Essential Install | Day in the Life : NGC Systems
Making All The Right Moves
Fresh from winning the Installer Challenge at Essential Install Live ! South , Naim Cohen is planning his next move to develop his already impressive progress into the smart building industry .
Naim is not just a skilled installer , he built his own car as well !
Meeting at the large family home in East Finchley , London , which currently serves as the main base of operations , Naim explains that most of his work takes place in the immediate area of some of the London ’ s most sought after residential streets , with several of his current projects literally a stone ’ s throw away .
So how did the journey into install begin ? “ I have always been a full-on technology geek ,” Naim enthuses . “ Since the age of 10 I loved to take computers apart , see what made them tick . Later on in life I also built my own kit car , an MEV Rocket . So , as the ‘ techie one ’ in the family , this led to me doing bits and pieces of IT for family and friends . After I studied business management and accounting at university , I started helping out in the family property business . At that point it was mostly IT , but then I began to add installing IP-based CCTV systems .”
Naim adds : “ I started to think about expanding what I did , really before I knew too much about the smart home world . I started to think that it would be great to add other aspects to what I was doing and started to come across systems like Rako and Lutron . When installing CCTV in some of my clients ’ homes , I started looking around in earnest to see what I could get involved with .
“ Three years ago I went over to ISE and was blown away by the range of choices available , how luxurious you could make people ’ s homes feel and how you could simplify things .”
Naim ’ s drive to find out how things worked resulted in him starting to learn and experiment with different systems by installing and testing them in the family home .
“ I relate everything I do to my family : if I can make it work for them and they can see the benefit , it ’ s a good guide to how people will react in the market . I don ’ t install anything that I don ’ t either have in my own home or have fully tested and gained a good level of knowledge on .”
Working with an established install company , Naim continued to build up his skills and it was not long before his first solo job came along .
Naim explains : “ My very first project was a property in Swiss Cottage . I applied what I had learnt from my family ’ s property where I had installed a Control4 system . They already had a Lutron system so I extended the automation and also resolved all the disparate and uncoordinated AV kit that they had in the house .”
Other projects followed via recommendation and right now Naim has several major projects on the go , including five whole house Control4 projects with IP cameras , access control , Lutron lighting , potentially some gate control and a dedicated cinema .
Naim says : “ I am particularly happy about the cinema . They were talking about a multi-purpose AV space somewhere in the property , but also had plans in the basement for a table tennis room . Naturally , I thought a dedicated cinema in that space would be much better and that ’ s what we are going with . Pulse Cinemas are going to help me out on this one and we are going to take the client to the showroom to decide exactly how the cinema will take shape .”
Control4 is currently the system Naim favours for its functionality to price point ratio , but he does want to spread his wings further and currently has some quotes out for Crestron-based projects .
Other brands Naim is a fan of include Leon , Bowers and Wilkins and Sonance speakers and in distribution and control , WyreStorm .
Away from the brands , Naim is very careful to build relationships . “ I try and get in the planning meetings as early as possible in all the projects . It might seem to other trades that we are down the pecking order in terms of importance at the start of a project , but come the end of the project as far as the customer is concerned , we will be right at the top , because clients will not put up with things not working 100 % and the AV and automation is certainly one of them . Therefore I try to be in right at the top of planning and I make sure I am available on-site if the other trades have any questions .
“ Also when dealing with customers , making your answers and ideas clear and concise really helps . Particularly if they have had a negative experience with technology before . I had one client who struggled with controlling his AV / TV system . I asked him how he coped and he said , ‘ I get my son to come and fix it ’. As he did not even live in the same house , it ’ s hardly an elegant solution . I showed them how technology could make their lives simpler . They have a Control4 system now and absolutely love it .”
The next step
So with a growing number of projects under his belt , Naim is looking around to build the next phase of the business : “ I am in the process of looking at CEDIA membership , to further establish myself . It ’ s not easy for new entrants as there is still no real ‘ recognised ’ way in .
“ My own entry was fairly random , in the sense that I came across the sector rather than had it as a definite career goal . Not an easy task , but if the sector could get
20 | September 2016