very true, the six highest paid individuals that I
know in the ornamental fish biz, from farm to store,
are six who sell niche fish from their home, four
liveberers and two bettas. They also have the most
flexible schedules for their family activities.One
works out of a one bedrm apartment.
Retailing is a high labor input, low return per hour,
and I include in this stores I know that have sales of
over $15,000 per week. Overhead,inventory, and time
input are very high in ratio to $ returned. Fish farms
are steady return but also high labor with very long
hours.
The hobbyist niche for show quality strains is the
best return in the industry, and it takes decades to
get there. You MUST show, and at the same time be
prepared to fork out $200-1,000 a pair or trio for
winning stock to compete.
Still, they're all fun or we wouldnt do it :-)
jake
--- "William Allen jr." <billandbonnie_at_peoplepc.com>
wrote:
> I, too would be wary of starting a shop. But I
> believe that the future of
> the "niche" afficianado is in the guy who sells a
> few special interest fish
> (killies,exptic and fancy livebearers, etc.) out of
> his house. In the past,
> "connection" was the problem - connecting someone
> who has the special
> interest fish with the person who wants them. But
> with all of today's
> communication(BB's, clubs such as NANFA, AKA, ALA),
> and overnight shipping,
> such problems are solved.
>
> A guy not far from here was making good money
> selling bait fish - he was
> raising shiners and found some red sports, they're
> now the "Rosy Reds" in
> bait shops, when he was talking to a friend who was
> a pet shop owner. He got
> to thinking, "Why should I be selling bait fish for
> two cents each when with
> a little more work i can be selling ornamental fish
> for $ .25 to $ .50"? He
> now has expanded and is selling koi, goldfish, and
> some "bread and butter"
> tropicals. But it is a BIG operation with many ponds
> and a lot of work.
>
> However, you'll never get rich doing this. As Ross
> Socoloff said, "The best
> way to make a small fortune with tropical fish is to
> start with a BIG
> fortune".
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Dave Littlehale <littled_at_cris.com>
> To: <nanfa_at_aquaria.net>
> Sent: Saturday, December 02, 2000 9:36 AM
> Subject: LFS WAS Re: NANFA--thatpetplace.com
>
>
> > Moontanman_at_aol.com wrote:
> >
> > > In a message dated 12/1/00 9:55:27 PM Eastern
> Standard Time,
> > > normane_at_edelendoors.com writes:
> > >
> > > << I tend to disagree with you. The area I live
> in has seen an amazing
> amount
> > > >>
> > > You may be right, I want to start my own shop
> but I see all privately
> owned
> > > shops going the way of the dinosaur and it
> scares me. I can't even
> remember
> > > the last time I saw something really interesting
> in a fish store.
> >
> > I think variety is the key as has been stated
> previously. The stores that
> seem to
> > do the best are those that have a selection of fw
> fish above and beyond
> your
> > "bread and butter" fish, a selection of marine
> fish, corals and a good dry
> goods
> > area. In these stores the fish are correctly
> named and will order just
> about
> > anything for you.
> >
> > Here in the NJ suburbs of Philly there are 5 fish
> stores. In 4 of those I
> could
> > probably name about 85% of the fish they have in
> stock right from home.
> The 5th
> > one, my favorite, has a much better selection of
> fish which are correctly
> ID'd.
> > I went to all 5 stores in one day searching for
> the flying fox for my
> planted
> > tank. I left my favorite for last hoping they
> would be able to save the
> day. The
> > other 4 had the chinese algae eaters which left me
> scouring those tanks
> hoping
> > that maybe some were mixed in accidentally and for
> the most part the
> people
> > working in these stores are "fish catchers". I
> purchased two that looked
> > promising. The last store had them and they were
> actually labeled as
> such.
> > Imagine that.
> >
> > I went back a couple of weeks later looking for
> some fish for my planted
> tank. I
> > didn't know what I wanted; all I knew is that I
> didn't want any of the
> usual fish
> > that every store has. I was pleasantly surprised.
> I came away with 6
> Threadfin
> > Rainbowfish, Iriatherina werneri; they are in this
> month, Jan 2001, TFH,
> and 6
> > Celebes Rainbowfish, Telmatherina ladigesi.
> Unless I need something in an
> > emergency, this is the store I will patronize from
> now on. I will
> occasionally
> > check the others just to see if I can be
> surprised. I've already inquired
> about
> > ordering pencilfish which I've only seen in one
> store in DE about 4 years
> ago.
> >
> > If I were a shop owner I would approach it
> differently. Since I've never
> been in
> > this position I don't know how feasible it is, but
> I would invest time in
> > educating my customers by giving seminars on a
> variety of topics e.g.
> beginning
> > fw, planted aquaria, salt water aquaria, corals,
> breeding fish. The store
> would
> > have display tanks on all these topics as to
> entice people to enjoy other
> aspects
> > of the hobby. The necessary equipment and
> associated dry goods would be
> on hand
> > to further encourage participation. Just a
> thought.
> >
> > Dave
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
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> >
>
>
>
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