Today we’d like to introduce you to Jaime De La Garza.
Hi Jaime, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
We first opened our custom Audio/Video installation business in October 1995 in San Marcos, Texas as PH&A Designs. We spent the next 20 years modifying and installing audio and video equipment in tour buses for bands, musicians, and performers. We were the ONLY company in all of Texas that performed such work on tour buses. During that time, we performed installations for many top acts including George Strait, Alan Jackson, Brittney Spears, Mana, Carlos Santana, and many more. The extent of these tour bus installations was to remove all outdated TVs and stereos and install the latest hi-tech equipment, including the new-at-the-time DirecTV satellite systems and auto-tracking satellite dish antennas. George Strait was our very first client and soon afterwards every other act in the business wanted a system like he had on his tour bus.
I then got married and when my wife became pregnant with our first son we knew we would be needing a very good insurance company to help with the pregnancy. I was quickly hired by ATT and soon became part of the very first crew in the country that was to deploy the installation of the new “ATT Lightspeed” streaming service that soon became U-Verse. Special training and certification were given to this new Lightspeed crew. Long hours installing the new TV service we required as it routinely took several days to install the service. After a few years of installing, testing, and fine-tuning the new TV streaming service I departed ATT and went back to my love…running my business. In 2009, JD Smarthome was officially opened as San Antonio’s newest Audio, Video, Security, and Automation company, except this time we moved on from tour buses and into homes. Basically starting from scratch I had to build a brand. My competition was Craigslist installers that low-balled prices on one end of the scale, and higher end installation companies that have already been established many years earlier on the other end. I had a long road ahead of me if I wanted to succeed in this field except this time, I had some major advantages.
1) the knowledge of building a brand, and
2) the internet / social media. Building a brand is key to recognition while the internet and social media platforms like Facebook were essential in promoting my business and my work.
My father, before I was born, failed time and time again in trying to start his businesses. I often wonder if the internet was around in the 60s and 70s how successful my father could have become. My father taught me the basics of electronics circuit design and building DIY projects. It always amazed me that he could pour from a can a bunch of circuits, capacitors, IC chips and in no time build a working AM/FM radio. I was hooked on this sorcery. I soaked up as much knowledge from my father as I could. My electronics journey started when I was about 6 or 7 years. I’ve never looked back. I owe everything I know to my father.
Today, JD Smarthome is one of San Antonio’s premier custom installation and security companies. We’ve won several awards and have a very popular social media presence. We branded ourselves and established ourselves as a successful small local company that has weathered changing times and economic disasters. The reason for this longevity is diversification and adapting to changes in the market. We didn’t just stop at installing TVs and stereos. We pursued contracts with Lackland AFB and many other companies across the country. Moving into the commercial sector took us out of our comfort zone of just performing work in the residential side and we adapted to the new kind of work which is commercial and government. We also outfit and remodel homes of wounded Vets that have been paralyzed while fighting for our country. We outfit their homes with voice-controlled technology that gives these wounded and paralyzed warriors some control back to control their home lights, TVs, music, temperature, and more. This is hugely gratifying. We also recently launched a second business for our extremely popular Digital Movie Boards. Inspired by my beautiful daughter, who at the time was only 10 years old, our Digital Movie Boards are a modern take on the old paper movie posters. We have developed our very own code for the Operating System that gives our Movie Boards the flexibility that no other board in the world has (it’s true). What started as an accessory that I would build in store for my clients to give them the ability to playback thousands of perfect digital movie posters on a beautiful framed vertical monitor has turned into a new business that has attracted clients from all over the world. My software developer is amazing. He actually lives in Washington state and works for Microsoft and both of us work remotely designed and coded what really is the world’s best digital media system. We now build and ship out our Digital Movie Boards all over the world to home theater enthusiasts and businesses. For more information on these beautiful boards, we built a new website and Social Media pages on Instagram and YouTube. Links are: www.jdsmarthome.com and www.digitalmovieboards.com. Even in these challenging times our unique brand and diversification of unique products has kept us extremely busy.
In this post-Covid world, it’s more important now than ever to adapt to changing times. Inflation is skyrocketing, unemployment is staggering low, and financial success for businesses is lower than ever. I have a plan…..I always have. And I feel this plan has helped keep my business alive all these years. Be diverse in our products. Adapt to changes. Build and maintain my brand. And lastly and more importantly I must know that everything that I do I do is for the future and security of my kids. I will be gone soon, but my children will continue. I want my legacy to mean something to them. To inspire them. To make them see firsthand that they can be anything they want to be.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Not smooth at all. There are always the struggles to educate people about the value of products, for instance. People see many people on Craigslist doing work for next to nothing. They believe that is the normal rate. But that rate does not buy experience, tools, certificates, business insurance, company vehicles, etc. Why would anyone hire a stranger and then trust them with their expensive equipment in their home for such little price?
Covid is obviously the biggest hurdle we have faced. The struggles of not being able to get financial help from the government in this time, to the loss of work and income, to have to let go of several employees. It hurt…. all of us. But we survived and we pushed thru.
Scammers have become smarter and more direct. It’s getting extremely difficult to tell a scam from a real client. I’ll admit I have been the victim of a scam recently and it was costly. But we learn and we move on.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We quickly became a legitimate player in the audio, video, and security field in San Antonio…..and this has been extremely satisfying. We provide some of the best in audio and video entertainment systems, as well as very high-end security camera systems. But my greatest work has been my Digital Movie Boards (www.digitalmovieboards.com). A modern take on the old paper movie posters we all hung on our home’s walls our Digital Movie Boards let you display 1000’s of movie posters, movie trailers, videos, artwork, family pictures, and movies, and so much more on a flat and beautifully framed 55″ vertical 4K LCD panel and control it by an APP and even by just waving your hand in front of the board. These have been a labor of love and have gone thru many iterations and upgrades. The feedback and praise I get from my clients who own them, and from people who have seen my posts have been incredible. This completely set JD Smarthome apart from every other company and I knew that we finally have no competition. No one sells anything like this new board. A brand new technological product with features never done before. Each board is hand-made by me and has the latest software that allows the owner of these boards to customize the look, feel, and use of these boards. This, apart from being a single father of 3, is my proudest accomplishment.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I’m a risk-taker. You need to take risks. If you don’t take any risks you will never know your limits or what you are truly capable of.
Leaving a high-paying job (ATT) to pursue my dream when I have kids is extremely risky. You really have to be sure of your capabilities.
I also do not ever buy anything on credit. This is usually career suicide for a business to not take out a business loan for growth. I have never, and never will taken out a business loan. I buy everything with company profits. If I can’t afford it I don’t buy it. This helps us operate lean and mean in these challenging times.
I’ve also been playing the crypto market for some time now and this is highly risky. But like they say… “Fortune favors the bold”. So far the stress and anxiety make me tell myself every day “Why do I punish myself by taking risks and taking the long path”? My answer is always “For my kids”. No one who never took risks and challenged themselves ever lived a full life.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.jdsmarthome.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/jdsmarthome
- Facebook: Facebook.com/jdsmarthome
- Twitter: Twitter.com/jdsmarthome
- Youtube: jdsmarthome
- Other: www.digitalmovieboards.com
Image Credits
JD Smarthome
