Money Made By Fish Store Owners

[fishmaven]

The LFS owner near me makes most of his money on maintenance from clients.

A business is always looking for new ways to generate income. The person at the counter handles scheduling and you can have an extra staff, on call, that doesn't want to deal with the walk-in customers. The maintenance crew can be paid a higher wage, when they're on the clock they're generating cash. Maintenance utilizes the mailing list already in use, draws from some of your better customers, the fees don't diminish inventory, add-on sales are sometimes pre-paid, and if not, at least directed to a client, not the shelf. If you could make purchases that you knew were going to be sold each time you made a purchase, you'd be the consummate buyer. Everything you did would be perfect. If you were into marketing, this would be considered the back-end.

BTW, grooming brings in a corollary income for pet stores.

 

[fishmaven]

Import / Exporters / Online sellers would be doing pretty well, surely?

Depends on your customers. Some write good checks, some don't. You can have all the integrity in the world. It doesn't help unless you do business with people that operate the same way.

Were those fish dead when they were bagged? You billed me for 10, I only got 8.

Ever hear of a reptile guy ordering snakes and getting a pillow case full of broken pots?

It takes years to develop suppliers and buyers that are reputable. And then some of those would change to save a nickel. Dan

 

[OscarHook]

Chomper what you say may be true in Orlando but where i am there basically is NO competition. My double major is retail management and Transportation Logistics, my partners fiance is a finance major and will be handling that aspect. We have been doing research for about a year and a half now and we have just about everything planned out, EXPENSES INCLUDED. i dont need a lecture in business from an engineering major, i get enough of those from my professors. As far as your floating rent clause, why would anyone in their right mind sign a lease where the landlord can up rent whenever he wants to. I have never heard of that clause. So thanks for the constructive critisism but i know a little mor about my demographic area and business "in a nutshell"

 

[Weasel F.]

Now I have had hatchery for Apistogrammas , German blue rams, Mollies ,platies, kribs, bettas Half moons,crowntails,vail tails,plakats and a few others. I started out as a hobbiest and out of nowhere up and started the hatchery. I've been open now for 1.5yrs. It has cost me over $6,000.00 in the frist yr to get stock, find spices of Apistos and to get betta fry and other frys to grow to beable to sell. So around the frist of the summer things where looking up. Stock breding , stock selling, shipping was good and then now in just under 1month. My shipping has droped off and fish breding hs slowed.
So it's a up nd down day to day fight to stay above the water. But as My name has gotten out there on my Apistogrammas and Halfmoon bettas. Those two spice is what's keeps me going. Now I know that I'm just a pee on in a large market and that I may never be top dog or my sells my never be better then 3/4's of the hobbiest and stores out there. But as long as I'm doing what I love then I really don't mind the hard times. Beleave me there's hard times, But not many people can say they have 28 tanks of some of the prettest fish out there. LOL So I guess my stores no differnt then any other hobbiest whos trying to make a go of a store.
But in the area I live in there's not much better out there. I have 1petsmart { that I thank has only one person who knows fish working there.} and 2 other shops. 1's very good but very costly, the others cheap but like the saying goes " You get what you pay for!" So when i take some of my over stock of GBR's, Apistos, bettas to these guys. They jump on them and pay me top dollar. That makes me feel good knowing that I'm getting some of there money and not the other way around. LOL

 

[cdf_1873]

kinda cracks me up after all those replies and advise now everyone gives up.

 

[dacox]

There are definately much more profitable industries out there. If you are looking to open a shop for the love of the hobby and are not as concerned about income then I would give it a go. Otherwise, I would keep fish keeping as a hobby and perform my business elseware.

