about the stocking. be open to getting special orders in for the serious hobbiest and ask for a deposit so you get something from a non-pickup. if its a rare species then be upfront with the price, dont dance around with estimates then the customer gets upset because its $40 more than the estimate. also make a point of ringing the person when the fish is ready for sale, i placed an order for uaru from my lfs and they never rang me and i missed all the healthy uaru.
some lfs breed some of their own stock, such as guppies, platies, swords, and even some egg layers like rams and killies. this cuts costs for them as all these fish breed easily or in the case with the killies the eggs are cheap per 50 pack from ebay (come in mud or something like that and it may not be in the US ebay). these are also the fish that seem to sell the most due to bright colours and small size, 90% profit from the livebearers if not more.
some lfs breed some of their own stock, such as guppies, platies, swords, and even some egg layers like rams and killies. this cuts costs for them as all these fish breed easily or in the case with the killies the eggs are cheap per 50 pack from ebay (come in mud or something like that and it may not be in the US ebay). these are also the fish that seem to sell the most due to bright colours and small size, 90% profit from the livebearers if not more.