advise on opening a pet store

snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Oh, and by the way - the whole eco-friendly thing - doesn't work. It may work for juice shops, but not live fish stores. You are in business to make a profit - you will find yourself selling fish to people who you know can't take care of it because you ABSOLUTELY HAVE to pay your electricity and water bills. There's no way to get around it. And if you think there is any money in selling aquariums, stands, lights, and protein skimmers and canopies, there isn't!!!!
When I was in business, I only sold MAYBE 10 complete setups and you know what? I made a grand profit of $1000 for all of them collectively. The money isn't in selling live or dry goods - the money is in services.
Personally, I don't shop at places who pride themselves in being eco-friendly. Those people like the smell of their own farts - don't like em'.
Sorry mods.
 
nwdyr

nwdyr

Active Member
well....once again snake covered EVERTHING I was going to say
the whole 15-30 mile thing don't work either because how many people do you think live within 15 miles of your store? and do you think they will shop every day? I drive 32miles to the LFS and they have a AMAZING display of SWF! People come from Indiana to go there , because they have a HUGE selection. Sorry again bro but that idea wont work either
I am tellin ya try the Internet thing first , MUCH smaller investment and If it fails you can still sell the Eq. and get a few bucks back.I am talkin about just frags , not all the other stuff , you will never get the prices to compete with the big guys , a guy close to me started sellin frags on line and just quit his day job b/c business was so good. But it took him 1yr and all he does is frags that he grew...out of his hose
 
nwdyr

nwdyr

Active Member
I think he finally got tired of us!
I have a feeling he is doing it no matter what , I also dont think he will not tell us about it . I would NEVER say " I told you so" but that is prob. what he is thinking
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
Personally I wouldn't work 2 jobs just so I can pay to work another job on top of that. Enjoy your hobby -- start from home... seriously. You can't be eco-friendly when you own a store needing to pay rent... I was part of a bird club and couldn't take it anymore... not that I don't love my parrots -- but the idiots involved just make me shudder sometimes as the condition of some of the birds came in were. There were lots of good people too.. don't get me wrong but like the box stores sell to whoever without much clue as to the care of the animal... partly for profit and partly.. because they have to in order to make money.
I'm starting a nice sized frag tank at home... lets me propagate coral, adds to my hobbies, and a couple of times a year I'll sell the frags -- maybe give the money to my daughter or teach her some basics of business as she gets older with it.
If you're just looking at the state of the economy to make it.. you've already lost. My personal economy has been better than ever --- I'm my own bailout :D
 
V

vinnyraptor

Guest
Originally Posted by nwdyr
http:///forum/post/2927984
I think he finally got tired of us!
I have a feeling he is doing it no matter what , I also dont think he will not tell us about it . I would NEVER say " I told you so" but that is prob. what he is thinking

lol, still undecided....
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
I'm all about working for yourself.. but go slow and start with some services from home -- tank maint.... start propagating your own coral.. etc
just my advice :)
 
jdl

jdl

Member
Originally Posted by VinnyRaptor
http:///forum/post/2920377
my whole concept will be a green eco friendly and non impulse store. im not gonna sell anyone a tank, skimmer, salt, test kit, and fish in the same day. never! we will keep all dry goods, replacement carts, media, foods (live, dry, and frozen), fully stocked and only the best natural and eco friendly available. as far as marine fish available for purchase i would only keep a few clowns, chromis, 1 or 2 tangs, 1 or 2 carnivores like a lion or grouper, a dwarf angel, etc. not much though. everything else would be special order and i would quaratine and guarentee health of that fish charging a nice mark up. i would always offer and suggest captive breed animals.
all tanks, filtration, etc would be sold via catalog and ordered after a deposit was made. we'll keep birds and small mammals in the store as well as freshwater fish but again not many. the idea is to get animal lovers to shop at my store, not impulse animal killers and even in this economy i think there are LOTS of animal lovers who can would appreciate a pet store like this.
This will be your death. If i go locally, i want it now, otherwise i'll use the wonderful internet.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Instead of displays though, you could try the warehouse type of feel. You maybe could do this cheaply and buy some cheap shallow rubbermaid bins, link them together highest to lowest and then set up a tidal surge system. That way, customers can look down into the rubbermaids and see corals for five or ten minutes before the next surge. That's what I would have done, if I did it differently. I would have also invested a heck of a lot more money in live goods and dry goods.
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
Sounds like you have 2 options for a "type" of store. The warehouse/discount type of store or a more specialized/non discount/quality (higher priced) type. The only problem with the high end type is your available customer base will be smaller but you'd make more per sale.
You can still do specialized with the warehouse type with a few higher priced items.. but a majority you'll want people thinking they're getting a deal.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Glad you did. Most people don't have respect for live fish stores, but if you all knew what went on behind the scenes... yeah, you would be more respecful. lol!
Anyway, Vinny, what's it going to be? I'm just curious if you have thought about it any more.
 
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