Aquatic Shop Business

[seanie112]

hi everyone i am thinking about start a Aquatic shop in a town where there isnt one
fish of course
and thinking about having insects like stick insect ,Beetles, bugs
i do not know one thing about starting such a business i know i need a pet shop licence and insurance & certificate in animal husbandry or something brain goes dead when thinking about it


all any help or info would be great

if this is a wrong place to put this i am sorry let us know where it should be

 

[Curiosity101]

I'm not so sure you do need a certificate in animal husbandry to be honest... Just the pet shop licence for fish (I don't know about stick insects though).

Wish I could help with regards to the business side, but I do wish you good luck. There will definitely be a gap in the market for you I'd have thought if you provide a good knowledgable service!

 

[seanie112]

thank you

will be stocking all kinds of fish

 

[Athena]

Setting up any business is something that needs careful financial and business planning. Local market research is also a must. Yes, you may have found a location where no other aquatic centres exist - but this does not necessarily mean that demand will be high. You will need to research locally as to the level of demand in that and neighbouring areas.

Of course, once you are established and gain a good reputation, the word spreads and you can gain more customers that way. Advertising is also something you could think about. People will travel a fair distance if they know they are getting top quality goods and service.

You will also need to consider the funding of such project - if a business loan is required then the banks will want to see a projected business forecast of the next few years. You know that most businesses don't start making an actual profit for a couple of years. They will want to be sure you have done all your homework and research on this as they won't want to invest in something that may go bust within the first year.

Starting up an aquatics shop will involve hefty costs, as you can imagine. Not just with the actual equipment (think of all those tanks/filters/heaters/lights etc!) and the cost of importing the fish but also the long-term running costs of it all.

You may also need to hire an accountant to sort all those tax/VAT issues out for you.

It's commendable that you have the passion and enthusiasm to consider starting up your own aquatics business, though, and it can be achieved if planned properly. Lots of determination and thorough research will help you reach your goal!

Best wishes - Athena

 

[Curiosity101]

It's definitely worth the costs of setting up a proper website too. I may not know much about business, but have done alot of web work and search engine optimisation, and the feedback I've recieved has been impressive to say the least. There was one business imparticular that went from 1-2 sales a month to one every day/other day after I'd done just one day of work on their website.

Sounds like Athena knows more about running/owning a business than me, so perhaps she could shed light on whether it's worth trying an online business first..? You've certainly got less overheads that way as it can be run from home. However you would have the added costs of postage of fish and such which is something people tend to be put off by, also you wouldn't be able to sell tanks and such unless you have alot of room for storage and can get a reasonable cost on postage.

 

[seanie112]

ok thanks for that

i have alot of friends in that town and they have said that it needs a Aquatic Shop Business as everyone comes to taunton to buy all there fish everything to run there tanks

i have spoken to the Sedgemoor District Council

plus when i have my fish for sale most all nearly all of the people that have bought from me have come around that area and i have said about it and they have said have a Aquatic Shop in there town would help everyone in getting into the hobby i know its going to be very hard to get going and heopfully make it work its something i have been thinking about for some time now and always ask people that come to buy my fish ie discus and angels what would be good to have a shop in there town was going to do a poll make my own website for voting and see what happens with it see if there is a market for it in that town

but everyone i have talked to about it says be great as there is around 850,000 people living in that town and alot more and if only small amount of people come to the shop and have a good stock they will come back and should do well

we wasnt going to do a business loan was going to get a normal loan and the wife and i have said we would be ok with that amount of money going to pay off the loan and a lot of hard work will try to make it work

found out about the shop that i would be rent its 470sq ft ground floor and 425 sq ft for the first floor its down as Storage

got this form the website http/ratinglists.voa.gov.uk longs you know the post code tells you everything about the shop the business rates as shown below

the agent says the rent pa is 9.000 but would be willing to let it for around 7,700 p.a

