gamefreek101 Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 What are peoples views on a new Marine shop in palmerston north I wanna start a new business and I love fish keeping so putting the idea out there . And is there anyone with marine knowledge who would like to work there if it all goes ahead? At this stage its just an idea but dousant hurt to test the water. Thanks guys and girls :gpo2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Da_monkey Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Hi gamefreak101. it is nice to see people willing to give it a go starting there own business. while i'm not in the area to help you out i'll give you some of the advise i've been given/thought up. while i'm not a successful business man and very much under the corporate thumb i hope its helps. 1 find your competition and find out what there good at and what they suck at. If you have no competition ask why. 2nd set a list of things you want to do vs what you need to do to keep in business i.e. selling the bread and butter gold fish + tank vs rare and unique corrals. never under value the kid who wants a shark they may become the person who buys the $2000 tank off you 3rd find the unchangeable costs how much will a building cost you. then find out how much stock you need to move at a sustainable cost to meet these costs. If your employing people it will be a lot. 4th find out what you are really good at. are you a people person, are you studious and willing to become a knowledge power house, how would you and your business stand out especially when people can order from HFF or fish street. dont get discouraged by that just remember you have to sell more than the product and too some people a smile and a quick conversation is worth a lot. 5 set a reasonable time fraim. don't get in too much dept or you will add to much day to day cost to keep a float. don't be afraid to "boot strap" casually sell the odd coral out of a tank you have in your garage then get two tanks then hire a small unit to sell out of and finally a nice venue. Lastly stay out of the fresh water game that's my turf :evil: i have something in the works and i don't want young upstarts ruining it. but in all seriousness good luck. hopefully it all falls into place for you but even if it falls flat at least you can say you gave it a shot. :thup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamefreek101 Posted July 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Thankyou for your time repling .ive had alot of business experience and management experience so im sure it will run smoothly . (Fingers crossed) location of store may have been found looking at it tomorrow. I have a huge network of friends who shear my hobby also so they will all be on bord to help .as for the not doing fresh water my offsider is going to be doing his fresh water thing in the store along side me but im sure we (you and me ) can work together in bringing our passions together as one and both of us being able to produce a product for the public to buy .at the end of the day we all have bills to pay and mouths to feed .im not there to stand in your way of that just there to live life make money and enjoy fish nothing like a bit of healthy competition . Hope u come to the opening ( whenever it may be ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Nice idea, but reality is that it is not profitable or there is not enough margin. To make any money you need to have high turnover so that cash keeps coming in so you can pay for staff and your fixed costs, rent , loans etc. Most stores these days sell cheap novelty goods as they are cheap and bring in cash daily, but with marines nothing is cheap. Also you need good cash reserves to fund growth and times when things are quite. most Business's these that don't have good capital fail. unfortunately the pet industry is not doing great, it is far too competitive, to many selling on trade me/ online stores which is killing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamefreek101 Posted July 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 today i have talked to a financial advisor so when this goes ahead not if but when it will be fresh and salt water with coral,substrate,pumps,lights,prebuilt sumps and tanks everything needed for both fresh and salt water .well everything i can source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 Financial adviser or financial panther..... Sorry I could not help myself. I wish you luck in your venture! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 Qualified accountant who has some experience in pet stores would be a better bet. A accountant can do forecasts and budgets. But from experience I doubt it is a sound venture given the trend of failing pet stores over the past few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totara Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 Huh, I dont know about up north, but in Nelson pet stores have been booming. We just got another one a few months ago. That brings it up to 4 in a city of 40 000. I guess that dosen't mean they have been successful. The problem is making a profit, I bought my my API Freshwater Master Test Kit for $32 online!!! Thats about 80 less than my LFS. No offence, but if you are looking at importing and selling top brands, I dont see you having a successful business. But if you are selling corals grown in house, and pre-built sumps made in housem then you might be able to make it. But the start up costs will be tremendous.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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