Starting my fish store-- stock ideas?
- Thread starter mshill90
- Start date
Best of luck to you.
Just be honest and treat others how you would like to be treated for starters.
Try to find the fish you love the most and work with them.
If you are questioning getting fish in that you are unsure of-research them.
water changes and more water changes and when you think you are done do another water change.
Always keep an extra HOB or Cannister around (and running) in case needed.
Don't over stock your tanks or you'll regret it.
ALWAYS quarantine new shipments.If they are sick or parasite infected etc- it's better for you to fix it then ship it.
Plan a looped air system with a large air pump or diaphragm air pump etc.and a bunch of air stones,box filters,sponge filters etc. This cuts electric big time.If you need further instruction on that P.M. me and i'll help you out.Any other questions or problems I'm here to help if needed.
I can think of 900 other things but there's a good start.
Best Regards,
John
Just be honest and treat others how you would like to be treated for starters.
Try to find the fish you love the most and work with them.
If you are questioning getting fish in that you are unsure of-research them.
water changes and more water changes and when you think you are done do another water change.
Always keep an extra HOB or Cannister around (and running) in case needed.
Don't over stock your tanks or you'll regret it.
ALWAYS quarantine new shipments.If they are sick or parasite infected etc- it's better for you to fix it then ship it.
Plan a looped air system with a large air pump or diaphragm air pump etc.and a bunch of air stones,box filters,sponge filters etc. This cuts electric big time.If you need further instruction on that P.M. me and i'll help you out.Any other questions or problems I'm here to help if needed.
I can think of 900 other things but there's a good start.
Best Regards,
John
I'm new to the hobby but not new to business. Separate the hobby you love from the business you want to run. Here are some recommendations:
- Research your market. Local and abroad. Pick one and stay with it until you are solid in it. Overstretching your resources can be a killer especially if something goes wrong. You are dealing with livestock and that in itself is a risk.
- Breed what people are buying. Whats the point of breeding strange fish that no one wants to buy? Selling the mass sellers will give you a cushion for working with the more interesting species. Toyota built a reputation with cheap, really good small cars but the real money is in the Tundras and Sequoias (with the leather package).
- If Im paying $3 for a gourami over a Petsmart, Im going to assume that the profit margin is not that big. Keep that in mind when spending on consumables. Be mindful of economies of scale and remember that brand loyalty only works for rich high school kids and expensive clothes.
I hope that you have a lot of fun in this and make a ton of money doing it!!!
- Research your market. Local and abroad. Pick one and stay with it until you are solid in it. Overstretching your resources can be a killer especially if something goes wrong. You are dealing with livestock and that in itself is a risk.
- Breed what people are buying. Whats the point of breeding strange fish that no one wants to buy? Selling the mass sellers will give you a cushion for working with the more interesting species. Toyota built a reputation with cheap, really good small cars but the real money is in the Tundras and Sequoias (with the leather package).
- If Im paying $3 for a gourami over a Petsmart, Im going to assume that the profit margin is not that big. Keep that in mind when spending on consumables. Be mindful of economies of scale and remember that brand loyalty only works for rich high school kids and expensive clothes.
I hope that you have a lot of fun in this and make a ton of money doing it!!!
i swear ruby red oscar are hard to find and flowerhorn sell dicus good choice and rainbows fish sell well
Arcangel;4763931; said:
Oscar is one thing that I am not going to be selling.. yes, I know there is money in them, but to have more than one, I would have to have a huge set up for them, and I just think I could use the space for something else. But, I will look into the Ruby Reds.
I have my own Flowerhorn.. I have new to these fish, but they seem really awesome, and so I will get one in here and there to see how they sell.
I have no experience with Discus, but I will look into them. I had read somewhere that they are not as hard to keep as some people make them out to be.
And rainbow fish would be awesome to sell.. they are like $7+ around here.
Forget the small common fish (basically anything you would see at Petsmart), because we can get those from our distributors for next to nothing and the overall profit is next to nothing. The majority of profit comes from saltwater and rare freshwater (rays, aro, etc). This I believe doesn't apply right now, but if you decide to open a store, location is the number one priority and second would be employees who know what they are talking about. I've seen multiple LFS in the area start out great and fall apart mostly because of crappy customer service.
soccerdude3131;4763965; said:
Oh, I know what you mean about customer service. I work in the customer service field, and I hate when people give you crap service.
I would also have my employees take an extensive training to get to know about the keeping of the fish, the fish itself etc... and if I could give them pop quizzes, I definitely would.
I do have a close friend of mine who wants to get involved, so I've got one employee already.
