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714-999-5015 |
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ABI Hours: |
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Tues-Fri |
10am-7pm |
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Saturday |
10am-5pm |
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Closed Sun-Mon |
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You became a director because you love
music! And since you'd rather spend your time teaching music,
some of that paperwork and budget crunching can stack up. Here's a
little "ABI 101" that might be of interest to you.
The best business advice
for a new director is...
Don't let your spending get you into financial debt.
It is essential that you build a good
working relationship with your vendor, your district personnel, ASB and
Booster groups. Become proactive in order to have funds available in the
needed timeframe. Know your budget sources and allotment, and stay
within that budget!
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VENDOR RELATIONS
Local specialty stores,
like ABI, go to great efforts to keep the right products in stock for you
and your students. So, please set up your purchasing routines so that you
obtain funding and approvals before placing orders for products /
services. Believe it or not, sometime in your career you may find yourself
asking your local vendor to perform a last minute miracle. (It can - and it does -happen)!
Music stores work as your vendor to provide services, but are not in the
business of financing band programs.
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... and we don't mean the U.S. Post
Office!
A purchase order is a document issued through the district's purchasing
department, or through the school's ASB office. A purchase
order tells vendors that they are authorized to fill orders and that the
vendor will receive payment.
There is a timeline for obtaining a P.O. so
you'll want to plan in advance. A formal requisition is usually required to begin the
process. You may request quotes from vendors however, districts and vendors
will require an actual P.O. before supplies are ordered or received.
Some districts will issue a "blanket P.O." for supplies or repairs (most
often two separate funding sources... so check on that). A blanket P.O.
on file at your approved vendor is most convenient, since it will have a
designated budget amount available for you to spend, as needed, on allowable products or
services.
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A well managed parent
organization
can become your band program's link between
home, school and the community. Boosters often do whatever it takes to
raise funds, taxi kids to events, work out logistics, carry out promotional
activities and can be your best cheerleaders. A good working relationship with
your Booster board will make it easier to have funds "in hand" when you need
to purchase supplies or have instruments repaired.
Boosters care about the personal development of the
kids and can serve as good role models, demonstrating the significance of
working together for a common purpose. Besides parents of your current
students, some programs are successful in keeping grandparents and alumni
parents involved in helping out with their support.
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ADVISING PARENTS AND STUDENTS
about
instrument purchases will benefit your program!
Directors,..."Take A Stand! When
your students play good quality instruments, your
ensembles sound better and your job is made a little easier.
Students will spend less downtime with service problems and are more
likely to continue. That's how we think it should
be.
Unfortunately, each year we see more and more low cost, poor quality imported
instruments. Many uninformed parents will be buying
them! These instruments come into our shop, and honestly, we can help, but we
can't remake them. Instruments made for obsolescence are annoying to the parent,
and discouraging to their
kids.
From our perspective, band
directors have a responsibility, a definite influence and an opportunity to educate the parents. Consider making an announcement in
your band newsletter or website, or
during a concert saying essentially, "You are welcome to contact me for
recommended sources for new instruments. Please consult me BEFORE buying
so I can help you avoid an inappropriate or unwise purchase".
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BUYER'S
GUIDE
The
"Buyer's Guide"
on ABI's website
is geared primarily towards novice instrument shoppers, although you will also
find sections which explain features in proline products.
As partners with local music educators, ABI feels a responsibility to be
honest in reporting product and industry news.
If you're not sure about the brand names, talk with the qualified
technicians that you trust, such as the experts at ABI. We can show
you the drastic differences in construction and durability between well made
band instruments and the 'imposters'... ("but it looks like a band instrument!")
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