Hello,
I was just wondering if any seasoned vets who have been in business for themselves in the home aquarium industry had any advice for me. I have the opportunity to rent a retail front (with HUGE shop in the back!) and thought it would be great to turn my passion into something that I would enjoy doing full-time (i'm a cable guy 5+ years and really sick of it). There are no pet stores within 45 minutes of the town, so I'd have the market covered. Problem is, the town has maybe 3,000 people in it, and there are 3 other towns of relatively the same populous within 10 minutes, so I just don't know if turnaround will be enough to pay bills and myself. I'd have to diversify my product lines and sell your standard pet stuff as well, just aquatics may be too narrow of a field for such a small consumer audience. The building is an old bank, with the vault front accessible from the retail floor area, I was thinking of putting the saltwater tanks there and nicknaming it the "salt vault"
So, does anyone have a list of good distributors to go through, where can I get live fish from for resale? Would I be sinking myself starting a shop in a small town? Should I offer tank-building services to the midwest as well to expand income?
Thanks!
I was just wondering if any seasoned vets who have been in business for themselves in the home aquarium industry had any advice for me. I have the opportunity to rent a retail front (with HUGE shop in the back!) and thought it would be great to turn my passion into something that I would enjoy doing full-time (i'm a cable guy 5+ years and really sick of it). There are no pet stores within 45 minutes of the town, so I'd have the market covered. Problem is, the town has maybe 3,000 people in it, and there are 3 other towns of relatively the same populous within 10 minutes, so I just don't know if turnaround will be enough to pay bills and myself. I'd have to diversify my product lines and sell your standard pet stuff as well, just aquatics may be too narrow of a field for such a small consumer audience. The building is an old bank, with the vault front accessible from the retail floor area, I was thinking of putting the saltwater tanks there and nicknaming it the "salt vault"
So, does anyone have a list of good distributors to go through, where can I get live fish from for resale? Would I be sinking myself starting a shop in a small town? Should I offer tank-building services to the midwest as well to expand income?
Thanks!
