Do I really want to open a SW shop?

[dacarlson]

For 20 years I have dreamt of the day I would open a SW store. My first saltwater aquarium was set up in 1975. I have completed a business plan, acquired financing, have my live stock venders selected, holding systems designed, and a tentative location selected. I am looking for someone to tell me if I am on track or if I am truly nuts.

In researching this industry I find organizations squabbling among themselves, wholesalers selling retail, manufactures selling retail and wholesale, the online internet dealers selling for less than wholesale, now exporters selling wholesale, LFS closing, and the list goes on. I guess if I were a typical hobbyist that wanted to have a fish shop I would disregard this information, but I'm a businessman who enjoys this hobby and wants to promote it in a quality way. It seems sometime the LFS retailer is getting the short end of the stick. Am I right? Is this a business I want to be in or should I be opening a shoe store?

Someone please shed some light on this for me....

 

[dizzy]

Da,

It's a tough business and it seems to get even tougher each year. It is a far cry from a normal life IME. Many of us are trapped in it to a certain degree, and don't necessarily stay because we enjoy it any more. It can be rewarding at times and pure hell at others. Being involved in the business end sort of ruins the hobby part of it. It's your life, but there may be better ways to spend it IMO.

 

[MaryHM]

If you get into it, you better love it. I mean eat, sleep, breathe, LOVE it. If you don't, you're doomed. If you get into it, you better know right off the bat that you aren't going to be rich. You may not even be comfortable sometimes. My husband constantly worked a 2nd job while we owned our LFS and had a 2nd job for the first year and a half after we opened the wholesale company. And the most important thing is that you better be a BUSINESSPERSON, not just hobbyist. There is more to this industry than keeping animals alive.

Here's a good link for you:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/AqBizSubWebI ... 0index.htm

 

[flameangel1]

dacarlson,,
If you are going into this business from a moneymaking aspect-FORGET IT !!! Chances are that you will be lucky if it does not lose your life savings !!
As a hobbyist who thinks it would be the ideal business -again- FORGET IT !!! You will no longer see it as a hobby, because you will now see it as the work that it takes to run it. Much more work than a hobbyist ever has to deal with, in each and every tank you have .

I also agree with Dizzy's message above and with Mary's message also.

After over ten years owning this business-I still love the animals, most of the customers,being self-employed and the teaching end of things-but I hate the hours, the heartbreak of lost orders, the constant worry about equipment failures-animal health issues--the frustration of having no life outside the shop, the responsibility for each and every tank that each and every customer has, the horrible pay, the lack of qualified help--how many more things would you like to hear about ???

Not withstanding the moral issues of even being involved with selling saltwater animals , due to the current state of this industry.

Would I get into this business if I knew then, what I know now ??? NO WAY !!! I would stay a hobbyist and just enjoy !!!!

ps... yes, it has been a very rough week ...

 

[dacarlson]

Thanks for all the input. I will carefully take the information to heart. I know this is not an industry that makes a lot of profit, but too bad there are so many downers. I guess that explains why all the shops in our area have gone out of business. I really think we still need the lfs to help build interest and hopefully give out accurate information in reef keeping.

I will continue to plan and then see what happens.

 

[VWHACK]

I disagree to an extent, sure you will have no life, no friends and no money, but it is worth it,. how often do people have a career in what they love? I agree, the magazines have really screwed up the industry, but the magazines dont perform servicing, installations, maintenance, or troubleshooting/ water testing. I would not open a saltwater only store, it is too specialized of a market. build your reputation on customer service, i have seen too many well stocked stores who could care less if you are interested in a feeder guppy, or a 7k reef. dont forget add on sales add up! I own a vw/ audi repair shop, people said it was crazy to specialize, but there is too many general repair shops who fight over the lowest price! and 4 years later i have 2 employees and do over 475k annually in sales. what i am getting at is that there are alot of mass merchandisers that have given the hobby a bad reputation, do one thing, do it better than everyone else. price does not matter, a clean smartly stocked store does. you must approach this as a business, not a hobby or you will never make any money, and contrary to popular beleif I think there is still alot of money to be made in this industry. i have worked as a sales rep for sunland pet corp before the recession hit, i have seen really bad examples of stores, and good ones, the ones that have suceeded are really doing well. for what it is worth i am currently constructing my first store in riverside, it will be open by next month, i am not afraid, matter of fact i am already working on opening a second store in six months, the start of my own mini chain. p.s. HELP WANTED!

 

[Anonymous]

I agree with VW. Don't specialize yourself to death and you can do fine. There is no reason not to also do freshwater, the increase in customer base is well worth the initial investment. How many people start off with a reef tank? It usually goes, freshwater community, some type of cichlid, FOWLR, reef. Just pick a point in that progression to start and go nuts on customer service and information. Nobody likes to kill fish, so if you can make them successful at their hobby they will repay you. It doesn't make sense to sell one type of fish or coral, and neither does it make sense to only sell to one type of customer.

 

[Krusk]

dacarlson

Where are you in MI ?

 

[Riotfishdude]

my piece of advice,dont do it,i assume you have looked into the costs of setting up and stocking a store,it cost me a fortune to set up mine,money that cant be recovered,i was only into it a couple years,lost a fortune ( i own a large heating co. that funded this disaster,i'll stick with heating and a.c,home services is where the $ is) and am glad to be out,though thru unfortunate circumstances (fire),it is pretty hard to compete with the online suppliers as well,many better choices out there for ventures this costly.....Riot...

