starting a small business

[mallorieGgator]

ySo, my husband and I are really wanting to follow our dreams and live a happy life doing something we truly enjoy with ourselves. We have two business ideas. There are pros and cons to both. First is a SW and FW store ( it will be classy with our FW focused on nicely planted tanks, selling an excellent and varying selection of live plants, as well as nice fish. We will also be focusing on ornamental inverts such as ornamental shrimp)- our saltwater selection would be focused on corals and a nice selection of fish. We will also have an LPS/softy display as well as a highlight tank. We are even considering a children's touch tank. Our second idea is a gaming and comic shop. I think we are more geared towards this because there is much less of a risk and a far larger market. If you have a small business and have any HELPFUL tips (so no- DON'T DO IT'S lol) please chime in. We've been reading up a lot on how to start a new business and my husband is pretty sure he will be switching majors from aerospace engineering to business.

 

[Poseidon]

Best of luck to you.

The first piece of advice I can give is do market research, a LOT of it. Our hobby is a LUXURY item first and foremost, secondly it is one of the few retail businesses where your stock can and WILL Die. If you are planning a store in an upscale area, then you will have HIGH rent, which forces your prices higher, which... You get the idea.

I ran a brand new LFS that offered both fresh and salt for about 18 months. In my experience fresh was a waste of space, and time. Most freshies head off to Petsmart etc... Saltwater was much better but competing with online shops is very hard, drygood sales were about 70% T5 bulbs and salt. Everything else was such a small percentage.

I do not want to discourage you, I think it is great to live your dream. I vote for the gaming store! :D

 

[CUNAReefer]

Hi mallorie,

Congrats on pursuing your dream!

You’re going to want develop a business plan first. I recommend picking up a copy of MS Excel if you do not already have a copy. Develop an operating model, pro forma statements (as if financial statements), and a vision statement. Determine what will differentiate you from your competition. I was having a discussion with a friend of mine who is an investment banker for General Electric. We discussed how similar businesses can be successful even in small markets. What brought up this conversation was my journey for some lunch. I was driving down the road and had three choices in mind (I was in the mood for a sub sandwich). I could pick Subway, Jimmy Johns, or Pot Belly. Each one of these businesses offers a sub sandwich, but they offer a different customer experience. Think about what I have written, and think about what you and your husband can bring to the market that is different. Also, you may want to take a business class or to that can help with managing finance and accounting.

I don’t have experience owning a small business. My experience is corporate strategy, finance, consulting, process improvement, and operations management. I develop operating models that drive senior level business decisions. A small portion of what I do is provide Net Present Values, Internal Rates of Return, and can ultimately tell leadership what value a prospective strategy can add to a company’s bottom line. I’ve worked for Morgan Stanley, General Electric, Accenture, Sentry Insurance, CUNA Mutual Group, and Pepsi. The largest business model I have developed is $150MM and the smallest is $200M.

Good luck,

Warmest Regards,
James

 

[Molli]

Well, I'm not saying your are wrong about freshies in general, but as a member SCAPE, I can say we have our favorite LFS and we support them. If you're looking for something common, you might go to a big box, but just as likely if you aren't new to the game, you hit up the favorite LFS. They've got all the cool hard to find stuff. Nano fish for nano setups, tiny badis badis, moth catfish, and CPD's that you will almost never find at a big box. Not to mention usually healthier. And plant selection, don't get me started on the plants the big boxes will try to pass off as aquatic. How often have you ever seen ornamental freshwater shrimp at a big box? And don't tell me they have ghost shrimp, those are about as ornamental as a vacuum cleaner.

I don't have business experience, but I am a hobbyist, and I know what I look for in a store. You've got to know what we're looking for. Get involved in clubs for your market. A store our club loves even asks what we're looking for on our forums, and then they get it.

