So I am considering starting a QUALITY reef store...

ZoWhat

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MARKET RESEARCH
MARKET RESEARCH
MARKET RESEARCH

You need to know who your competitors are.... if there's 2 or more nice coral/fish stores in your local area, you'll be wasting your money.

Its extremely extremely difficult to get ppl.to shop your store over another. If your price and selection is Similar to other stores PPL BUY OUT OF HABIT AND COMFORTABLENESS. They'll look around your store and say "eeeeeh" shrug their shoulders and leave

Where are you going to buy your coral/fish from wholesale?

Most wholesalers dont accept orders under $500.... maybe even under a $1000.

As every week goes by..... you are sitting of thousands of dollars of stock that's not selling while ppl are clamoring for special orders that you have to meet a $500/$1000 minimum.

It sounds like fun and exciting owning your own LFS.... but in reality you spend a LOT of SLEEPLESS nites staring at the ceiling on how you're going to make rent/payroll for the week




.
 

Stigigemla

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If You are the kind of guy that traded things with Your friends as a boy maybe You can make it. You have to be a bussiness man and a reefer.
If You are going into maintenance You have to be the kind of man that never comes late. That always remember to phone the next customer that You are late if there is a catastrophe You have to fix.
If You are going to start an LFS You have to be the kind of person that finishes the things You do.
You cant have the shop with half build Aquarium stands or fish boxes left everywhere.
If You are starting a web shop it is important that the packages is send the same day the order comes.
And You must have enough computer knowledge to administer the webshop.

If Your personality dont meet up with this stay in the branch You are working. The most important thing in order to like the job is Your friends at work. If You dont like Your colleagues find another job. You will have a good time making the accounting in a good place. Others have it so go for a new job. In accounting or reefing. The important thing is to find a place where people are doing well.
 

siggy

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selling QT'ed fish and corals out of your house.
Overall I can’t see QT fish doing well.
The Problem with today's QT'd fish sellers is you request a fish, and they do the work, or do they? I have yet to see a seller
with a facility that has QT'd fish in tanks ready for sale. When people are ready to get a fish they will purchase a fish and pricing will matter less, verses shelling out cash and 2 months later an unknown fish shows up.
 

Todd Jacobs

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So I have been in the hobby a few years and I am absolutely in love with it, however I really really can't stand my current accounting job. I am considering starting a reef related business. So I would like some ideas that you all would have? Also what needs in the hobby do you reefers think needs to be filled?

I missed other opportunities to do what I love so I want this to go right and no longer just be in it for the money, I want a fulfilling job that makes me want to wake up every morning. So if I can turn my hobby into that I would love some advice on how to start that journey.

This may be a few years down the road, but no better time than the present to start planning, am I right?!?!
I owned 2 LFS for about 12 years in Brooklyn NY .Luckily I did this before the internet boom when people actually went to LFS and all I can tell you was it was alot of work building the stores and running them ,but it was also one of the best most enjoyable times of my life getting up everyday to go to work at something I just loved and created was the best everyday,My advice is dont take any partners that was my big mistake and do what u love I just dont know how to compete with online vendors nowadays because thats what ultimately put my stores and all others around us out of business Best of Luck
 

Cully

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One of my best friends started a shop out of his basement and after he gained some traction via newspaper (12-13 years ago..) adverts opened an official store front. Service accounts is where it’s at. We don’t have a huge reefing community like many other cities so it’s a constant struggle. Staff can be an issue too.

I heard A different guy once say, if it weren’t for employees, customers, and suppliers, business would be great!
 

2Wheelsonly

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Since this is your hobby you need to refocus some of that into building livestock for selling. Invest in a grow out tank and practice selling on the side before you quit your day job. Being a good reefer doesn’t always translate to being a good businessman. If you find you struggle to sell on the side then you will struggle selling as a business and that’s without then added stress of putting food on the table.

The first red flag in your post was that you said you wanted to start a quality Reef store and you’re automatically assuming that every other Reef store you’ve been to is not quality by design. Just remember that every Reef store you visited that you felt was not up to par was probably at one time designed to be a quality store in the first place but as others have mentioned there is much more to being a good reefer when it comes to running a business and these people are clearly cutting costs to survive which goes against the quality goal they originally had in mind.

there was a really nice guy who purchased an LFS from a struggling owner a few years back in my local area. when I spoke to him he had high aspirations and initially for the first year or so his store was top notch and the only place I visited for corals but over time I could see that he was struggling and all of his quality went out the window. He changed to different coral wholesale companies and then on to stocking with corals that wouldn’t survive the week due to trying to grow his own or resell trade ins. his maintenance was lacking, he stopped carrying dry goods, he no longer offered services because he was too busy maintaining his business and had to lay off all his help.

If it were me and I seriously wanted to make a run at this type of thing I would establish in my business plan that the first year I’m going to maintain my day job and set a goal for how much profit i want to make so I understand if I can meet my own expectations and then I’ll have a good idea of what I'm getting myself into without sacrificing the ability to put food on my table.
 

Paul B

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Definitely respectable, but I am not sure if its for me. I dont know if I can just keep doing constant office work where I dont work with my hands a bit.

