LFS with no online presence wants me to do it for him??

[Silexx]

I wanna start this off by saying sorry i wasnt to sure which forum to post this under, but recently the owner of Marine world, in hot springs, AR. Asked me about the presence of online sales, seeing as this man is 74 years old he dosent have much of a grasp with techology. though a biologist among other things running one of the oldest fish stores in america. I have recently found myself shopping at his store a lot because its the only LFS besides petco, lol, within 30 minutes of me and honestly i have no need to drive 30 minutes as i have everything i need there and his store is 4 blocks down the road from my house, and roughly a mile and a half from a fed ex(important for later) i have found hidden gems as they say and also plenty of nice and consistent deals at his shop.
anywho him, his wife who works there with him. and a hired helper take care of customers and the tanks there on a day to day basis and have no time to learn online things and wouldnt know where to start.
me being the aspiring 21 year old reefer dreaming of owning a smaller to midsize coral farm one day, lit up when he asked me about the possibility boxing, labeling, and shipping coral out for him as they dont have the time. they would cover the costs for labels and such, and i wouldnt partake in profit from sales. but in return ill be given pieces for my own tanks per my request which id have any day of the week over money for it. Im just asking if anybody would like to comment on maybe how i should go about doing this? any tips? would people be interisted in it? thank you so much for your time.

 

[Sick_man]

Get paid instead

 

[Tamberav]

How much time commitment is it really?

At 21 I was in college and had a job/friends. Getting free first pick coral is nice but not if the time investment exceeds the value of the coral and not if the time investment cuts into a real job that pays for food and car and such.

I figure people generally pick what date they want their coral arrive... Tues-Saturday delivery. That means having to go and pack corals any day of the week.

 

[KWT]

Get paid, they buy as you find what you want

 

[Thaxxx]

What they said plus...
If your going to "will work for coral"
Make sure your getting paid for your labor at his cost of the coral, not resale.
Those would be my terms.
Also though, he is giving you the opportunity to get your feet wet and experience to see if it is something you want to pursue. And if so, soon you can break away and make a go of it on your own.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Ya free coral sounds awesome but soon enough your tank will be packed full and then what? You'd be working for free while everyone else involved is taking home a check. I think I'd pass on that deal.

Now if they just wanted you to set up their online stuff and then your out I wouldn't be against doing something like that for some nice corals.

 

[Silexx]

What they said plus...
If your going to "will work for coral"
Make sure your getting paid for your labor at his cost of the coral, not resale.
Those would be my terms.

money isnt my issue and i just didnt know if the money from what could be earned would be worth it? he originally offered(and is still plenty open) to just pay me dollars off the dollar for it, but i dunno how much thatd be.

 

[Sick_man]

what are you gonna do all the extra coral youre gonna get paid with? You'll need a frag tank or extra space and that costs money. What if you hungry at a restaurant, are you gonna pay with frags?

 

[Silexx]

what are you gonna do all the extra coral youre gonna get paid with? You'll need a frag tank or extra space and that costs money. What if you hungry at a restaurant, are you gonna pay with frags?

as i said money isnt my issue lol, and if needed more room. yes
i want to open a coral farm. and currently saving for so

 

[flampton]

Well I believe that since this an actual business you would need a sponsorship to post things for sale. And it is not cheap! I guess you could try your hand in web design and advertising but that'll be quite the slog!! Sorry my man!!

 

[xxkenny90xx]

as i said money isnt my issue lol, and if needed more room. yes
i want to open a coral farm. and currently saving for so

First of all, your gonna open a coral farm?? What kind of plans do you have for that? A basement setup? Or??
And second, WELCOME TO REEF2REEF!

 

[Silexx]

Ya free coral sounds awesome but soon enough your tank will be packed full and then what? You'd be working for free while everyone else involved is taking home a check. I think I'd pass on that deal.

Now if they just wanted you to set up their online stuff and then your out I wouldn't be against doing something like that for some nice corals.

they only have one paid employee and im not doing grunt work. taking pics and ripping tape just for a ride gig

First if all, your gonna open a coral farm?? What kind of plans do you have for that? A basement setup? Or??
And second, WELCOME TO REEF2REEF!

a proper buissness plan )

 

[flampton]

And yes welcome welcome welcome to the r2r!!

 

[Daddy-o]

If it is your dream, grab it! It will be a lot of work but you will learn tons!
Cheers! Mark

 

[KWT]

Only you can make up your mind, if you want to trade your knowledge for coral, cool. If and when it is not working for you then you can always step aside. Like was said earlier, it will be a way to get your feet wet and check out the other side of LFS operations. Could be a win win all the way around. You want a coral farm, get a big tank and get it ready.

 

[gabrieltackitt]

I see it this way, that 74 year old man is going to want to retire and sell at some point. Getting your feet wet and seeing that side of his business may be a good way to see how his shop is run, and if/when that time comes you have a foot in the door with him and an easy way to jumpstart a coral farm business.

 

[Silexx]

Only you can make up your mind, if you want to trade your knowledge for coral, cool. If and when it is not working for you then you can always step aside. Like was said earlier, it will be a way to get your feet wet and check out the other side of LFS operations. Could be a win win all the way around. You want a coral farm, get a big tank and get it ready.

ive been saving high end, good for propigation corals. just to start of course. but a good seed may one day bear many fruits ive seen so many flaws and wins in the industry from even the best companys. that fail to maxamize effiencey in the easiest of areas....auto waterchanges*cough* that just take up time. and also lots of farms start small and build . that takes time and more effort. wouldnt it be the most effiecient to plan methodicaly and set it up for how it needs to be forever? i dont wanna go from tubs to raceways to proper 3ft spaced even armpit hight viewing growing tanks, that again make work easy.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

a proper buissness plan )

Go on?

 

[Philly Reefer]

So I take it you are the one that will set up the website for him?
That's gonna be hard if you are. Getting a web address, web server, design, pictures, etc.

Another possibly free method is set up a facebook group and sell from there. But even that you will need to build up followers.

Another way is ebay. But ebay fee can be stupid expensive now for sellers.

 

[Silexx]

So I take it you are the one that will set up the website for him?
That's gonna be hard if you are. Getting a web address, web server, design, pictures, etc.

Another possibly free method is set up a facebook group and sell from there. But even that you will need to build up followers.

Another way is ebay. But ebay fee can be stupid expensive now for sel

takes about 30 minutes to set up a website on shopify, and adding inventory within minutes also, but i was just asking to see what may b best. someone said something abt asponsor?