Starting A Business

[metalcherry]

It has always interested me and now that im studying up on all the fish i have and now onto my third aquarium and not making the stupid stupid mistakes i made when i first began a few years back, but (dont worry im not meaning anytime soon, i mean in quite a few years) now i want to know how people get into the Aquatic business.

I love developing my collection and people actually come to me for advice. lol!

Just wondering how people started off, i remember there were a couple of people whom had Fish shops or traded.

 

[kj23502]

Well, it's a hard business, often times slim profit margins. In fact there have been a few fish stores close in my area

Not to discourage you though!! I'm sure you're prob aware of this

 

[aaronnorth]

it might be worth opening a chain store like maidenhead aquatics, eople know they are good so you will get business - just keep up there name

 

[kj23502]

It costs ALOT to open a franchise store...but something to def look in to!

 

[aaronnorth]

but you get a lot of money and once you have one you can easily set up more! The local MA near me averages £1000 a day!

 

[Ian H]

I've been thinking of this recently too. The way i would personally do it is to breed a couple of "simple" (i say simple as a comparison to the harder species to breed, ot simple like platties) fish first to make some money ie angels,discus, plecs then use this money to advance forwards.

Like i said i've been thinking about it but doubt i will go ahead with it I would also trade in fish for store credit just to pay for the basics such as food/dechlorinator ect so you "should" always be making a profit, even if its only a tiny amount. The best bit is your competitors will be helping you out

Obviously your business wouldnt spring up over night but the more work you put in the more you will get back! End of the day though you are going to have to put alot of money into it. Also if you started renting you have to look at the area you are in. I know for a fact if i opened a shop in my town i would go bust since i wouldnt sell fish if i didnt think they were going to be looked after. Obviously you only want/will be able to afford a small place so an out of town store or corner of garden centre is out of the question.

Although stores buy their fish cheap its only because its in bulk, so even if you stocked the basic pretty fish your still looking at big outgoing in the first place!

 

[aaronnorth]

My dads mate set up his own business in his garage, he started breeding fish and had about 10 tanks of fish, eventually he exttended his garage and number of tanks, he now sells bits of garden sproducts aswell, I went in the other week, he was selling a breeding pair of coldwater fish £140.

Get into discus breeding and ebay is your friend

I might start selling aquarium products like dechlorinator, food etc on ebay, but it is such a large community it is hard to get regulars

 

[Ian H]

yeah thats what i meant, start small (ie from spare room, shed, garage whatever) then move up.

But dont forget its all well breeding and selling fish but i dont know when you have to inform inland revenue. Who knows perhaps your meant to from the word go or maybe its only if your making so much.

I have some great ideas and im sure it would be a sucess but i just dont have the money to start with

 

[dpcamp]

i think you could run a successful mom an pop lfs depending on your location, and i think being able to sale on the internet as well would keep your head above water. I would imagine getting a lfs started would cost a pretty penny

i would never do it, because i'd probably never leave my office!!! hahaha

i'd personally would start small in my garage turning it into a farm and setting up shop on the internet, or aquabay.

 

[rocknurworld2006]

i did think about doing this in aberdeen!

as there are no good fish shops in this area nearest good ones are dundee.

the fishkeeprs club in aberdeen dont go to these in aberdeen there that bad!!

but i thought it would be impossible to set up a shop thought it would cost a fortune.

 

[Tetraking]

i have seen loads of shops come and go over the years in the city i live in, it really is a competetive field, however one shop has been around since i was kid and is still going, its the shop i pretty much always use and is always busy, if you decide to give it a go, just think of the type of shop you would always return to,base yours on that, put alot of effort in and maybe you could make a mint.

the shop i mentioned then, recently sold for over a million pounds and the new owners have not changed a thing, even kept the same name, well you would would'nt you

 

[Ian H]

as stated it would cost alot but if you are 100% serious you can always apply for a loan to get things moving. Wish i never seen this thread now as its all i can think of!! even had a quick look on ebay for a bulk buy of tanks!! (not that i will go ahead with it, but good to know a rough price of everything )

for ten 24"x12"x12" tanks £140 delivered! thats UBBBBER cheap compaired to what i thought it would be!!

TBH i'm thinking of just making a pretty penny now and then online from breeding some simple fish, but its posting i dont like the idea of

I'm more than able to set up a site for it and able to breed the easy fish at home, so extremely tempted to see how it goes.

 

[metalcherry]

Amazingally, there are no half decent shops in Glasgow area except one who i am friends with, i decided to invest in a new aquarium today to see if i could start maybe collating different types of fish and building up the collection. Of course not to start the ball rolling business wise now but to get the hang of the sorts of things to do while i read up on everything.

Discus is one which im scared of probebly because of the prices of them lol. At the moment my cichlid and bottom dwellers (catfish/loaches etc) collections are growing and also my barbs are slowly increasing.

I have kinda guessed that fish only companies do not make much profit, i have seen many close down but best to look confident and the fact that there are not many good shops in my area.

 

[Ian H]

tbh i would think you could make a nice living out of owning a shop, especially if you can open a small chain.

because if you think about it people want pretty fish. Heres a couple that are impossible not to breed so you would be saving a hell of alot on these (im sure you would still have to buy some in but not as much obviously!!)

guppies
platties
mollies
cherry shrimp
Crystal red shrimp (depending on if you had the market for them)
bn plecs

personally if these were bred by myself i would sell them at first (at time of store opening)

guppies - £1 each
platties - £1 each
mollies - £1 each
cherry shrimp - £2 each or 4 for £6
Crystal red shrimp (depending on if you had the market for them) depends on grade ect so hard to say
bn plecs - £2.50 each

now lets say you have 2 tanks full of each for sale thats an amazing 100% profit! obviously this also depends on how well you have advertised and what not but you should be drawing people in with the low prices (actually i have no idea how much guppies and platties sell for as i havnt bought one in ages!) and as long as its a friendly enviroment you should get loyal customers. You could then use this money to buy in some different fish. In my head it all works fine but not sure on how well it would work in practice you would want to try and aim for a continous "harvest" of fish and with the livebarers (which are amazingly popular!) it wouldnt be too hard!

 

[piranha_tim]

Well you need to have a good mind for business ... Everyone dreams of opening a business in relation to there hobby who wouldn't ... but you have to be willing to go without for a good while before things start to pick up. And you will need investment to get a location etc.