American Flag Fish

On Mon, 15 Mar 2004 23:23:20 -0500, "NetMax"
wrote:
snip
snipped Canadian wholesalers

Segrest Farms in Florida, ask for Julie 1-800-237-9317 EXT. 249. She
might be able to help you.

snip

Well, I am not intending to compete with wholesalers... just baiscally
looking for suppliers.

Understood. Wholesalers don't sell to the public. You want to compete
with retailers.

snip
Simplify as much as you can.

That is the most important statement I have ever seen regarding an
attempt to setup an LFS!

I've got about 400g set aside for plants, and I find that to be a bit
small, but it forces me to operate efficiently by purchasing and
marketing appropriately. If I had a lot more room, I'd get lazy about
it. The 400g is a revolving door. Most plants are not there long
enough to set down much in the way of roots. I doubt there is much
business case in growing your own (other than to support niches). Farms
do it much more efficiently.

I was think at least that size... however, it seems that I may have
been a little pre-mature in even investigating the issue... the Bank
ok'd about $125k to get the business going... not too sure that will
be enough.

I got my second response from the 'family' that owns the building in
question. This is a 3 bedroom 1,500 sq ft home with an out-buiolding
of approx 800 sq ft that was originally used for the 'fish store' and
then the store was moved into the home with the out-building being
converted to 'grow-out' tanks and storage only. This out-building is
a simple block wall with an aluminum roof... think garage. The roof
on the home has not been re-done for over 20 years and the home has
been vacant for the last 9 according to court documents... anyway, I
would have to do major repairs to the roof of the home, put in a new
parking lot (only small gravel lot now, and badly overgrown), the roof
on the out-building has fallen in on the back side (where I couldn't
see it from the road)... anyway, the repairs alone would come close to
$50k, they want over $130k for the house and property and $30k for the
contents (all the fish tanks etc)... which makes it a no-brainer...
meaning, no sale. That's apparently why the property has been tied up
soo long, each son (3) and the one daughter believe that they each
deserve $30-40k each for a business that has been dead for over 9
years... I had thought it was only 8, but court says almost 10 total,
9 years and 8 months...

Sooo anyway, even with what I have set aside and the loan, I would
still be about 30k shy of getting the property and would be opening a
store with absolutely no stock and no guarantee on the water
worthiness of all the tanks...

Just your average LFS with an emphasis on service.

Service has a high front end cost. The last 3 hours of my work today was
spent answering customer questions on a variety of aquarium topics, and
then I realized that during that period I sold nothing. I provided free
advice for 3 hours. This later usually translates into very loyal repeat
business, but profitability comes from selling at the best margins for
the least amount of effort, and the aquarium trade takes a lot of effort
to service properly, jmho.

Yep, I know... service/support costs money, but that's the kind of guy
I am... I don't want to get rich... I just need to be able to continue
to make my mortgage payments, any payments on the business and have
enough left over to be able to eat decently, and I am NOT talking
about eating steak dinners all the time.

Anyway, the bank wants numbers. Numbers on cost of setup, numbers on
cost of perishable/saleable supplies etc. That is what I am
attempting to build up right now. These numbers don't have to be set
in stone, but should be fairly close if at all possible. I have about
10-15k set aside in personal funds to add to whatever they will agree
to loan out to me.

The only perishibles (besides the fish ;~) are medications, food and test
kits. Your suppliers should be able to keep you in non-expired product
as long as you don't over-order poor sellers.

Yeah, this is the sort of thing / promise etc I need to get from the
suppliers... still doing the research because this is still what I
want to do... just not at the location I was hoping to use!

And thanks again, for the info you have provided... I will be
contacting those people mentioned as well as any others that I can get
information on/from.

I like the look of the DAS systems, but I don't think I can afford
them... I will probably end up doing my own, tripple, central
filtration system... starting with one group of tanks in the normal
6.8-7.2 ph range with 8-10 dKh since that is the local water levels,
at least in the major area around here... some wells are harder, (like
mine), and some are softer... city water depends on the local city
water department and still changes with the seasons, winter and spring
being the softest water with the lower ph ranges, summer it sort of
dries up a little, the ph and hardness rises, fall is the worst until
the late fall and early winter rains come again.

Once the business is going well enough to prove that I can make the
payments, I may be able to get another loan to expand into Salt water
systems if I get brave enough..

For other things, like stands and hoods, I have 5 different friends
that are cabinet makers... these guys, all 5, have offered to build
hoods and stands and put them on consignment in the store. 4 of the 5
have all the tools, saws, sanders, etc in their garages and are all in
business for themselves as contractors. These guys can turn out a
combo with a hood and stand in under 4 days (taking time for sealants
and stains etc to cure). Another friend has his own welding company
and can do the metal stands if people want them.

Anyway, Thank YOU NetMax, for your suggestions and help etc... I can't
ever say thanks enough... believe me. This research has been fun and
looks to still be an education!