Today we’d like to introduce you to Kellen Ross.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The company was started in 2010 solely by myself. I had been teaching guitar lessons around North Dallas for about 3 years for myself and for a now-competitor of mine. I was also in an actively touring rock band at the time, and we had completed our first full-length (13-song) record. We started touring in June of 2012 – that year we played 125+ shows in 73 different cities ranging from Texas to Wisconsin, to New York, to Florida. To save that story for another time, and sum it up, we were financially and mentally exhausted after we arrived back in late-Fall.
The record did well but didn’t provide the foundation for what we needed to sustain a steady income – at least not enough to pay the bills back home. So we decided to keep playing locally, and I decided to expand my guitar lessons idea a bit further.
I knew, from working with competitors, that I had to offer something different and run my business in a different way than others – at least in the ways I thought were long-term hindrances to a lesson-providing concept. I wanted to provide private lessons in students homes vs. them travel 2 hours for a 1/2-hour lesson (it just didn’t make sense to me in a fast-growing area), I wanted to offer rates that were affordable to those in all walks of life, I wanted to pay my instructors more than I was paid with my now-competitors – good music teachers are rarely paid what they’re worth. Lastly, I wanted to keep a hands-on position with my customers – regardless of how big the idea got. I didn’t want to have the more modern idea of “let the website to the work for you” – quantity vs quality wasn’t my idea of a good business model.
So I started teaching again in early 2013, while simultaneously started to read an SEO (search-engine optimization) book published that year to gain some traction on Google. The Internet, whether I liked it or not, is an integral part of the way people find services. And although I would have loved to just “sit back and watch the Internet work for me”, I knew that was unrealistic – it can take years for SEO to start working for a website.
I then went to the local Guitar Centers and formed a partnership with the General Managers, and their staff offering both parties a mutual amount of promotion and new customers. This was how Music By Ross got its big start! I spent many hours and trips going to and from 6 Guitar Center locations over the next year getting to know everyone, bringing lunch, and talking with the staff to see how we could help each other out better. About June of 2013, I started seeing new student numbers grow like crazy. I knew at that point I had to find a staff of good music teachers.
I approached the University of North Texas, TCU, SMU and other music programs around DFW looking for college-age teachers, who knew their instruments, new music, but who were also personable. One thing you’ll find in a lot of music lesson providers is teachers who are a) too rigid – they can’t seem to think outside their education – kind of a “graduate, rinse, repeat” approach to teaching, or b) a musician, who may play phenomenally, but is just looking for extra “beer money”, and has no solid concept of helping students achieve their goals.
Ultimately, both approaches to teaching don’t work long-term, and I knew there had to be teachers like myself who understood how to teach but make it fun and had the tools to teach serious learners, and also someone who “just wants to learn” (doesn’t have a serious desire to go to school for an instrument). From then on, I hired musicians who were obtaining their degrees in their instrument, or who already have their degree.
This aspect would offer parents (and individuals) who are serious about their kids being well-rounded and well-versed in music but still having an approachable teacher who doesn’t teach through intimidation. In my opinion, no one else in DFW was offering this balance. From that concept, I require that my instructors play in rock bands, blues bands, church bands, symphonies, etc. to ensure they understand how to relate to those again, “just wanting to play” as well.
After establishing the convenient in-home aspect, the instructor qualifications, and the affordable pricing, I had a concept that was starting to work well. I remember telling my girlfriend (now wife) “Wouldn’t it be nice if someday Music By Ross could pay my truck payment?”. We both laughed and agreed “that’ll be the day”.
I knew that no matter what growth we saw as a company, I wanted to keep the local vibe. I didn’t want to do what some of my bigger competitors did, and treat their business like “the sky is the limit”. While dollar signs do play a role keeping any business afloat, at the end of the day, I knew first-hand that if you sacrifice your brand for larger brand growth, you may end up sacrificing a lot more. For example, many of my competitors have eager students find their teacher by simply type in their zip code into an online query.
Then a list of about 30 instructors all pop up on the computer screen. Then the student is left to decide (and cross their fingers in hopes to find a good teacher) from a plethora of music teachers based upon a zip code, a photo, and a short bio – give me a break! At that point, I made the decision to know all of my music teachers, all my students, and know what the student’s goals are for taking music lessons, and pair them with a teacher I know will fit their needs. I wanted to keep it personal, local, and hands-on from a founder standpoint – and I still do.
In 2015, the partnerships with the Guitar Centers dissolved one-by-one as they started offering their own in-store music lessons. I was bummed to see that partnership go, and the relationships I had with the staffs. But I also knew that in the DFW area, growing as quickly as it is, people searching for music lessons wouldn’t be moving towards an in-studio lessons (traveling to take lessons) concept, but people would still continually seek a way to get great lessons, on their time, at a place they feel comfortable – their home.
From mid-2015 onward, I started participating in community rec centers, non-profits, charity auctions, local festivals around DFW, and other community events in attempt to get the company’s name out on a grass-roots level. This idea worked from a marketing standpoint, and I had found many niches in many parts of DFW because of it. Beyond that, I have met so many good people from this who, regardless of whether they take lessons, have made a great positive impact on my life, and my career.
Jumping to 2018, Music By Ross is making large strides as a real competitor in DFW, and currently has the highest retention rate and customer satisfaction on any music lessons provider in the Dallas area. I have over 20 happy instructors in staff, and we offer instruction for over 11 instruments. To date, we have helped 500+ people achieve their musical goals in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I am very thankful of the Texas down-home mentality still present in the citizens of DFW. Their kindness, openness to something different, and sense of community have made Music By Ross what it is today.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The company wasn’t funded by any loan or investor fund. I had $300 to my name after my band’s national tour. I grew Music By Ross the old-fashioned way – meeting people and making long-lasting connections. This was a very tough start considering I couldn’t really do the age-old saying “you gotta spend money to make money”. It took about 2 years to start seeing real results, and I’m glad we’ve weathered the storm.
Guitar Center started offering their own lessons in 2014, thus dissolving many relationships, and business outlets, I had built. But these kinds of obstacles always provide other areas to improve. I know that when one door is shut, another one opens. We then turned to other grass-roots ideas of building the business.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Music By Ross story. Tell us more about the business.
We make taking lessons easy. We are known for being a local alternative to a bigger concept of taking private lessons. I know all my teachers, and I know all of our students on a first-name basis – something you can’t find regularly in this business.
Music By Ross is also known for having the area’s best teachers. We get praises each week on how our instructors rekindle students’ passion for music or spark something within students to love music – it’s really about the quality of teachers MBR has over other competitors.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
As the founder Music By Ross, I do consider myself very lucky. I am lucky to have the opportunity to impact people positively in a life-long way.
Now from another lucky standpoint, I feel lucky that, at the start of my business, I met such great sales staff individuals at the Guitar Centers around DFW. I couldn’t figure out why no other lesson-providers weren’t partnering with Guitar Center. I suppose it was a “right place, right time” scenario, and it grew my business greatly in the first 3 years or so.
Contact Info:
- Website: musicbyross.com
- Phone: (855) 70-MUSIC (706-8742)
- Email: info@musicbyross.com
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