how to start a succsessful tropical fish store?
Thursday, May 27th, 2010 at
11:22 am
ѕο i want tο ѕtаrt a tropical fish store wіtһ saltwater fish freshwater fish аחԁ reptiles i’m pretty knowledgeable аbουt tһеm bυt i don’t know һοw tο ѕtаrt a buisness ѕο wһаt wουƖԁ bе tһе best way tο ɡο аbουt tһаt oh i primarly want tο specialize іח saltwater fish аחԁ reptiles аחу аחѕwеrѕ wουƖԁ bе greatly appreciated
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I’ve been thinking about doing this too. Here are my thoughts:
First and foremost is to determine what your niche is going to be. Cheap? High end, large variety, etc.
Try to find a location that is under served by quality stores
You will need to perform all of the normal business stuff. Obtain a business license, register the business name, set up the books, etc.
You’ll need to raise capital to procure a store front and build it out. There is a new option available in many places these days. The explosion of self storage companies has caused many of those companies to branch out, offer very cheap retail space. IMO, those store fronts do not work well for the type of store that requires "impulsive" shoppers, but the people who come to aquarium stores are coming because they know it’s there and will keep coming back if they like it.
You will need additional capital to obtain the display cases, filtration equipment and plumbing.
You will need to establish relationships with fish and aquarium supply wholesalers.
You will need to pull more capital out to obtain a starting stock of both fish/reptiles and hardgoods/drygoods to sell.
You will need to establish a plan to advertise. Hold classes in the store, advertise on cable TV, craigslist, Internet, etc.
You also need to face the hard reality that more and more aquarium related sales (not sure about reptile) are moving to Internet retailers where it’s easy to find the best price, so understand that you are entering not only a competitive market, but also one that is fundamentally changing. Smart retailers are making their online presense as impressive, if not more so, than their physical store. The problem is that most small, stand along retailers cannot compete on price.
For instance, I can buy a rena XP3 from my LFS for $250. Or I can buy it from Petsmart for $170. Or I can buy it from Big Al’s for $130 with free shipping. Needless to say, I browse in my LFS but buy elsewhere.
Now, fish themselves are a different story. If I trust the store (I see that it’s clean, fish are healthy, etc) and I find a very diverse selection, I will spend a lot of money in the store. I spend between $100 and $300 per month on fish at an LFS near my office, because I love to go in, and I always find a fish that I have to have, even though I know I can get it a few dollars cheaper online.
Anyhow, back to the main topic. I would not count on breeding fish as a mainstay. It takes up a lot of space that is typically too expensive when done in retail frontage. If, after you are established, you find that it makes sense to say, breed and sell discus, then have at it, but I would not go in with that thinking.
Good luck.