will people visit a fish store...........

[tosiek]

...... i have done research and have worked in the retail business and know what it takes to run a fail safe business.......

The reef/fish/coral business works nothing like a normal retail business. The demand for goods just isn't there, and these rough times we are having doesn't help either. Even with the best marketing you will always have a rough bumpy ride. And being in the middle of nowhere won't help you at all.

Maybe if the economy was booming, sure go for it you might succeed, but not now.

ALL the other retailers, both vendor and store, either work 2 jobs to support the business or rely heavily on maintenance.

 

[armani4o3]

Also without risk there is no reward. To the OP if you have your heart set on it, give it a go and give it your all. If it works out then congratulations, if not live and learn.

There are plenty of people who will say no no no it's too risky, it's too this blah blah. These are the same people who never take chances and are afraid of breaking out of the box.


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

+1 amen!

 

[skimmerman100]

+1 amen!

+2

 

[skimmerman100]

i am not asking for business advice i am asking if people would visit a good fish store in the middle of denville, everything in life is a risk,i am willing to take and the chance

 

[NYreefNoob]

i wont go intothe other part, but people will travel for a good store, shoot i drive a hour to go to MA and have driven further, the only down side to being out in no where is the amount of times people will come. you might have a customer like me who drives the hour plus and gets there and isnt impressed or you dont have that much in stock and i wouldnt ever make the drive back

 

[albano]

Also guys lfs make a killing on the mark up on the livestock... but the markup is anywhere from 30%-100%.

There are plenty of people who will say no no no it's too risky, it's too this blah blah. These are the same people who never take chances and are afraid of breaking out of the box.

100% markup would be cheap!...lfs mark up livestock in the 200%+ area...and they're still going broke!

Sorry, but you're wrong, I take chances everyday... If you think different, then ask if you can be an investor!

Maybe if the economy was booming, sure go for it you might succeed, but not now.

100% right!

amen!

you'll need to pray a lot more than that!

i am not asking for business advice i am asking if people would visit a good fish store in the middle of denville, everything in life is a risk,i am willing to take the chance

Yes, people will come...to check it out! will they return?, not if you're out of business.
Being willing to take the chance, doesn't make it a good idea! Doesn't really sound like you can afford more debt, right now.
People are offering advice to protect you, not hurt you.

For the record, I've been an investor/advisor to 2 LFS...and I can tell you... NEVER AGAIN!

 

[tosiek]

We are here to help steer you in the right direction. We just don't want you to waste alot of your time, energy and hard earned money on something that won't work. It really won't if you just focus on retail. Even moreso with online pricing.

Starting something up is around what? 15-30 grand just to get going and open your doors? Maybe 10k if you 2x4 your fish tank stands, set up a temporary filtration setup, and barely reno the place. A stock of coral and fish (if you deal with fish) is going to run you 3-5k just to fill your tanks up and the coral have to be gorgeous. If you want to make a statement and get people in it has to be primo stuff. Do you have good relations with your suppliers for coral to be getting alot of the primo stuff?

IMO, there are better things to invest in. Opening up a fish store isn't one of them.

On another note, I drive all the way from brooklyn on occasion up to greenwich to visit HOF and GA. Its worth it for me even if I don't buy anything. If there is something worth going to in the middle of nowhere far far away then people will come. But you won't fill your store enough to make $$. Both GA and HOF, even in the middle of greenwhich on the main roads with all the rich people don't get enough foot traffic to make money just on retail.

 

[Brando457]

HOF also charges $500 for a scoly and $450 for a powder blue tang....

Are you saying Denville, NJ to open it?


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

 

[lfsmarineguy]

Taking risk is a part of doing business, taking blind risk is not. If you want to be successful in anything you need to be able to know all the risks involved and be able to mitigate them as best you can. Jumping blindly into something because you think you want to do it is the best way to cure yourself of that want.

 

[tosiek]

HOF also charges $500 for a scoly and $450 for a powder blue tang....

Are you saying Denville, NJ to open it?


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

Exactly, and they aren't covering just retail in doing so. Thats far from internet pricing.

