Setting Up Shop

[macpegg]

If one was setup a shop.. Which supplier/trader would you use to buy your products to sell?

thanks

 

[Davo86]

Tetra, Hagen, and John Allan should cover most of the dry goods

 

[macpegg]

thanks buddy, also need suppliers that will source pet shop supplies.. Supplier that is an all rounder.. or mostly..

thanks

 

[Davo86]

try ALF Ltd and Rosewood

 

[1234-fishy-freind]

As for your live stock, TMC.

 

[ben1987]

really hard buisness to get into at the minute unfortunatly. especially with the credid crunch and what not. There more LFS' going out of business than opening up.

 

[bollands]

wow ben i know you state the facts but u are always so pestimistic in your replies lol

 

[ben1987]

no...something i would love to do myself.

But the fact of it is that it is already an over saturated market in the Uk with the well esablished online stores taking massive market share for dry goods. Leaving tiny bits for small sole traders to fight over

See it every week on different forums

im going to have the rarest best stock (corals and fish)
the best dry goods
be the cheapest.

It just doesnt work like that. Most of the live stock sold, prices are set by suppliers. Price fixing is illegal, but it has been known in this game that when you sell too cheaply your orders start becoming out of stock. So you cant under cut competitors.

You'll be under several 100 businesses in the queue for the best and rarest stock. Then if you import your own, you have huge taxes to pay. Dead on arrivals come stright off your profit. Gap fillers that arent suitable for aquariums at all get thrown in when they cant complete your full order, what do you do with these? you've paid for them!

It may seem like they buy a fish for £20 and sell it for £40. Giving them £20 profit. You need to sell a lot of fish for £20 profit to pay: wages, rent, heating, lighting, electrisity, wages, order stock, maintaince, food, QT new fish etc etc

You probably need 50-60 grand to fiit a decent fish shop. Then several weeks of running it with no stock while tanks cycle. Then a great chunk of money to stock it all.

Yeah its very possible, and all the best to the OP if he/she goes for it. But with people not having the money they used to and online stores being cheaper for dry goods. It very hard. Very expensive, very long hours. You need to be in the right area, with the right knowledge to suceeed, most of the people that have got this are already doing it.

 

[bollands]

Or you could try and find a suitable USP (unique selling point) it works tremendously! Like i travel an hour to an LFS (well not that local!) To witness a large shop with lots of different stock, and great advice. I prefer to travel and get the best treatment than go to the other lfs which is still reasonably good with marines.

You find a good USP and the people come to you!

 

[AK77]

A USP Eh?

Hot chicks in Bikinis, serving.... now that would get the punters in lol.

 

[Squid]

A USP Eh?

Hot chicks in Bikinis, serving.... now that would get the punters in lol.

hehe.. i'm sure there's a joke to be had with Maidenhead aquatics. I'll leave it there though, family forum and all that.

 

[ben1987]

A USP Eh?

Hot chicks in Bikinis, serving.... now that would get the punters in lol.

google reef girls


id be in there every week.

Or you could try and find a suitable USP (unique selling point) it works tremendously! Like i travel an hour to an LFS (well not that local!) To witness a large shop with lots of different stock, and great advice. I prefer to travel and get the best treatment than go to the other lfs which is still reasonably good with marines.

You find a good USP and the people come to you!

You need to be in the right area, with the right knowledge to suceeed, most of the people that have got this are already doing it.

gotta have that knowledge and years of experience there.

Service isnt really a unique selling point in this market anyways as its really a service orientated industry - poor servie/advice people will soon get fed up and go elsewhere. Offering the level of service expected or above and beyond will help to attract a loyal customer base, which is essential to succeed.

If you could start a shop with its own coral prop sytem so as not to damange the natural reef, then this could work as a USP. But companies like reefworks and fishmanfrags are already there. It would also wach costs up massively

Like i said, its not impossible, you just have to make sure that every aspect has been thought about.

 

[-Nemo-]

I would just like to a little piece of info.
My work makes a 300% profit give or take, on nearly all inverts, fish and corals. That being said, like Ben stated, the pile of bills that they gather to run the place is enormous, so that 300% is quite mandatory. Even with that mark up and the huge amount of business we seem to get, I'm still aware that there are money problems ongoing with the business. Respect to my uppers.