What Do You Think To These Prices..?

[Kelly-Jo]

Basically, I'm almost 18 at the moment but my dream is to one day open an aquatics shop in the future, after I've finished my business and administration qualification. I want to continue to learn a lot before then as I know I still have a great deal to learn. I've been doing some casual market research over the past few weeks; thinking up ideas that would set me apart from other aquatics shop. I've been thinking about what makes me most impressed with an aquatics shop and have concluded that it's presentation of tanks and fish, labelling, staff knowledge and price. With that in mind and having looked at various wholesalers I would like to ask for some of your honest opinions about what you as a fish-keeper would pay for certain staple fish. I am trying to see how financially viable a business could be. (Although I know the main profit is to be made from dry good and equipment) Here are a few of my thoughts on what I would charge, if you could tell me if the prices are too high or too low with any other thoughts, that'd be great.

(I've put both Pounds Sterling and USD for those in the USA)

Guppies- £2.50 / $3.91 each
Zebra Danios- £2.00 / $3.13 each
Harlequins- £1.50 / $2.35 each
Scissortails- £2.00 / $3.13 each
Tiger barbs- £2.50 / $3.91 each
Cherry barbs- £2.00 / $3.13 each
3 spot gourami- £2.95 / $4.62 each
Gold Gourami- £2.95 / $4.62 each
Moonlight gourami- £2.95 / $4.62 each
Sparkling gourami- £2.95 / $4.62 each
Dwarf gourami- £2.95 / $4.62 each
Small black angels- £3.50 / $5.48 each
Small marbled angels- £3.50 / $5.48 each
Small gold angels- £3.50 / $5.48 each
Bolivan Rams- £4.95 / $7.74 each
Kribs- £3.95 / $6.18 each

 

[onidrase]

The smaller schooling fish are a bit expensive in comparison to major stores, but given you keep the fish healthy, rather than how they are in major stores, I think it'd be well worth the price. The larger more centerpiece like fish are actually cheaper than what I'd expect, though (the angels, gouramis, and dwarf cichlids)

 

[Kelly-Jo]

The smaller schooling fish are a bit expensive in comparison to major stores, but given you keep the fish healthy, rather than how they are in major stores, I think it'd be well worth the price. The larger more centerpiece like fish are actually cheaper than what I'd expect, though (the angels, gouramis, and dwarf cichlids)

Thank you, that's really helpful. I'd definately keep them all in top condition which (I hope!) means people won't mind paying a pound more knowing that they aren't disease ridden or poor stock.

 

[onidrase]

The smaller schooling fish are a bit expensive in comparison to major stores, but given you keep the fish healthy, rather than how they are in major stores, I think it'd be well worth the price. The larger more centerpiece like fish are actually cheaper than what I'd expect, though (the angels, gouramis, and dwarf cichlids)

Thank you, that's really helpful. I'd definately keep them all in top condition which (I hope!) means people won't mind paying a pound more knowing that they aren't disease ridden or poor stock.

Just some quick tips, if you want to take them, although I'm no businessman, so I don't know how much extra this would cost for you:

but in every major petstore I've been to, all of the tanks share the same water supply and are filtered by one giant filter rather than small individual ones. This means if one fish gets a contagious disease, it gets into all the tanks, and all the fish are prone to getting sick. So a good way to keep this from happening would to not have a giant filter going through every single tank

It'd also be nice to have a hospital tank or two for any fish that do get sick, given you want to stock the tanks enough to sell, it'll happen sometimes.

 

[Kelly-Jo]

I agree with the hospital tanks and quarantine tanks. It could be more expensive to have individual or area filtration (where maybe 5 tanks are running from the same system) however I think it's important to weigh up which will be worse financially? Losing a certain percentage of fish stocks and having a cheaper filtration system or spending more on individual or block filtration and potentially increasing the level of live and saleable stock.

High on my list is also labelling ALL tanks with the common name of the fish, the latin name, a photo of it, maximum size, tank requirements, temperament and the price. I hate going into a shop, seeing a fish and there being no indication of what it is, how much it is or it's needs. I also want to set up a laptop in the middle of the room for customers to use with a program listing all fish that are currently in stock for a more in-depth insight into the fishes needs.

Plus, hourly checks for dead/ill fish and removing or treating them accordingly. There is no excuse for a pile of dead fish in the corner. I have been told by a LFS employee that removing all the dead fish would take a long time. But really if you don't get so lax and let it build up...realistically you should only have to remove a few in an hour at worst. It's a 5 minute job and one of the most wisely spent at that.