Get a job as a plumber, electrician, welder, tin knocker anything but a fish Geek. :D
 

alton

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I can only speak for the San Antonio area so here it goes
The stores who only sold saltwater fish did not make it. So much more profit in FW
The two stores who quarantined fish are no longer in business. People like the idea, just do not want to pay for it.
The most profitable store is the smallest store. Larger stores are a pain to maintain.
Finding good employees, one of my LFS is loaded with cameras, not for customers, but for new employees who think they can pocket some of the profits. One actually when given cash would put half of it in his pocket versus the cash register. When confronted and shown the video he said " I didn't think the camera was real"
Talk to the wholesalers and get their shipping schedules, terms and conditions for doing business
Location - you need to find that busy intersection, do not think you can build it and they will come.
Good luck with your adventure on whatever you decide.
 

Humblefish

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The Problem with today's QT'd fish sellers is you request a fish, and they do the work, or do they? I have yet to see a seller
with a facility that has QT'd fish in tanks ready for sale. When people are ready to get a fish they will purchase a fish and pricing will matter less, verses shelling out cash and 2 months later an unknown fish shows up.

This is becoming a problem, using QT fish as a catchphrase. A well known vendor on here supposedly had a facility with Marine Biologists quarantining some of their fish. :p Turns out their entire operation was nothing more than a husband and wife team flipping fish via wholesalers. Meaning, they never even saw the fish they sold.

Most of the true QT vendors I know are doing it down in their basement or garage. Fighting the good fight, and trying to figure out how to make it profitable enough to take it to the next level. :)
 

siggy

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Exactly my point! There are no facilities that have a stock of clean fish. If a reef shop were to specialize in that area I would purchase Fish, corals, cuc and even dry goods. BTW Im not saying stock a full gambit of fish but the staples, Yellow/ble tangs clowns and so on. Relatively inexpensive fish and when I want a gem I would have some level of trust at that point.
 

fish farmer

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Exactly my point! There are no facilities that have a stock of clean fish. If a reef shop were to specialize in that area I would purchase Fish, corals, cuc and even dry goods. BTW Im not saying stock a full gambit of fish but the staples, Yellow/ble tangs clowns and so on. Relatively inexpensive fish and when I want a gem I would have some level of trust at that point.


I'd be happy with seeing fat, heathy fish in my LFS. The front of the house should NEVER have sick fish and corals. I don't QT but I tend to have success with fish that look like they have been eating awhile in captivity.
 

The Aquatic Arsenal

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I didn't read most of this. It is doable, but you will need to focus your attention to online sales. I have a few locals, and that gains traction almost weekly, but it isn't enough to stay in business. Shoot a PM, and I will be more then happy to talk about our experiences and possible startup costs. I still love the hobby too by the way!
 

Lindaanne60

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So I have been in the hobby a few years and I am absolutely in love with it, however I really really can't stand my current accounting job. I am considering starting a reef related business. So I would like some ideas that you all would have? Also what needs in the hobby do you reefers think needs to be filled?

I missed other opportunities to do what I love so I want this to go right and no longer just be in it for the money, I want a fulfilling job that makes me want to wake up every morning. So if I can turn my hobby into that I would love some advice on how to start that journey.

This may be a few years down the road, but no better time than the present to start planning, am I right?!?!
Oh and i am not planning to quit anytime soon but if I could grow something then I may make it my full tine job later, well after I pay my house off atleast.
Like the saying find something you love to do and find a way to get paid doing it.
 

Dilan Patel

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honestly i think you should start small. Like start building a relationship with reefers around you...sell to them. Build your rep up. Then I would start to learn how to ship and drum up business with the locals and people who are far away. Once you have done that maybe you have enough people who would love to have a wider selection as in buying from your store. Also this allows word of mouth to spread of the quality of your frags as well as how you ship and your customer service on a hobbyist level.
 

scabbedwings616

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Im going to give you some advice:

I am a Chef. I own a restaurant. I work that restaurant every single day. I own it. I don't have any investors.

Ive heard this a ZILLION times:

"Oh I love to cook at home and Ive heard many times I should open my own restaurant".

Passion does not pay the bills. Simple as that.

I have to worry about payroll, taxes, food cost, labor cost, taxes, taxes, if something breaks, if plumbing leaks, a bad yelp review, unhappy customers, raising rents, lack of staff to hire, training people, the press, staying relevant, bad press, good press, no press... and I haven't even started cooking yet.

If you are willing to gamble it all, go right ahead. You might as well light that money on fire.

I bet you wonder why I do what I do if in complaining about it.

Because I know NOTHING else. I don't have any options. It is my job. Do I love it? Sure. Do I hate it sometimes? Yes.

Im not telling you what to do with your money. I am just telling you passion doesn't pay the bills.
I do the same thing and it’s a struggle weekly. I love this hobby and I do a side hustle with it. I lose money but meet a lot of people and love that fact. Talking reefing with people and being around passionate people of this hobby, makes me forget the stuff at work for a moment.
 

Dr. Dendrostein

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So I have been in the hobby a few years and I am absolutely in love with it, however I really really can't stand my current accounting job. I am considering starting a reef related business. So I would like some ideas that you all would have? Also what needs in the hobby do you reefers think needs to be filled?

I missed other opportunities to do what I love so I want this to go right and no longer just be in it for the money, I want a fulfilling job that makes me want to wake up every morning. So if I can turn my hobby into that I would love some advice on how to start that journey.

This may be a few years down the road, but no better time than the present to start planning, am I right?!?!
Just plan well, I see 3-5 yrs, to see myself as entrepreneur in this hobby. God willing

Screenshot_2020-02-21-20-11-01.png IMG_20200129_205109_825.jpg Screenshot_2020-02-03-23-02-46-1.png
 

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