My Own Business

[zackcrack00]

Hey guys and gals!

IF my mom approves my business plan, I will be starting my own aquatics business called "Wizard Aquatics". In the business I will sell aquarium supplies, fish, plants, and I will set up tanks for people.

I will breed most of my fish, but I will also buy and resell to put in people's tanks and to sell to people. I am going to breed Cuban Livebearers, Guppies, Bettas, a few species of African cichlids, and possibly Angelfish. I will buy and resell different types of guppies, mollies, platys, tetras, hatchetfish, killifish, shrimp, loaches, barbs, acistrus, and corydoras cats.

Anything you feel that you think I should breed or carry, PLEASE tell me!!!

 

[festaedan]

That sounds like an awesome idea! Go for it!

 

[mrkillie]

Who is your target market? Hobbyists? Retailers? Both? In any case, I would avoid the common "bread and butter" stuff. Many retailers will go with the cheapest source, regardless of quality, so selling common "bread and butter" species may not work that well for you if that is the plan. Wholesalers and distributers will buy these by the thousands and get them much cheaper, and therefore sell them for less, than someone buying 100 at a time. If hobbyists are your target, then less common species are again the way to go. Most hobbyists know they can go to a store and get common barbs and tetras fairly cheap. And it is just not worth it to raise them yourself IMO, the work:reward ratio is not there.

Don't underestimate the amount of work involved. If you are setting up an automatic water change system, that will help tremendously. I assume by breeding "bettas" you mean Betta splendens. But breeding bettas alone without an automatic system is a lot of work, since you will have hundreds of individual containers to care for once you start separating out the males. You might be betta off (get it?) breeding some species types that are more popular (albimarginata, channoides). You can get a better return from your efforts with fish that are higher priced but still fairly easy to breed, but not too highly priced such that people can't afford them. That would go for the types of fish that you want to carry too....Corydoras adolfoi instead of Corydoras panda; C. sp. "Green Lazer" instead of C. aeneus., etc.

Just some thoughts from someone who's been there.

 

[zackcrack00]

Thank you!

 

[MonteSS]

I hate to be mr negative but alot of work and little profit in fish.

And you will soon hate the hobby that you love.

...Bill

 

[daninmd]

Zack, how old are you again? You have your whole life to work. What you are describing is a full time business. My humble suggestion is to just keep doing what you are doing and enjoy being a hobbyist. You have more important things to worry about (school, college, girls, etc). Enjoy being a kid, it doesn't last long. Working, making money, and the business of aquariums will always be there when it's time.

 

[dogofwar]

+1

Zack, how old are you again? You have your whole life to work. What you are describing is a full time business. My humble suggestion is to just keep doing what you are doing and enjoy being a hobbyist. You have more important things to worry about (school, college, girls, etc). Enjoy being a kid, it doesn't last long. Working, making money, and the business of aquariums will always be there when it's time.

 

[cichlidaddicted]

I had a part time after school job at a pet store. Infinite exotics, remember it like it was yesterday. Loved it, all the fun of working with fish none of the burden of dealing with the buisness end. When it went under I was devastated (as devastated as a 12 year old could be) I can only imagine what it was like for the owner who put his life and soul into the shop. I now realize the difference between a devastated 12 year old and a devastated, bankrupt, adult failure. My suggestion is if you want to do it, forget the retail, do instalation, maintenance and expand from just aquariums to outdoor pond, install and maintenance. That's what I do and I am by no meams successful but I get by and love what I do. That's all I can ask for. Great job asking for advice never be afraid to ask......or afraid of the answer. I'd be glad to share my buisness plan with you if you if your curious. Its by no means perfect but there is 15 years of experience behind it. Keep it up!

This was my project this summer one job almost two months. Its a lot easier to find one good customer and make a lot then 100 small one and make pennies on each transaction.
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