Perfectionist Auto Sound and Security

In the latest interview, we sat down with entrepreneur John Schwartz, owner of Perfectionist Auto Sound and Security. Diving into the hard work and tools it took to build a 2X award-winning company. Perfectionist is located in Anchorage, Alaska, and offers vehicle services from car audio, custom interiors and their very own sound-deadening product. Their 6000-square-foot facility is equipped with showrooms, state-of-the-art tools, and trained professionals.

The owner, John Schwartz, grew up in North Carolina living with his father who was in the army. At 14 years old he worked at a meatball sub shop which was placed near a stereo shop. Schwartz and his workers would go to the base and hand out fliers to barracks promoting the meatball subs when a man pulled up in his dream car. A Honda CRX. The base on the car was so strong it shook a 8 ft tall building to the point the windows shook. Schwartz walked over to the man amazed and asked to give him a job. “I will work for free.” The man hesitantly agreed to give Schwartz a shot. Kickstarting his career. 

 Schwartz believes that in business there are 4 hats. The artist, the manager, the owner, and the board level. The first hat is worn by the creative employee or artist. Which he started off by cleaning the floors at the car shop. Helping build a big enclosure with the man, holding braces, and learning. Schwartz recalls learning about the number 1728. The man explained to Schwartz that 12X12X12 is needed to figure out the airspace of the enclosure. When his father went overseas he moved to Alaska and at 16 opened his first car shop. “Hey you are like the sound doctor.” his friends used to say as he built traction fixing cars from the driveway of his parents' home. A shop in his town recruited him at 18 and started working part-time. 

After a time working at the shop he was able to get an interview for a new company. “What will it take for you to work at the company?” the boss at Compustar asked Schwartz to come to work for their company. “I need 15 bucks an hour.” After that Schwartz started on making the product installer-friendly and usable.

The second hat is worn by the manager which does not get to be as creative. Schwartz went from building cars to moving up the ladder and managing people and cash flow. At 22 working for Perfectionist fixing Compustar which opened in Anchorage. The product was the first alarm company to create a 2-way system of notifying the owner of any break-ins. The original owner of Perfectionist, Jason, felt the product was his way to exit the retail world. Schwartz recalls the shop being overloaded and being asked to go to the shop instead of working on Compustar. The shop did not always have the best reputation as he states things would go missing or broken. 

The owner told Schwartz “Be my spy.” He recalls walking in the shop with his toolbox and 8 mechanics staring at him. “ Hey I'm Jason's spy and if you do a bad job I'm telling,” Schwarts confidently said to all of them. The company was losing 10 to 15 grand a month and was losing customers. “Man is it that bad…what can I do?,” Jason asked Schwartz. He replied, “fire everyone and start over.” Just like so Jason fired everyone at the shop and made Schwartz the new store manager. He worked alone for 2 to 3 months while they “begged” for people to work there. To fix the bad reputation and add new business a sign was put up saying “Under New Management.” 

The third hat is the owner who rents a studio or buys equipment. Schwartz no longer had to run a single store or fix a couple of cars but worked on the business. Schwartz credits his business journey to Compustar. Every car got damaged, something was stolen and revenue was low for a big shop in Alaska. When he was able to take over the shop at 23 and worked on it for 25 years he was able to turn it around. 

The fourth and last hat is at the board level whose only job is business decisions. “What's the downside”, “Can we live with the downside?” Schwartz claims that the best entrepreneurs need to be able to do all four hats. He states that as a business owner, they can't expect others to do a job they themselves can’t do. 

Perfectionist Auto Sound and Security is a business built on experience and dedication that cares for the customer's safety and satisfaction. They pride themselves on being able to recognize where they can grow and learn from. The company is now one of the highest-recommended auto repair shops. Schwartz went from a 1,200 ft warehouse to now a 6,400 ft warehouse and has opened a warehouse in Flower Mound. Crediting the mentors that gave him a chance to be the person he is today.