 

[phil519]

I'm with poseidon - I'd would go the gaming route (less comics). A relatively safe bet may be to franchise a GameStop - then all your marketing etc. is taken care for you. This may not be to your taste since you won't be able to add your own whimsical unique touch, but will offer the more safer gameplan. I'm not saying everyone that opens a gamestop makes money - but I'd guess that your odds are slightly better in having a franchise vs your own no-name store that no one has ever heard of. Then in an ideal situation, if the gaming store provided a steady stream of monthly income, you could then open a second store (comics or fish) and try your hand at it.

If a fish store is in the tarot cards - then the way I see most LFS that succeed: Have high turnover, have the right wholesalers, and have a drivers license to get to/from the airport to get your inventory timely (unless you trust fedex/ups). If all you had to do was deal with fish then it would be nirvana - but you have to deal with people too - and they can be quite annoying...

Example #1.
Customer: "I'd like that nemo please. Oh that blue fish is beautiful - i want that too".
Store clerk: "You mean the African cichlid? are you planning a fw tank too?"
Customer: "what's that? I can't put the fish together?".

That's not a fake made up example...i was there when this customer asked for the fish.

So besides cash to burn - I would say you need to have a healthy generous demeanor and loads of patience for people who will inevitably be dumb and insist on getting 5 tangs for the 10 gallon tank that hasn't cycled yet.

 

[mallorieGgator]

Thanks all for the ideas. Gaming store not meaning a store like gamestop with video games. Gaming refers to card games (Magic, Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh!, etc) as well as games like war-hammer and other games that involve figurines and a gaming board, along with many other games. We would really be focusing more on games than comics because there is not too much money in comics and you are required to carry a variety of different comics.

 

[fish doctor]

location location and lots of money
most new stores are under funded
be prepaired to struggle
failure rate on new stores is very high
due your reasearch and be prepaired to relocate to open you store in a better area
can you afford to fail
pet industry is not in good shape overhaul a hobby is fun but can you make your living at it

 

[Tony F]

Love to have a good sw lfs up here in Lake City...... Jacksonville gets to be a long haul.

Good luck whichever you decide!

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[m and m]

Hi mallorie,

Congrats on pursuing your dream!

Few things I would say start at, before you even look into location. What do you need to accomplish for what you are looking for? What permits, lic and other things are needed. I mean what if there is a hungery gammer and you want to sell drinks/candy at the shop I believe you would need a whole another permit just for that. Try to the best of your ability find the exact number of cash you will need to start up. Rent/fill shelfs and all that then take in account your bills as a person. Morg/elc/car payments and add all that up to X amount. Do you think a comic/gaming store will realistically bring in that much a month? Next location and clients that area you are opening in how do you know there is "Gamers" in that area? Are you friends with them, is there a current shabby club every one is tired of? Lastly be prepaired to struggle for the start if this will be your sole income. You are not going to start with 1000's rushing your doors you are going to have to build loyal customers. Lets say if there is a way to profit off of holding Poke'mon tournaments I guess a entrance fee or you have to buy three packs of cards to play kind of deal you will need to build up and get the word out there that your doing this and even persuade people to play poke'mon people are just not going to come out of the wood works, so for the start you will be struggaling.

 

[steamer51]

Our local club does everything it can to support the three excellent LFS in our area. Personally I will pay 20 percent more for something from an LFS to keep their doors open so they will be there to look at all the cool stuff. I worked part time at an LFS years ago and the owner was open about his costs so I understand how hard it is to make a living with one. The good reefers in my club are unfortunately a minority and the majority shops on line, at least for equipment. I was in an LFS recently and a customer pumped the owner for almost a half hour for advice on what brands to buy then told him he was going to make an order on line and be back sometime to buy some fish. You can't compete with huge on line companies that get better prices since they buy a truckload at a time. It's kind of like when a Walmart opens in a small town and a year later all the other stores have closed down.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Should hook you up with some advice from a buddy of mine who did a comic and gaming store in the past, and has talked about how he would like to do it again sometime in the future. Best of luck.