Barnett Klane took a big risk when he started his company. He invested practically all of his savings to pursue an idea that could easily fail.

But what Klane, a junior marketing major, lacked in business experience, he made up for in determination. And during the past five months, the 20-year-old has worked grueling hours to expand Klane Consulting LLC, a business dedicated to providing high-quality audio and lighting equipment to fraternities.

Now Klane and his two partners are working to keep up with the business, which has quickly snowballed from a start-up to a legitimate company. The business has made about 15 sales in the last two months, grossing more than $20,000, he said. At the end of last semester it had only made one.

Klane successfully launched Klane Consulting LLC in February after noticing that most fraternities weren’t satisfied with the current process of buying speakers.

With his original partners, Keegan Slattery and Jack Farley, Klane began marketing more than 150 different brands of audio equipment to their fraternity-based clientele last spring.

Before, fraternities were limited to getting equipment online, which is more tedious than Klane’s method. Klane takes equipment directly to the homes of potential buyers and performs demonstrations, allowing the buyers to test the equipment for themselves.

Within the past three months, Klane completely restructured the company. Slattery and Farley stepped down from their positions after they realized they couldn’t commit time to help expand the company.

In the fall, juniors Nick Mancini and Chris Jones became Klane’s new partners after both of their fraternities bought equipment from Klane Consulting LLC.

Mancini, Jones and Klane meet two to three times a day to discuss ideas for expansion, improvement and service. They take road trips on weeknights to do demos at other universities on a regular basis, pick up equipment at their warehouses and deliver it to the customers — sometimes all in one day.

Within the next few weeks, the group is scheduled to film a YouTube commercial, do a photo shoot and sponsor three Halloween parties, he said.

‘There isn’t a day where we just sit back and relax,’ Klane said. ‘We make a move or work on a project every day.’

The company strives to make sure its customers have access not only to quality products, but also to quality service. That’s why they ship, deliver and install all of their equipment for free, Klane said.

He always has his phone on, too, just in case there are any problems. Klane said fraternity members have called him at 1 a.m. when they had questions about their equipment, and if he couldn’t help them via phone he would go to their houses.

‘When you buy from us, you’re buying our service, too,’ said Jones, the chief operating officer for the company.

Dave Zhou’s fraternity at Cornell, Zeta Psi, bought a stereo system and lights from Klane and his partners. The junior political analysis and management major praised the group for its customer service and quality.

But the company caters to more than just fraternities now. Klane Consulting LLC sold studio equipment to Passion Pit, the band that co-headlined SU’s 2010 Juice Jam, Klane said. Students ask for things as small as headphones, diversifying the company’s sales from that of $20 to $7,000, he said.

‘It’s a niche market, and we sell at cheaper prices than every other competitor,’ Klane said. ‘So we’re beating them on price, we’re beating them on service, and we’re their peers, too.’

Nick Mancini acts as the chief information officer for the group, currently reconstructing the company website to be more efficient and user-friendly. Mancini, an information technology major, said he intends to post videos and tutorials on the site so customers will know how to take care of their equipment.

The group hopes to get the new site online by November, with full functionality of the shopping cart feature by the beginning of the spring semester, Mancini said.

One of Klane’s biggest goals is to expand sales to other campuses, and the website is a helpful tool in doing that, he said. Klane, Mancini and Jones have road trips scheduled for Rutgers University, University of Maryland and Miami (Ohio) University. He said the group hopes to establish representatives on each of those campuses.

To make a further commitment to the company, the three men decided to room together next year, Klane said. The partners sees this as a necessary move to create a stable business they can continue even after graduation.

While business is doing well, Klane said the partners have yet to take any money out of the company; they have just reinvested it. Klane said that this is because the trio is focused on promoting the company, so money isn’t what matters right now.

‘It’s not something we’re doing for the money or to get big and famous. This is just something we really like to do,’ said Jones, a junior earth science major.

Although the company puts a strain on academic work and social activities, the three said they are truly enjoying the work. Klane said he hopes they will continue to run the business even after they graduate.

‘Money should never be a motivator to do a job and, at this time, I’m extremely happy with what I’m doing day to day. I’m going to do this as long as it makes me happy.’

egsawyer@syr.edu

Published on October 10, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Liz: egsawyer@syr.edu | @3sawyer