 

[MBOU]

You are a brave person, considering opening an independant aquatics shop in a market where most are closing down, even big chain stores are struggling, a few being forced to close.

Personally, its not a route I would ever consider unless the shop was specialist (e.g- plants, discus, marines, cichlids, oddballs).

I dont think its even worth thinking about the fish for a long while, wholesaler pricelists change every week as the Rate of Exchange varies and availability changes...

Its so difficult to get even remotely near the money you need from selling fish products alone so you would probably find yourself wanting to look into other products like pets and wild bird foods etc...

But the costs are immens, enough to make any sane person run away screaming!!

The rent and business rates seem to be over 20-30K for small shops on average.

You have all the electrics, heating, fittings (shelving,tanks, till etc), shop build, health and safety stuff (signs, extinguishers), licenses (pet shop license varies but about £100 on average), Insurance (public liability etc), advertising (£500 for half page spread in a paper for a week ) the stock...

Even with huge loans... paying them off is nigh on impossible if you are lucky enough to even get a loan...

Then of course there is location, not even worth setting up in the same town as a reputable aquatics store (independant or chain) as you wont be able to compete with them n start up and its the first couple of years that make that difference. Most shops dont stay open more than 1-2 years...

Like i said... braver person than me!

 

[Tizer]

As MBOU has said, it is very hard to start up from scratch at the moment, but that said, dont let it put you off. One of the best ways to make a start is via an eBay shop + advertising, build up a reputation and a client base and the next local step of opening a shop will be made much easier. Good luck though, although there will be a lot of negatives there are still big positives to starting up something yourself. A few good years in actual hands on retail experience while working on your online presence would do you wonders. If you can make that profitable, you are half way there.

 

[ZoddyZod]

I'm not going to comment of the the risks or otherwise of starting your own business, but to answer your question on prices.....those all seem very reasonable to me. Several are considerably cheaper than many of my LFS.

 

[Mowbz]

I'm not going to comment of the the risks or otherwise of starting your own business, but to answer your question on prices.....those all seem very reasonable to me. Several are considerably cheaper than many of my LFS.

+1, its often fuitless to advise on another business, and ive found this myself. You can only really give generic advice as its always different, in a different area, with a different target market , etc, nothing works the same two ways in business unfortunately

Again, concur with Zod on the prices, they either on par with my LFS's (which for better quality fish would be awesome) or cheaper (which is just plain awesome by itself!)

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I think your prices are fairly competitive. You might want to offer some sort of service to help folks keep coming back to your store. The one thing that is lacking dramatically from the chain stores, if you ask me is information. Most of them are more interested in making a bad sale than they are in informing the customer. You could offer weekend workshops in tank maintenance, plant maintenance, proper cycling, how to keep a goldfish (contrary to the common misperception), how to keep bettas, etc. These could be advertised at local libraries and things like that. Also, put flyers out at local fish clubs and the like. Also, since this is in the distance. Join a local fish club now and get to know the people in it. Get to know the people who are breeding and talk to them. A local fish club (or at least the members) are going to be some of your best customers, although not the most frequent. But, their word of mouth might be enough to get new customers coming in.


You could offer a frequent customer loyalty card of some sort, where if they spend X amount they get a free gift of some sort. Your biggest competition is going to be with online suppliers, so having some sort of incentive to get people to buy the bigger ticket items from you would benefit you greatly. I like to shop on the internet, but having to pay shipping bothers me. So, I try to save up the purchases to make it a big enough one time purchase that shipping is free. But, if a store offered a buy $100 of supplies (not all at once, but over a lifetime kind of deal, maybe a card with a punch, or something like that) get a free frozen bloodworm pack (something that some folks might not buy without being in the know, but also something that has a shelf-life so that you will want to ensure that you turnover the stock).


I applaud your moxie and wish you all the best in this endeavor should you proceed forward. The business world can be tough. I think the biggest concern is going to be finding employees who actually know the hobby and are willing to work for what you will be able to afford.


(By the way, I would also mention that you do special orders for people.)

 

[the_lock_man]

Running a small business is a nightmare, I know from current experience.

In order to REALLY succeed, you have to do something totally different than all the others, something that makes you REALLY stand out. Not just cleaner tanks. Not just cheaper prices, and frankly those companies who try to compete on price are asking for trouble, cos there's always someone else prepared to go lower.