 

[Riotfishdude]

LOL,just realized how old this thread is.....Riot...

 

[danmhippo]

I am quoting from my LFS, "If you want to get into this fish business, buy-off an online etailer and go from there". Unless you have a niche the online etailers does not, it's a tough business.

 

[dacarlson]

Thanks for the added suggestions. The more I research, the more I feel this is a lost cause. Things have really changed over the last 25 years and I beleive this industry is in for a rough ride in the next 5 years or so. It will be interesting following the events as they unfold. I think the continued life of the LFS is so important, as they will drive the hobby. Time will tell.

Dave

 

[Anonymous]

Compare fresh water mail order prices to lfs prices. They are really easy to beat, and will always be healthier. And it's a nice circle too. We sell tons more freshwater fish when the salt water system is full, and the more freshwater we sell, the more we get people interested in the hobby in general. Never understood the need to be so specialized.

 

[flameangel1]

dacarlson,
I agree that there will always need to be GOOD LFS and yes, there are many hobbyists who will support us--but it really is a very tough business unless you do as Mary said--"eat-breath and sleep" the hobby/business--and you are very dedicated.
One can not go into this expecting to make money though- just wont happen !!! The money is in the "dog and cat collar" type of pet stores.

But, despite the rough hours-days-weeks and years-I do feel very rewarded by the look of amazement, joy and excitement of a 50 yr old man , seeing his first feather duster pop in its tube and listening to a "report" from a very excited new hobbyist, of all the critters she saw in her live rock !!!!
These are what make some of us keep going and worth everything else.

It does not put food on the table-but it sure feeds ones SOUL !!!

 

[Anonymous]

It does not put food on the table-but it sure feeds ones SOUL !!!

Amen, sister!

I'll tell ya, I love getting shipments of new livestock in, and having clients come in and rave about how they've seen some new creature in their tanks that was previously un-noticed.

Hell, I even ticked everyone off my repeatedly yelling "CLOWNFISH!!!" at the top of my lungs every time I passed the large tank with all our ORA clowns in it, last week. We had just received our first shipment from them, and I was giddy as a schoolgirl...

I really love this hobby...it's just too cool.

Peace,

Chip

 

[Enzo]

Do petstroes really do that bad? There is an awesome pet store here in Cincinnati that is very nicely decorated. Everything is neat and organized, and very very clean. One day when I came in they had just sold 5,000 dollars worth of live rock to a couple people. They just also got a deal witht he Cincinati Museum Center to set up lots of aquariums for them. It was a quarter million dollar deal too. Whenever I enter that place there are like 7 staff members and like 10 customers in there all the time. They are like the only distributors of Marshall island rock in Ohio. I think they are doing pretty well. They don't look like your average pet store. More like an art gallery of fish tanks. Not really any shelves either. You just tell them what you need, they go in the back and get it for you.

 

[Mouse]

Ive been thinking the same thing for the last four or five years. who cares if im poor, i spend all my money on fish anyhow.But thats not to say that i wont need to put kids through college sometime. Im knda hopng to get into this as someo sort of release from the rat race. Yea, so i may be working till 6:00 every night, but im sure it would be worth it. Listen to your heart, im sure thats the most ispiring thing a customer could ever come into contact with.

 

[JennM]

Yea, so i may be working till 6:00 every night, but im sure it would be worth it.

6:00??? 8O

Hehehe perhaps the SHOP closes at 6, but the WORK goes on... cleaning, maintenance, PAPERWORK, ordering, ... taking out the rubbish... scrubbing the WC -- it never ends, chum!

Loving what I'm doing, but I WISH I could be done at 6 on a Sunday. Doesn't happen. Glad I love what I'm doing because I'd soon become resentful if I didn't, eh?

Even if you are closed on Sunday or another day(s) you still have to drop in and check on things, because the ONE day you don't come in is the day you have an unexpected 200 g flood

My husband and kids and I entered a NEW marriage -- we're married to the shop... good thing we all love each other

Jenn

 

[flameangel1]

Really had to laugh at getting off at 6 pm on sunday nights or any other night from the shop -LOL !!!
Yes, I do close at 6 pm on sundays-then spend the next two hours making up orders for monday morning as wholesalers/distributers may take 8 hours to get to you on Monday !!!
Also, as most customers do work during the day, normally half your customers will want the shop open AFTER they get off work during the week-so one needs to keep the shop open until 8 or 9 each night !!!

And, I agree with Jenn, water changes-cleaning tanks-cleaning shelves bookwork-and more bookwork -skimmers/powerheads etc etc all have to be cleaned etc AFTER the shop closes.
And closed days mean working days with behind the scenes stuff also--and one NEVER leaves the shop unattended any day !!!!
Animals need to be fed and checked-equipment needs to be checked and or fixed etc etc.
Unless of course one has employees that one can TRUST !!

When Jenn said married to the shop-hmmmm- think we spend MORE quality time in this marriage than the man/woman type-LOL !!!

 

[scottk1]

I'm glad to have read all of the comments about having a fish store. I've often thought that I would want to open one some day. There are alot of things that you just dont know until you get there.