Line Floor Description Area m²/Units £/m² Value £
1 Ground Retail Zone A 22.30 125.00 2788
2 Ground Retail Zone B 8.92 62.50 558
3 Ground Eye Test Room 9.14 12.50 114
4 Ground Internal Storage 3.20 11.25 36
5 Ground Staff Toilets N/A 0.00 0
6 First Internal Storage 15.05 6.25 94
7 First Internal Storage 10.03 5.94 60
8 First Internal Storage 8.36 5.94 50
9 First Staff Toilets N/A 0.00 0
10 Ground Internal Storage 2.40 12.50 30
Total Area: 79.40
Subtotal: 3730

Total Value: 3730



the Pet Shop Licence is 70.00 for that town

 

[seanie112]

we are not allowered to run business from a Council place as i have ask about it before and they have said no

as they have said we will not be given a Pet Shop Licence on this grounds


would need one of them to get any fish form a wholesaler or importer

as i have already looked into that

thank you for your info so far everyone

 

[Curiosity101]

Well eitherways get yourself a good website made, and get it search engine optimised. If you don't optimise then you're site is likely to only be returned in google when they search for your business name. Not when they search for 'fish shop sedgemoor' or whatever else you want it to come up for etc.

If you don't optimise then however nice your site is it just wont get seen, so whatever money you put into it wont get returned.

 

[seanie112]

does anyone know roughy what size tanks be good for a shop size wise and
how many would be usable in a 475 sq ft shop ground floor

anyone know what is 475 sq ft is in meters and feet

was thinking about doing it like maidenhead shops they have there tanks or have them on a shop racks

was thinking about 150 tanks for stock and have around 10 tanks for show tanks like 6ft tanks and 8ft tanks for likes of showing how a tank called look like or something and how many sumps would need to run that many tanks

any idea's would be good

 

[Curiosity101]

According to google:

475 (sq feet) = 44.128944 sq metres

As for buying tanks, keep your eye out on aquarist classifieds and ebay for any shops closing down as they'll have exactly the set-up you're after. Also anyone closing down their fish houses. Plenty of bargains to be had, plus if you go ahead once you're physically set-up these closing down sales might be a very good way to get your first lot of stock for cheap.

 

[seanie112]

yes was thinking about that i have around 25 tanks in the garage and 4 shop racks so be using that lot anyway

 

[Athena]

Sounds like you've already made a start with your market research, which is good. Glad to see you've had lots of positive feedback so far. Doing a street survey could also be beneficial, where you could simply ask passers-by if an aquatic store would be of interest to them in the area. Log all the results and you should end up with a rough percentage of interested locals. It all helps to give a more rounded picture of what to expect.

Yes, I think a website would also be a good idea once your shop is up and running for a while.

Don't aim too high too soon, I think that's also something to bear in mind. Keep your tanks and stock at a manageable level to begin with. As the profits come in then you can expand a little at a time.

Like I said before, if the stock and service are top quality then news of this will spread very quickly amongst aquarists in your area and neighbouring areas, so your customers could be your best form of informal advertising.

Also, check what kind of insurances you will need on this business/property.

As for the loan - before agreeing to a personal loan you might want to compare interest rates against that and a small business loan. Always worth shopping around and comparing before deciding.

Regards - Athena

 

[Vin Swords]

u have to sell small/big tanks as well as food and other stuff.. otherwise.. its a not going to work moneywise.

goodluck.. its one of my dream.. but i would'nt put money to start.

 

[seanie112]

u have to sell small/big tanks as well as food and other stuff.. otherwise.. its a not going to work moneywise.

goodluck.. its one of my dream.. but i would'nt put money to start.

will be everything thats normaly in a Aquatic Shop but will be more of a range of fish tho aswell

 

[Vin Swords]

and.. this day.. people look in the net befor they buy fish.. so selling form home is the best idea.. like i know someone sell discus from bedroom.. she has 12 tanks in there.. she makes good money.. she dont pay anything to anyone.. even tax..