Want to start the perfect coral business! Ideas please.

[itsadryheat1]

Hi Guys. I have been involved in saltwater fish for many years, and for less then a year I have started venturing into reefkeeping. I have had very good luck with my reef tank, but I am very underwhelmed with my options for coral purchases. I live in the Phoenix area and while there are a couple lfs with decent corals, the prices are ridiculous. The best pieces are rarely sold, yet on display for everyone to drool over. I tried several mail-order places that were recommended here, and had varying degrees of success. While I did get some nice pieces, as a rule it seems that the color is never what the picture shows, and the size is generally smaller.

To my point. I have decided to open a coral business. For starters just live rock and coral. My intention is to lease some space and set it up for rock and coral. Since i can't quit my real job I am thinking of opening weekends only to the public, and setting up a website for sales online. My idea for the online portion would be to take "realistic pictures" that truly show WYSIWYG. Charge only "actual" shipping, offer a warranty beyond 10 minutes past delivery, and try to offer a good product for a fair price. My thinking is that if I can do this I can make up for lower prices, and maybe having to eat some product from warranty, with repeat business and volume. It would be great to make some money doing what I enjoy, and try to do it in a way that would solve the "frustrating issues" I have encountered while pursuing my reefing hobby.

I would appreciate any thoughts, ideas, comments, suppliers, suggestions, and any thought whatsoever on this venture and what you would like to see in the "perfect" reefing store.

Thanks in advance.

[itsadryheat1]

One more thing. Do you guys think that this type of business can survive, and ultimately thrive? Thanks.

[Fly Guy]

Its been done. That is not to say that there isnt room for more people doing it the right way and that a decent amount of money couldnt be made in doing so. I think the key to it would be to be in a situation such as yours where you dont NEED to make money right away and can build a solid reputation slowly.

Reefer madness is a role model for this IMO. And for what its worth..even the frag packs he sells that ARENT part of his WYSIWYG program, have left me more than pleased with what i have received. He doesnt charge shipping but has a $150 minimum order. He and his wife run the show and answer email/phone calls immediately....even on weekends. I believe they started out just as you describe with those values in mind.

http://www.reefermadness.us/

I think his website is kind of like disneyland for sps fans.

[JennM]

Nobody can answer the question of viability except you. Write a business plan and do a feasibility study.

I've seen lots of folks talk the talk that they can do it better and more cheaply than the next one, but until you crunch the numbers you won't know for sure.

One thing for certain - if running a business was easy, everybody would be doing it.

It takes a ton of sales to pay for the overhead... I can tell you this from direct experience.

Write a business plan - even if you don't plan to get funding - you need to put it all down on paper. The numbers may tell you whether it's a venture worth attempting, or it can save you from losing your shirt.

HTH

Jenn

[kappaknight]

Originally Posted by itsadryheat1

One more thing. Do you guys think that this type of business can survive, and ultimately thrive? Thanks.

One thing you should consider before diving into this venture is, are you willing to sacrifice the fun and enjoyment of the hobby and turn it into a job? I've turned many of my hobbies into work and by the end, I no longer enjoyed those hobbies nor did I look forward to the work. While people do recomend you do what you love, with some jobs, it can suck all the fun; especially if your passion is corals but you end up having to do all the business chores just to keep shipping out corals.

If you are serious about opening up a coral store, consider using the Internet as your only medium to start out. This will allow you to keep the low prices w/o spending too much on aesthetics at your location. Also, I would mix in some items that are higher in profitability along with the corals that don't make a lot of margin.

[whatevva]

Personally, I'd try EBAY first. The feedback that people write can help you make changes that will undoubtedly need to be made. Then set up your web site and add the site link to the EBAY adds. I did this successfully for a couple years, with a different product, and made a decent profit. I certainly wouldn't quit my day job! (although I toyed with the idea). Good Luck!!

[JennM]

For what it's worth, it's against Ebay policy to sell live animals.

I know people do it all the time with corals & inverts but sooner or later those putting pressure on Ebay to stop this practice, may eventually succeed (and I'll be glad of that, personally).

Just an FYI - I would not put all the etailing eggs into that basket.

JMHO

Jenn

[whatevva]

For what it's worth, it's against Ebay policy to sell live animals.

I know people do it all the time with corals & inverts but sooner or later those putting pressure on Ebay to stop this practice, may eventually succeed (and I'll be glad of that, personally).

Just an FYI - I would not put all the etailing eggs into that basket.

JMHO

Jenn

I see no difference between an honest retailer selling off of a web site, and selling from EBAY. Granted EBAY has made it easier for unscrupulous people to sell thier wares, but some have also gotten thier own web sites too. EBAY is a great search engine, for product, that can't be matched by a new web site. EBAY has always been WYSIWYG and isn't that what we're striving for from web sites? For almost 2 years I sold goods from both and made 100X more sales on EBAY. I also have a nearly perfect feedback record. (you'll never please everyone). The point is, get the word out, and sell by any means possible, but never lower your standards.

JMHO

[Fly Guy]

I agree Butch. Ebays feedback system....although flawed.....is still the best way to measure how somebody conducts themselves in the business world for the public to see. Wanna see how the last thousand transactions were handled....its more or less there. I do however....and have told them so......that the feedback system needs to be a 3 way thing. I hate vendors who will not give feedback until they receive it. I understand they do it to protect themselves form the idiot who cant accept the fact taht not everything goes perfectly and doesnt give the vendor a chance to make it right before leaving a negative. But the bad vendors use this to their advantage and as a intimidation thing to people who dont want their record tarnished by receiving a bad mark from a poor businessperson even though they paid immediately and received either poor product or poor service. I think the vendor should have to leave payment feedback immediately and then again have a chance to comment when the transaction is complete.
I like ebay although i have never bought corals on there. I do have 100% positive feedback but i havent had hundreds of thousands of transactions and selling is only 10% of what i have done on ebay.

I have a funny little letter that i cant post here due to innapropriate content where i successfully forced a vendor selling pirated goods to leave me positive feedback....FIRST...so i could slam him (as well as report it to the authorities)without him killing my 100% feedback record.

just my $.02.

[whatevva]

People have to remember that there's also a neutral feedback. I've had times when I thought this was what was deserved because of different things, but if you send a neutral, it's taken as a negative and you could end up with a negative feedback that isn't deserved. I have fought negatives and had them reversed by Ebay, but it isn't easy.

[motorslave]

Jenn touched on the overhead issue. Unless you have access to natural sea water you will need alot of salt, calcium dosing, electrical all the time along with a back up generator that can handle the set up. Dont forget that the shipping supplies will be costly too. Heat packs, cold packs, bags boxes etc. It would take some time and a good chunk of money before you started to see any return. I was considering this not too long ago and decided against for many reasons. Not just the financial parts.
It can be done obviously, just need lots of good planning and some capitol.

R