Just got to thinking the other day of if someone was to set up a fish store, what would they offer/do different than other petstores/fishstores? :spop:

If I was going to set up a fist store I would have massive tanks full of exotic and hard to get fish. Plus making the tanks full of plants and making them look really good.

only sell neons

If I was going to set up a fist store I would have massive tanks full of exotic and hard to get fish. Plus making the tanks full of plants and making them look really good.

mmmmm :thup: sounds gooood. What sorts of exotic would you go for? What towns do you think need a devoted fish store?

I would try and source healthy and good quality fish, and a good selection.. It would be a very hard market to get into though not much demand for tropical fish and your tank of exotics probably wouldn't generate many sales when 99% of sales that go through shops would be the common varieties..

Hmm I guess I would stock cool tetras arowanas plecos catfish possibly even some variations of turtles and other reptiles if I could. about location kapiti needs a really good fish store but I don't know if there would be a great enough market here.

Hmm I guess I would stock cool tetras arowanas plecos catfish possibly even some variations of turtles and other reptiles if I could. about location kapiti needs a really good fish store but I don't know if there would be a great enough market here.

Well do you think people would be prepared to travel to a good fish store? Especially if their reputation was for selling good quality and a wide range of fish?

I mean I travel into Wellington to go to a good fish store. Depends what I was going to get. I think people would travel to get a high quality fish. All depends on price and what they are getting.

Sounds like market research to me.

Hmm I guess I would stock cool tetras arowanas plecos catfish possibly even some variations of turtles and other reptiles if I could. about location kapiti needs a really good fish store but I don't know if there would be a great enough market here.

i think it would be pointless to set a fish shop up here not much market

Haha yeah but it would be nice to go for a 2 minutes rather than a 1/2 hr drive to get some nice plants or fish

I would do something similar to HFF, they get people from all over coming to get stuff, wouldn't be as big as down here the demand and population is less, but have a wicket planted display tank that is well looked after, stock the general fish, i.e. tetras, corys, gouramis, cichlids, barbs, loachs, goldfish etc + a few others that probably wouldn't go fast, Arawana, senagalis, ghost knife elephant nose, maybe even a small marine section depending on demand. and set up systems with local breeders through FNZAS as well as importers, that way there will be mix's of fish.

Probably be in wellington, maybe just up from there.

Have a small reptile area, 4-6 tanks, including one display with water dragons, turtles and some capable fish.

also have a wall were customers can bring in pictures of their tank set ups to show + notice board for customers looking/sell for spacific items

i just stock up, i still have those plants for you

Oh true pm me a time with when ur free I'm unavailable for the next 3 days due to sport maybe after school on Monday?

errr... and how exactly is this store going to run a profit?

You need to stock fish food. Lots and lots of fish food.

I guess you would have to calculate time and food into ur costs an then add your profit margin?

Electricity, insurance, staffing costs, accountant and legal costs, ACC, Kiwisaver levies, Opportunity costs, Initial capital outlay and many many more!

Then if you do run a profit, there are taxes :slfg:

At-least you can depreciate all store assets as per IRD regulations.

Gah that reminds me I got an accounting test tomorrow! :tears:

I would love it if I only had to travel half an hour to get to a lfs :roll:

Good quality fish and reliable suppliers. I have been a customer and inadvertently a supplier of the goldfish bowl Hamilton for the last 20 yrs. They are top notch and recently have changed ownership but still have a similar following with the new owner. A wide range of fish catering to all types of customers is the key. As a key buyer you will be supplied with the best fish that smaller buyers will not have preference to. Although.... Large buyers that are pushy and rude will not get the best deals as I have seen this first hand

some really interesting ideas here, which all sound great! :cofn: :happy1:

location, location, location

why is your store better than everyone else? also why does it have to only be fish>? why not reptile/bird/small animals? more money in that then just fish?

Since most things have been mentioned, I'll just focus on the things that haven't been said. knowledgeable staff, variety and availablility of plants are all pretty important to me. One thing I'd really like too is being able to pick specific genders of fish, but that could be a pretty big ask since fish are often hard to sex especially when trying to catch them :roll:! It might help to have some kind of niche items for sale too: making 3d backgrounds, sells rare plants (eg. red tiger lotus), sells pressurized CO2 systems/canisters, makes optiwhite /low-iron tanks or some other way to stand out from the rest. Of course, niche things can also backfire if there's no market for it, but unless if you have a fantastic location, people usually aren't too willing to travel unless if you have something unusual to attract them there for.

Electricity, insurance, staffing .................. l store assets as per IRD regulations.

kill joy

Have a suspicious supplier who promises to get the good stuff :roey: But, yeah I'm pretty sure they make most of their money of fish food and selling equipment over the actual fish.