 

[fishmaven]

Some are trying to decide if the pet industry is the field or a fish store is the business they want. Others have already decided. For those that have chosen to invest in the fish or pet industry, doing it right involves asking the right questions of the right people. Forums like this are great but the replies are only as good as the headline. If the headline draws in the right people, the ones that have done this before, the ones that have researched the possibilities, the ones that are about to take the plunge, the ones that, if they they do this, want their store to do it right, or a good consumer that can state what they expect from a store they'd chose to business with ... you get good answers to your questions. If you draw people unwilling to discuss the steps, set in their ways, and feeling they KNOW all the answers, you get drivel unworthy of the space taken up for the discussion.

It's tough to compete with the big boys like Walmart, Petco, and PetSmart and unwise to try it head-on. Stocking complements to their selections and not competing directly on products or price would be just good business. Survival of the fittest doesn't always apply perfectly in today's business climate.

A business owner smart enough to select products of quality, priced properly (that doesn't always mean cheap), unwilling to compromise his principles just to satisfy a single customer, deserves to do well. That doesn't mean success is inevitable. It's a day to day thing. I've always encouraged my younger employees, when I was a store owner or manager, to choose a career that would give them the lifestyle they wanted rather than a job they were willing to do the rest of their life. Arriving at retirement age and being unable to retire isn't a good place to be.

A thread like this could also make better consumers from the hobbyists that lurk here. Buying EVERYTHING online isn't very prudent if the store down the street goes belly-up. Spending part of your funds to keep the ones you want to survive alive would be in a hobbyist's own best interest.

 

[CHOMPERS]

i dont need a lecture in business from an engineering major

OscarHook, you underestimate the typical engineering student. A four year engineering degree is well beyond the equivalent of any business degree. Any successful engineering student is going to be well rounded (beyond beer drinking and frat parties). Additionally if there were no business schools, people who can not make the cut in engineering would have nowhere to go. And you obviously have mistaken me for a run of the mill snot nosed college brat. I began my real world business education when you were pooping in your diapers. You are greatly mistaken in thinking that a BA in business has any relevance in the real world business. I know because I have been there and I am also minoring in business. (I will not be stopping there – I am on tract for an MBA and an MSME.) A business degree means virtually nothing until you get an MBA. Neither a management degree nor transportation logistics will prepare you for business ownership. A finance degree will get a foot in the door in the corporate world but in small business it will be a framed piece of paper on the wall. No one will give a start up company financing unless you have equity in more assets than the loan is worth. There are hundreds of books out there with titles along the lines of “what they didn’t teach you in business school”.

Additionally it is foolish to ignore the learning experiences of others. It appears that you live in a dream world. By ignoring the experiences and failures of others, nothing bad can happen to you, right?

This is what you had to say:

where i am there basically is NO competition.

But one of the voices in your head said this:

there are basically 2 LFS and then Petcos, PetSmarts, and Walmarts.

So who is kidding who?

And then you said these in the same breath:

We have been doing research for about a year and a half

As far as your floating rent clause, why would anyone in their right mind sign a lease where the landlord can up rent whenever he wants to. I have never heard of that clause.

And you did your research for a year and a half? And they didn’t teach that to you in business school…touché.

 

[Zoso]

Just so you all know, you will make no money. As a matter of fact, owning a pet store triples your chances of contracting leprosy. So do not start up a business. Especially if you live in the NE PA area.

j/k It would be good business sense to scare prospective entrepaneurs away!


I was thinking about starting up a Fish store/ breeding/ pond construction and maintenance business, i figure if you do a little bit of everything, you will get by. Was also considering doing electrical and plumbing, and landscaping, as one must be proficient in these to do a good pond.....maybe a little building maintenance......all of course after i get my bachelors in aquatic biology..... and do a fair amount of field work and build capital.

 

[MrFisher]

this is a good thread , and i only have one comment to make on it, because only one comment is needed...and that is if you own a LFS u'll be thanking the IRS every Year for all of your write offs..Tank Maintenance and Pond building is where they money is ...fish are nothing more than eye candy that keeps customers coming back...and in that loop hopefully you'll get to build them a pond of care for their tank