 

[Mattl22]

If ur gonna do it you would have to bring in the best of the best corals crappy overpriced lfs are all over the place

 

[reefs4life]

I use to work at a LFS and they used to double and half the price they used to buy fish for, so that's what 250% markup? Never-the-less the marine department at that place always had a low budget because even though the markup was so high there weren't all that many sales and even though 250% sounds like a big markup, the prices appeared pretty reasonable to people who didn't work there. Either way I personally don't think you could make a living off of doing a LFS anymore, maybe when there was more space on the market but now it seems to be all locked up by either well known places or online stores. I was thinking of doing something myself but nothing more than a side job to make a few extra bucks. If you just think about how much it costs you to run your own fish tank try multiplying it a couple times, I would say at the very least 10 times and figure how much you need to be making to cover just all that, salt, food, water, bulbs, ELECTRIC bill, heating.

 

[cowfish]

I invested in a LFS when I first moved to LI. I wasn't looking to become rich nor did I quit my job. The business went under in a year (it had been going for about 3 years and was having some trouble which was why they went looking for another partner). It was a good learning experience, though I regret the loss of cash as it would've come in handy for other things.

Lessons Learned
1. Don't kid yourself - about 90% of all new businesses, regardless of type, fail within the first year.
2. If you can't figure out a long term stratgy with room for adjustment don't bother starting.
3. Depending on the size of the store you want to open, you'll need start up capital of around $100K+. This will pay for starting the business and help you get through the first couple of years when times will undoubtedly be tough. If you can't afford the $ loss (and assume you will lose your money) then don't start the business.
4. Location is important. Don't locate your business too far away from other similar businesses. If I'm at store A and don't find what I want, I'll go to store B if it's not too far away. If there are no other stores nearby it may be because there is no demand.
5. Find good suppliers. Everyone shops at the same places to find their stock. To set yourself apart you need to have more than just quality stock. You need to have things that the other guys don't have. Private divers in Fiji and Hawaii can be quite helpful if you can make the right contacts.
6. You CAN make good $ off the retail side. When business was good we sold about $1500 a week, just from the SW fish . Profit margins are, usually, at least 100% on most livestock.
7. You make BETTER money from the maintenance end.
8. Do NOT negelct FW customers. Although the net profit is smaller than SW, there are more FW people and every FW customer is a potential future SW customer.
9. Don't pinch pennies - its better to help out a customer and replace a fish (within reason) than to be a hardass and lose future business.

 

[lfsmarineguy]

If the store was selling $1500 in SW a week than it's no surprise they went under that is incredibly low or they were operating out of a few 20gal tanks. That wouldn't even be enough to cover a weekly order at most stores and I'm hoping you mean $1500 net.

I'm not going to give away all the secrets of how to make it work since consulting is something I get paid for (judge me all you want) but I will say that if you glance over the vendor forum you'll notice most are small home run operations. New ones are added and old ones fade away. I'm not knocking anyone I have respect for anyone who actually starts a business, but the fact is most will not be there in a year or two. It probably won't be their fault either. There's a steep learning curve and hobbyists can be fickle, it's not for the feint of heart. Really really know the business or you are just opening yourself up for a ton of stress from watching money dwindle away.

I'm not trying to stop you, I hope you open up and it's a wild success. The world needs more good stores that raise the bar, but it isn't a matter of whether or not people will drive out to the middle of nowhere.

As a side note you are better off with a smaller space in an area with traffic than a larger space nowhere. Marketing and drawing traffic to nowhere will get expensive fast.

 

[pattiesreef]

LFSmarineguy/
who did u work for and what sores did u put together and are they still in bis

 

[richardhmc]

If the LFS is worth it I would travel. Coming from SI, tolls, traveling time/cost and transportation are a biatch. I have a few LFS within a mile range from me but I go to MA and Ocean Gallery only... and I don't even drive. I once hauled 3 bags worth of fish/corals and goods from MA back home on the bus, train and ferry. It takes me about 2 hours to get back home by foot.

If you open up an LFS, I hope everything goes well for you. good luck.

 

[albano]

LFSmarineguy/
who did u work for and what stores did u put together and are they still in bis

Yeah! and we want to see your birth certificate, too!


.

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

Yeah! and we want to see your birth certificate, too!


.

F'in Alfie LMAO

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

LFSmarineguy/
who did u work for and what sores did u put together and are they still in bis

Sewms like you know about the lfs biz yourself stee. . . . . Umm pattie.

 

[lfsmarineguy]

Pattie if you need references feel free to email me and I'll put you in contact.

My birth certificate is from Hawaii is that ok?