Today we’d like to introduce you to James Reid.
Hi James, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Bynx is a family business. It started in summer 2016 with a dream to combine coffee, rare books and records under one roof — then the thought of adding a recording studio and live entertainment space glued everything together. After a year or two, we began taking active steps towards making our dream a reality and developed the initial business plan to get things started. For roughly two years, we worked assiduously collecting records, books, finding the right partners and the requisite knowledge to do things the right way. We were fortunate to have met many people along the way — mentors, experts, friends — who helped us find our feet. After several delays, we managed to opened our shop in December 2020 during one of the toughest periods in recent history. But, thanks in large part to a great staff and a growing loyal customer base, we persevered and are growing in the right direction!
Needless to say, there’ve been a lot of learnings these past few years and it would be difficult to know where to start!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
As with any ambitious undertaking, it’s been no easy feat to get this far in our journey. As I said, we’ve been lucky in many ways but unlucky in others! Opening during COVID has doubtlessly been one of our biggest obstacles. It’s a very uncertain time for any business, let alone a new small business, and it’s definitely not something we anticipated 3 years ago. Various delays to construction also slowed us down a bit, but that is to be expected!
We face a new problem every day but most are solvable; no doubt one of our struggles is being a small team with so much ambition, but we work hard and we have a great team of people to hep us achieve our goals. Everything in time!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
We are a family business with various backgrounds — John, my father, spent 30 years in the telecommunications industry and has an extensive background in business development and management, while I myself (James) have spent my life pursuing music, writing & photography. One of our biggest differentiators is the fact that we have a project recording studio in our shop. It’s lagged a little behind the rest of the shop, but we’re finally in the room and making records (soon to come!). I graduated from Full Sail University in 2o16, am a songwriter, producer, and engineer and hope to make the studio (aka Bynx Records) a big contributor to our local music scene and beyond.
While the music itself took a back seat while the business opened and we smoothed out our operations, I’m now back in the saddle and recording nonstop. Several projects are coming up with my local groups asleepinplanes and Left on Brix (a roots/rock/reggae group), as well as with other artists I’m working with in genres liken hip hop, folk and pop. Stay tuned and follow @bynxrecords!
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
– Don’t be afraid to talk to anyone or ask any question, no matter how stupid it may sound. – Actively seek people in your field who had success and learn from what they’ve done.
– Go out and attend industry events, classes, seminars and any other opportunity you can find to connect with people in the industry.
One of the things we’ve done, for example, is speak with record store owners in various shops we’ve visited throughout the world. You’d be surprised how much information/help people will offer if only you ask! Due to some of those instances, we’ve built lasting relationships with other business owners & experts.
Pricing:
- Our studio rates begin at $50, but vary depending on services required. We record, produce and mix.
- We sell collectible and/or signed books, so we aren’t your average bookstore. We love the history behind our collection.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@bynx.co
- Website: www.bynx.co
- Instagram: @bynxorlando
- Facebook: @bynxorlando
- Twitter: @bynxorlando
- Youtube: @bynxorlando
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bynx-orlando-2
Image Credits
Duncan Kurtz (photo of James) James Reid (all others)
