Can one make a decent living owning an aquarium store?

[mushroomcorals]

Thank you, guys. I appreciate all your opinions - now I have a better idea about what to do. Good luck to all of you.

 

[JennM]

Local store here used to have the guys at the airport keep tabs on my shipments and would have them photocopy the packing list of what we got in. Only found out about this after a buddy of mine said that they offered him $20 for this info.

If this retailer did business with the same wholesaler they would then call them up and say that they would take their business elswehere if they didnt stop shipping to us. If they didnt do business with the wholesaler they then found a new wholesaler to try out.

One day I was picking up air freight and the guy who served me asked me if I was aquainted with another shop owner (whose store was a good 2+hours from mine) I said yes - and he told me that said owner had been asking the freight guy who my suppliers were. He said he didn't tell him - but at the time I know we were buying from at least one supplier in common. Next time I spoke with that wholesaler, I asked them to say hi to that other owner

If I'm dealing with a supplier I'm comfortable with - I don't share that info with other locals, but I don't panic if the same supplier is selling to other local stores - I sure as heck can't buy up all the good stuff - the wholesaler might as well sell to whomever they can.

I just found it rude that the other owner was pumping the air freight guy for info.

I've had another local store owner (again, not very close to me) who I ran into at the airport, ask me "where" my stuff was coming from... I gave a vague answer, but I know that he was 'fishing' for specifics and I didn't give him the satisfaction. It's also funny to see people craning their necks looking at other peoples' boxes trying to figure out who they are buying from. Some are obvious - the name of the shipper is plastered all over the box, sometimes it's not obvious...

Finding a good supply chain for livestock can be a challenge - seems like everybody's always out to one-up everybody else!

Jenn

 

[Rascal]

Jenn,

I'd be surprised if that didn't happen more frequently than most think. I've had quite a few beers with the guy at my cargo facility and it was a running joke that a few of my competitors continuously asked him for my suppliers...or tried to peek at my pallats. I just always figured that if they were the ones doing the looking, then I must be doing something right.

Butch

 

[JennM]

Heh I thought that too - who cares who I'm buying from unless they think I know something they don't?

I admit I've craned my neck to peek at some shipments passing by on the forklift going to other stores' vehicles. One guy even brings in his invoice from his supplier and sets it on the counter so anyone can see it - although who he is buying from is nothing to boast about

I've never learned anything new by peeking - most seem to use big-box suppliers, and a few use the same outfits that I do.

Jenn

 

[Rascal]

I've realized and thought for a long time that it's not who I get my supplies and my livestock from that matters, but what I do with it after I get it in my store. That is what defines my business and set it apart from all other.

I used to be very tight fisted about my suppliers...even pulling shipping labels and scratching airway bill numbers off of boxes. At some point I reconciled that, besides the extra work and the constant sense of paranoia, I could give my books to my competition and it not make a difference. It made life a lot easier when I reached that point.

Butch

p.s. Jenn, ya ready to buy my POD? Lol

 

[JennM]

I don't worry about it too much. Where I used to work I had seen competitors rifling through the dumpster looking for that info... LOL!

My suppliers don't sell direct to hobbyists so that's not a concern - and I don't really get people from other stores scoping out my stuff either - and I don't care if they do.

You're absolutely right though - once you *get* the good stuff, you have to be able to sustain it... and that's the key. I've had a couple of 'ugly ducklings' (Orbic Cardinals - butt ugly) that lived in my sell system for 2 years before I sold them That speaks to good husbandry. Nowadays I don't seem to have much that doesn't sell within a reasonable time frame but it's not like a 'sell it before it dies' thing - it's more like people want what I'm selling thing, so stuff turns over at a reasonable rate - we hold our fish for about 5 days before we sell them but lots gets put 'on hold' during that waiting time

Jenn

 

[RichardS]

My plan would be to offer low prices period!

I don't mean this in a rude way, but I think that really isn't a very good plan. Your just not going to be able to compete with online vendors who are selling items below the price you may be paying for them. Service, quality, honesty, and sound advice are your advantages since you are dealing face to face with your customers. Some will milk you for your knowledge and then shop online because "cheap" is their primary concern. Your good customers, the ones that actually keep you in business, will appreciate you and not care about paying a few bucks more.

mushroomcorals
Spend alot of time working up a good business plan. This was difficult for me to do because I KNEW what I wanted to do. After researching the market and putting numbers on paper it became apparent that what I wanted to do just wasn't going to work. So my store became a full line store with FW, SW, reptiles, and small animals. And yes, trying to do everything is very difficult. Over time we grew the sw business and dropped the reptiles and small animals. Now we are about 50% aquatics and 50% drygoods (mostly dog and cat supplies).

The dog and cat supplies isn't exciting but I sure have come to appreciate those customers who come in for dog food, treats, etc. once a week. They can drop a $100 or more and be in & out of the store in under a minute. No questions, just Hi and see you next week. Trust me, no matter how much you like the hobby you will have days when you just don't feel like explaining what causes algae again and again.

I have been very open about what suppliers I use and which ones suck (there are plenty) with some of my competitors and vice versa. We have even split orders on some things to get better pricing and we refer customers to each other. I guess you should really get to know the other owners before going that route. I'm sure some would take great pleasure in screwing you over.

The advice to seperate your business from your hobby is dead on. I still keep my personal tanks and still enjoy the hobby but I learned real quick that what I liked wasn't what everyone else liked. It gets tedious ordering Dori's, Nemo's, and yellow tangs but the bread and butter things are what will keep your doors open.

So yes you can make a decent living. Just don't expect it to come easily. I'm still working on making a really good living at this but I have a partner and splitting the profit in half makes it tougher. Of course my 4 day work weeks are kind of nice too . So there are some advantages to having a partner.