Opening A Lfs

[Riff]

Im looking for some advice on opening up a small aquatic shop, do's and dont's all welcome.
I had to give up truck driving as i was away all week delivering cars all over the uk, to look after my kids while the wife goes to university doing a social work coarse.
So im looking at a small shop that will have approx 30 tanks and will leave a little room for food and accesories.
I will also be trying to get a few secondhand tanks in as everyone wants a bargain.
There is a small petshop on the other side of town that does a few fish and bits , but thats it, so the competition is not a worry really.

So im going to have a go, all suggestions appreciated.
Some might say, keep my money in my pocket and do something else, but thats not going to stop me trying this.

Thanks

 

[Truck]

youll need some 3*1*1 tanks divided into 3 tanks. and about 10 -15 of these. separate filtration on each block of tanks. some lighting, heating etc

a way of draining the tanks quickly. you could run a sump in each of the tanks very effectively.

be honest!!!!

 

[bighammerfan]

First i would think it will cost a small fortune to set up but my main point would be politeness and helpfulness. I drive past 2 lfs to get to the one i use as the first to have staff with garbage attitudes. I think this is a job for someone who loves fish and i dont want to go to a shop and get attitude instead of help. Good luck you if you decide to do it

 

[tom_os]

have a seperate room with the tropical fish in. have this room heated and quite warm. this will cut down on costs when heating tanks

 

[Truck]

have you ever kept marine? that would be a nice section too.

 

[Riff]

I kept marine about 15 years ago but not very well.
The shop will not do marine, as its not big enough and to be honest there is a couple of shops 30 miles away, that are well into there salty tanks and they have a fantastic selection .

 

[bighammerfan]

What area will this be in (if you dont mind me asking)

 

[modaz]

dont do it its all hard work and not worth the hassle.
No! seriously though, its worth it if you get it 110% right first time but if your wanting to cut corners and do it cheap it wont go down well with customers and as soon as they are there they are off again. Customers are very fickle when it comes to LFS. All they require is the goods they are looking for, if its not there they wont come back and go elsewhere where the goods are and pay any price for them. Believe me when I say that small shops cant hold the supplies that people need throughout the fish seasons, this is why we moved to a larger shop and lucky for us it worked well.

 

[Riff]

The shop will be in Minehead in Somerset, its only a small town.
As far as filteration goes, Im going to use with regret some undergravel filters as this will bring start up costs down but also some internals and externals, as i think cutomers would appreciate seeing how different filters work.

 

[Truck]

The shop will be in Minehead in Somerset, its only a small town.
As far as filteration goes, Im going to use with regret some undergravel filters as this will bring start up costs down but also some internals and externals, as i think cutomers would appreciate seeing how different filters work.

i really think you should sump each tank, its very cheap to do!

 

[modaz]

The shop will be in Minehead in Somerset, its only a small town.
As far as filteration goes, Im going to use with regret some undergravel filters as this will bring start up costs down but also some internals and externals, as i think cutomers would appreciate seeing how different filters work.

It doesnt matter if its a small town, people travel to LFS. We are in Bournemouth and we get regulars from London, Brighton, Milton Kyenes, Cornwall, Bristol and a couple from Leeds as well, you be surprised where people come from but its getting yourself known on the www that does the trick.

 

[Nick16]

its all about retail mate, you make far more money on dry goods than you will on fish. if you dont sell sell sell you wont make any money, thats why most LFS will sell you anything to go in a 60L tank.

 

[modaz]

The shop will be in Minehead in Somerset, its only a small town.
As far as filteration goes, Im going to use with regret some undergravel filters as this will bring start up costs down but also some internals and externals, as i think cutomers would appreciate seeing how different filters work.

i really think you should sump each tank, its very cheap to do!

We filter all our display tanks, at a setup cost of £2.64 per tank by using UGF which all run off a main air supply, they are all UGF. Thats excluding the cost of the displays though.

its all about retail mate, you make far more money on dry goods than you will on fish. if you dont sell sell sell you wont make any money, thats why most LFS will sell you anything to go in a 60L tank.

True, the catagories in dry goods is massive compared to fish and its the dry stock, consumables, that are needed all the time.

 

[kribensis12]

I can't give you much help, but a Guy opened up a store called Hidden Reef Aquatics in Oct., and he sold fresh( not the best selection), and Salt( GREAT selection). He also sold SOME goods, but not alot. He closed in Feb. I believe. He wasn't even open 5 months.

I think this is why he didnt succed: You need a better selection of fresh( more people want fesh than SW), He would give out like 5 lb of liverock to a customer, he didn't have a good location.

 

[BigC]

Not really a good climate for opening a small business I'm afraid.
I've done loads of research as to doing the exact same thing and in todays economic situation I decided it was no good
persuing this and to loose money to chase a hobby oriented whim.
Sorry to be so negative but it is hard times for the independant trader at the moment.