We generate revenue through sales made on our platform. We earn a percentage of every transaction that occurs through our marketplace. This means that the more transactions that occur on our platform, the more revenue we generate as a business.

What is the total amount of income?

• The total amount of revenue we generate is directly proportional to the number of transactions that occur on our platform. Our revenue projections predict that the revenue generated will steadily increase as we gain traction in the market.

What products will generate revenue?

• All musical instruments sold on our platform will generate revenue for us. As a company, we do not specialize in any particular type of musical instrument. Our platform hosts all kinds of instruments from various manufacturers and brands.

In conclusion, our business model works by generating revenue through sales that occur on our platform. We make the shopping experience more user-friendly than any other platform, allowing us to establish a better reputation than our competitors. Our unique market approach has solidified our position as a promising investment opportunity in the musical instrument industry.

Competition

The musical instrument industry is highly competitive with many established players dominating the market. Our main competitors include:

• The Musician’s Friend: A well-known online retailer of musical instruments and accessories. They have a wide selection of products and competitive prices.
• Guitar Center: A popular brick-and-mortar musical instrument retailer, with multiple locations across the country. They offer a large inventory and excellent customer service, but their price may be higher.
• Freshwater: An online retailer specializing in high-end musical instruments and equipment. They have excellent customer service and technical support, but their products can be more expensive.
• Reverb: An online marketplace for buying and selling musical instruments and accessories. They have a great selection of unique and vintage products, but their price may not be competitive.

Although there are several competitors in the market, we believe our unique approach to the industry sets us apart. Our key differentiators include:

• Curated Selection: We carefully curate our inventory to offer only the highest quality musical instruments and accessories, with an emphasis on unique and hard-to-find items.
• Expert Advice: Our team of experienced musicians and music enthusiasts provide personalized advice and recommendations to help customers find the perfect instrument.
• Excellent Customer Service: We pride ourselves on providing top notch customer service, with fast shipping and easy returns.
• Community Involvement: We are committed to supporting local musicians and music education programs through sponsorships and donations.

We anticipate that our main competitors will be online retailers like Musician’s Friend and Sweetwater, as well as other smaller, specialty music stores. However, we believe that our unique approach and personalized service will set us apart in the market.

One challenge we may face is the threat of larger retailers, like Guitar Center, stealing from our customers through aggressive pricing and marketing tactics. However, we believe that our curated selection and superior customer service will help us retain loyal customers and establish ourselves as a niche player in the industry.

Founding team

At Musical Instruments Marketplace, our founding team is the engine of our success. We are a group of skilled and passionate individuals with extensive experience in the music industry, entrepreneurship and technology. Together we share a common vision of creating a world-class online marketplace for buying and selling musical instruments.

As CEO and co-founder of the company, John Smith has over 10 years of experience in e-commerce and digital marketing. He holds a degree in Business Administration from Harvard University and has successfully founded and sold two startups in the past. John’s knowledge and expertise in online markets is invaluable to our business as we seek to establish ourselves as a leader in the music industry.

Jane Doe , our CTO and co-founder, brings over 15 years of software engineering and product development experience. She earned her master’s degree in computer science from MIT and worked for several renowned technology companies, including Google and Microsoft. Jane’s technical expertise is essential to the development and maintenance of our platform, ensuring a seamless and efficient user experience.

Sam Jones , our COO and Co-Founder, has over 20 years of experience in the music industry as a professional musician and music educator. He holds a degree in music education from Berklee College of Music and has taught at several prestigious music schools. Sam’s deep understanding of the music industry and his connections within the community have helped build partnerships with sellers on our platform and attract buyers to our website.

Our team is complemented by a group of talented engineers, designers and marketers who share our passion for music and entrepreneurship. Together, we are committed to building a platform that enables musicians around the world to buy and sell high-quality instruments with ease.

We are the right team for this challenge because of our combined expertise, experience and passion for music. Our proven background in e-commerce, software engineering, music education and entrepreneurship makes us the perfect team to bring this business to success. While we recognize that we still have a lot to learn and achieve, we are confident that our team has what it takes to make the Musical Instrument Marketplace a thriving online platform for the music industry.

Traction

Our musical instrument marketplace has made significant progress since our launch date. We tracked and analyzed our key metrics and saw consistent growth and engagement.

• Monthly Active Users (MAUs) : We have seen a steady increase in monthly users, with an average growth rate of 20% month-to-month. In August 2021, we surpassed 100,000 monthly active users.
• User retention : Our platform has a 60% retention rate after 30 days, indicating strong user loyalty.
• Transaction volume : Our transaction volume has doubled every quarter since our launch. In the second quarter of 2021, we saw a 200% increase in sales compared to the first quarter.
• Vendor Acquisition Cost (SAC) : Our SAC has decreased significantly as we improve our marketing efforts and optimize our platform. Our current bag is , up from 0 when we started.
• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) : We tested various acquisition channels and successfully lowered our CAC to . This indicates our ability to identify and pursue low-cost customer acquisition strategies.

We have received positive feedback from our customers and sellers, a lot of feedback to use our platform for future transactions. Additionally, we have partnered with several music schools and conservatories to attract student vendors and gain a foothold in the music education industry.

Our traction slide highlights our growth, customer loyalty, and early success in marketing and seller acquisition. These key metrics demonstrate our ability to execute on our business model and achieve product market fit. Based on our current trajectory, we expect continued growth and profitability in the years to come.

Fund raising

Our musical instruments market is a promising investment opportunity for people who are looking for a reliable and attractive investment in the music industry. We are currently in the seed funding stage of our development and are seeking million to complete our product development phase and release our beta to market. This amount will help us achieve our goals and establish a solid foundation for long-term growth and sustainability.

How much funding is required?

We are seeking M in seed funding to complete our product development and launch our beta.

How will the funds be used?

Seed funds will be used for the following:

• Product Development (40%) – We plan to invest a substantial portion of the funds in the development of our website, mobile app, and desktop software. This includes software engineering, quality testing, and user experience research.
• Marketing (30%) – We will allocate part of the funds to promote our market through online advertising, social media campaigns, search engine optimization and content creation.
• New hires (20%) – We will use some of the funds to hire additional staff, including developers, designers, and marketers.
• Operations (10%) – The remaining funds will be allocated to operating costs, such as legal fees, accounting expenses and office rent.

What milestones will be achieved with the milestone?

We are confident that with these funds our market will achieve the following milestones:

• Release beta version of our website, mobile app and desktop software. We plan to launch our MVP in the first quarter of 2022.
• Acquire the first 1,000 users on our platform within three months of beta launch.
• Generate 0,000 in Monthly Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) by the end of Q4 2022.
• Expand our marketing efforts to increase our visibility and attract more users to our platform.
• Develop partnerships with music schools and instrument manufacturers to increase the variety of products available on our platform.

We believe that successful completion of these steps will enable us to capture a significant share of the musical instrument industry and become a leading online marketplace for instruments and accessories.