A few months ago, I posted that Dan and Kerry of CSS Audio were interested in purchasing Salk Sound.
They are great guys and it was a pleasure working with them. They were here almost daily for two months as they analyzed the business and learned some of our production processes. They built crossovers, assembled speakers, and generally helped around the shop (at no charge I should note). I'm glad we had a chance to get to know them on a more personal level.
As for the sale itself, our accountant valued the company at about $300,000. But we basically offered it to Dan and Kerry for less than a third of that amount...basically the cost of our machinery. We were not charging for the name or any of our speaker designs. We were willing to throw all that in for free in order to provide them with the best chance for success.
The way I looked at it, if they ever wanted to market finished speakers, they would never be able to set up a speaker manufacturing operation at this price.
In the end, they decided not to proceed. They simply did not feel confident they could market speakers at prices that would be required for an ongoing operation. I don't blame them for their decision. They made a good-faith effort to make it work.
During the process of exploring a sale, we basically stopped taking new orders so Dan and Kerry would have a clean start when potentially taking over operations. At this point, we probably have about six weeks of work left to complete all standing orders. After that, we will basically auction off our equipment and head home.
Will that be the end of Salk Sound? Not exactly. While we will no longer manufacture speakers, I do have an idea of what I'd like to do going forward and it involves remaining a part of the audio industry. I don't have a specific announcement about that at this point but will outline it in full once I sort out the details.
When we first contemplated going into the speaker business, everyone we talked to discouraged us. "You can't make it," they said. Well, twenty years later, we're still here.
I'm proud of the work we did and very thankful for all the support and encouragement you, our owners, have provided over the years. When times were tough, we'd quite often receive an appreciative email from a customer that would make everything seem worthwhile. For that, I will be forever grateful.
You have given us the opportunity to get to know, and ship speakers to, thousands of people around the world. None of this would have been possible were it not for the faith you placed in us over the years. It has been truly gratifying.
So thanks for your support. Now it's on to the next iteration of Salk Sound...
- Jim
