February 2005
Amaury was only 9 years old when he came to his mom to show him his own designed business cards for ‘AJ Auto Clean Services’, a partnership he had formed with his next door neighbor, Jordan, as the first step into forming his first enterprise, a car detailing business. The business card was a rectangular piece of paper with handwritten names, phone numbers and little squares at the bottom of the card to offer 6 carwashes for the price of 5. He had no shame to go knocking the doors of his neighbors in Kenner, Louisiana, who gave both of the kids the opportunity to wash their cars at their own driveway where both partners would bring their wagon with all kind of Car Washing products, including buckets of water.
But Amaury got distracted with his other passion, Music. He was member of the School Band, and his time was consumed pretty much between school work and his percussion practicing, something he was very good at. Being said that, it is known that his two passions are Music and Automobiles.
In the summer of 2004 neither Amaury nor Johnny could find a summer job because they were only 15. Therefore they both decided to join forces to install audio equipment in cars, but how? Neither one of them knew enough.
Undaunted, they found a way to do it. Amaury was now living in Miami where he moved with his family with the new millennium, and his dream was always to own a car-related business.
One day, back in 2004, Amaury came home and asked his mom to let him install a Boom Box in her new 2003 Explorer. Astonished by the idea, but still understanding how important this was to the young entrepreneur-to-be, she asked the whereabouts of his new partner, only to find out, that he was another teenager, who was a schoolmate, whose base knowledge of identifying automobile cables came from his father side. That was very reassuring, but as she says, ‘if I don’t trust them my car, who will?’, and there the first noise maker was installed.
Amaury came up with the idea of Down South as a name for the new business and after designing, customizing and installing many systems to their friends, he became CEO of Down South Audio & Performance, Inc... His sister MariAng I. “Mia” Almaguer (19) is president, and Jonathan C. Morales is Vice President.
So far, they have accomplished a dream: to have their own corporation. They have excelled in doing a good job, because they know that it’s very important to be trustworthy if they expect someone to hand them the keys to their car.
The three of them are aware that a business needs a steady stream of customers that mostly come from their group of friends. Kids at school know they can get a job well done, designed to their taste, covered with Gucci, Burberry or Louis Vouitton fabric, and still at very good prices. The three of them agree that in the end, it's a combination of entrepreneurial skills that lead to success.
They also understand that the best advertising they can get is the word-of-mouth from their customers; therefore they make sure they provide a job well done. "If you do a good job, the customer will tell others and they'll tell someone else, and before you know it, everyone is talking about your business," say Amaury.
Mia is also a Public Relations/Advertising Major; therefore she helps with T-Shirts designing, website ideas, and marketing strategies.
For more information contact: www.downsouthaudio.com