Here's my top tip. Write a book. Write it on fishless cycling, and get it published through one of these self-publishing websites. Whenever someone comes into your shop enquiring about buying a tank, give them a copy of your book. If you're a published author, you have authority on the subject of fishkeeping, and that engenders the respect of the buying public. If you've been selected to write a book on fishkeeping, you must really know what you're talking about, let's go and buy from your shop, then.

The other thing I would do, is to keep a load of tanks with mature media, and offer your customers the facility of you coming round to setup the tanks, put in a full filter's worth of mature media, and have instantly cycled tanks, instantly ready for fish.

Advertising - forget the local paper. Yesterday's news is today's chip wrapper, you don't get enough bang for your buck. Google & Facebook are where it's at in this market, IMHO. Pay someone you know who has the expertise to sort it for you. Don't pay someone that you don't know to sort it for you.

HTH.

Oh yeah, the other thing is make sure you specialise in an area of fish, whether it be cichlids or livebearers or anabantoids or whatever, and stock EVERYTHING you've ever heard of, and loads that you haven't heard of, in that sector. In that way, you will encourage customers from outside the immediate area to come to you, if they want a particular species of that sector.

And offer mail-order, and then put yourself on Aquarist Classifieds. And Ebay.

 

[MBOU]

And a website.... a shop is pointless without a decent website if anything, i would set up the website first, then start looking to getting whatever licenses you might need and setting it up as an online shop.

From there you will be able to judge the market better and see what sells and what doesnt. You will also have your wholesaler contacts and customer contacts by the time you are wanting to open the shop.

 

[Akasha72]

having scan read most of the posts (forgive me, I've got a thumping headache and I don't want to make it worse) the only thing I would add is something that annoys me a little. You go to the lfs and every tank has an individual price per fish or 3 for £10 or (with smaller fish) 5 for £10. To my mind that only encourages people to buy more fish than they want/need and what their tank is capable of holding. Whilst it's good to get a bargain these days it's not acceptable to encourage people to buy more than they can cope with when it's a live animal.

I wish you the very best of luck in your venture Kelly-Jo, it sounds like you've thought it through and I hope it works out for you

ps - the prices sound okay to me too

 

[eaglesaquarium]

While I understand your point, it is also true that many of the fish being sold need to be in shoals anyway. So, you are going to buy 6 neon tetras anyway, assuming that you have space for them. So, selling 3 neons for $7 and 1 for $3 does encourage you to buy 3, but you should have at least 6 anyway, so getting 6 for $14 is a lot better than 6 for $18. I understand that people do stupid things with their fish, and it is easy to blame the LFS for selling them to people, but ultimately it is the responsibility of the BUYER to know what they are buying!


Is a pet shop at fault when someone buys a dog then neglects it? I don't think so.

 

[MBOU]

We need a 'like' button LOL

I think its down to the customers in the end.

Aquatics customers are about as tight fisted as any customer could possibly be! (And you so cant tell me you arent!! )

But when i have to quibble over a £1.99 bottle of dechlorinator, you know you have hit an all time low! Or when people start asking for ridiculous discounts.

People want you to knock £80-90 off a tank!? What on earth is the point in a shop bothering to open when customers dont want to spend money...

That.... is what its like atm. Age of the internet.. people like to think they are supporting their LFS when they occasionally buy some 'weed' but then go buy the equipment online... so everyone who is buying stuff on ebay etc is slowly screwing over the trade IMHO

On the flip side, most deals on small fish are 'so much for one, or 6 for this much' because its a sensible number of fish. There is no rules saying they have to buy any set ammount... i sold someone 10 neons... not on the deal!

Its up to the staff to be a bit relaxed about the offers on the fish, if someone says "I want to buy 28 neons to go with my 2 current neons.... can you do a deal" of course you'd say yes, be a bit daft not to. But its also up to staff to say 'no you dont have space for those fish'.

Part of the problem with independant shops is you just cant turn away customers by saying no, you end up compromising and its depressing. Its not just saying no, even if you offer the customer suggestions for other species of fish... 9 times out of 10 they will dissapear off to the nearest big chain store and buy it elsewhere. Thats the dilema, do you compromise as much as possible and sell the fish, get the money you so desperately need and then at least the customer knows what they are doing (assuming you've informed them)... or do you let them go give someone else the money where no one will care if their tank is suitable or not...