Thoughts on opening a LFS..??

[CoralB]

I would not !!!!! Unless you own the building , have enough to maintain the biz and yourself for at least 4 years and even then with what recently happened to this economy which I believe is getting worse and will take a long while to turn around . People are more worried about inflation , food on the table, food cost , gas for their vehicles , baby formula . Housing cost , energy cost , and more . Unfortunately my personal opinion is that your customer base especially starting out may not support this type of biz . How much competition is in your area . I would if I were you consider growing coral at home and start out as a home based mail rider biz and or hit the frag show circuit to get your name out . Personally in this environment at this time I would find it hard to open any retail as it’s a commitment . The cost of rent and cam is only part of the equation which your usually locked in for min 4-5 years depending on location ,cost of build out , employees , Insurance ,electric , water , advertising , supply issues , Most companies for supplies require minimums . I can go on and on . In a good economy it takes I while to build and establish a customer base . I personally wouldn’t attempt it today . That’s my opinion !!!

 

[JaimeAdams]

I run a LFS. It's not a great idea and it's not a horrible idea. When you say maybe coral that is when you are kind of killing the idea. I'm unsure if a saltwater aquarium specialty store could sustain its self without coral. There are plenty of sites that have limited coral, but those stores have much more than just saltwater. Our largest profit margins come from fragging coral that we have grown ourselves.

Maintenance accounts should pay your bills in a normal LFS. Maintenance is great in the sense that it is generally a known constant income stream. If I have be doing the same 30 accounts for the last 2 years I know that with minor fluctuations I will get that revenue, I have no idea how much stuff I will sell at the store today.

You need a good location with high road visibility. Ive seen stores come and go. The ones that don't make it are always small shops in the corners of some plaza. If you think that you are going to compete with long term established stores then people are going to need to know that you are there.

Fish such. The supply chain for fish such. Getting healthy fish that aren't going to show brook, ich or urnomena age a little while is tough. At this point I mostly tranship because I get less issues, but certainly not fool proof and a lot more risks.

The markeup on drygoods generally isn't all that good, but you want to have it all and a few of each. You want to be the customers one stop shop.

 

[albano]

I would not !!!!! Unless you own the building , have enough to maintain the biz and yourself for at least 4 years and even then with what recently happened to this economy which I believe is getting worse and will take a long while to turn around . People are more worried about inflation , food on the table, food cost , gas for their vehicles , baby formula . Housing cost , energy cost , and more . Unfortunately my personal opinion is that your customer base especially starting out may not support this type of biz . How much competition is in your area . I would if I were you consider growing coral at home and start out as a home based mail rider biz and or hit the frag show circuit to get your name out . Personally in this environment at this time I would find it hard to open any retail as it’s a commitment . The cost of rent and cam is only part of the equation which your usually locked in for min 4-5 years depending on location ,cost of build out , employees , Insurance ,electric , water , advertising , supply issues , Most companies for supplies require minimums . I can go on and on . In a good economy it takes I while to build and establish a customer base . I personally wouldn’t attempt it today . That’s my opinion !!!

X 100 …. Great way to lose your love of the hobby! Save your money and sanity.

 

[Big Smelly fish]

I don’t know what your living situation is . Own home or living in an apartment. But I would start at home and consider online sales to begin with.
I’ve worked in a fish store and installed tanks and did Aquarium maintenance for a number of years and can tell you it’s hard work . You give up your freedom to take vacations. Unless you can find good people to work which is hard to do when starting out. I’ve owned many different businesses over the years and all of them required me to spend most all my time and not much free time.

 

[rtparty]

The ONLY way I would even think about a fish store these days is going online from day one. My business would rely on a good website and good web presence. Retail, walk in would be 100% icing on the cake and I would only be open to the public at certain times.

I am not interested in helping John and Suzy who told their kid they could get Dory. Sorry, not sorry.

It would be mostly corals as well. Unless you plan to truly QT fish, I would stay away from them personally. Way too much loss here.

Figure out shipping day 1. Offer both FedEx and UPS. Some areas have much better service from one of them. For example, FedEx is atrocius where I am. I can't stand dealing with them and avoid any vendor that won't ship UPS to me.

I would be very, very, very leery of starting a business right now unless you can literally start $100k on fire and not care one bit. You will lose money like crazy the first 6-12 months. Employees suck to deal with so plan very long hours for yourself.

Not trying to talk you out of following a dream in any way. Just know the land mines in your dream and pick which mines you step on and which to avoid.