An idea that wont go away!

[TheWolfmanTom]

Hi All,
Some of You I know well some its just a passing Hi in the hall so to speak. I have talked about this with a friend of mine and this idea just wont leave me be.
I am thinking of opening a reptile specific pet shop. I would sell no cats or dogs simply because adoption options are more plentiful. I would sell supplies for dogs, cats, birds, fish, ect. But as far as live animals only herps. I have poopers covered myself and I have met enough people in the industry to set up a nice display. I would not sell big burms or retics, just because I feel it would be irresponsible. Like I said this idea wont let me be. What do you guys think of My budding vision?
Tom

 

[wiiiroc]

Would you ship?!




On a side note,
can reptiles from the US (say, California) be shipped to Canada?

 

[TheVirus]

I think we all have that vision Tom It would definitely be awesome. I think you should open it near NYC so I can be that guy who hangs around the shop.

You should talk to Robyn Markland from Pro Exotics. He's living our dream

 

[Red Ink AUS]

Sounds good Tom, from what i see the hobby could use a few more knowledgeable petshop operators over there.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

I think in time I would breed a couple of the reptiles I would sell. How many people really get to talk to the person who bred their animal at the store they bought it from?

 

[wiiiroc]

I think it's a great idea.
You'll have to think a lot of things over, of course. You'll need to figure out What your target audience wants, where they live, who your competitors would be, and so forth.
Having the money to do so is also important. Would you be able to support yourself and the reptiles in your business? How much money would it cost to initially open the store (including the inspections that will take place), how much it would cost to sustain the store on a monthly basis, what you would be selling and the markup, etc.
Would you be able to breed quickly enough and have diversity in reptiles to have people coming back over and over and over? How are you going to advertise yourself?
There's a billion different things to think about before opening the business! But I think if there's a will, there's a way.
And if you have the will to do it, and you are positive you can achieve your goal even with a burning debt, you should definitely go for it.
;D

 

[crypticdragons]

My personal dream is opening up a Reptarium. But i think a Reptile Specific shop has the possibility of being a great idea. The only thing i see at the moment is the market has slowed down on all reptile sales currently and im not sure that it would be a financially intelligent move to tie up a few hundred thousand into a pet shop in this current economy. give it a year or two and things may be better.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

im thinking 5 year plan

 

[crypticdragons]

Thats a much more realistic goal. You will need to draft up a business plan with projected sales and projected costs. Possible locations, suppliers, target market, and try to get information on gains and losses from petstores in or near the area you plan to open up at. Getting contacts in the industry on tanks and lighting supplies and what not will be very helpful as well. networking is going to be the biggest thing. And with 5 years to play with you can easily collect animals to breed. You can have an area in your shop setup with larger incubators basically doing it all in house. I would travel to see a shop like that lol.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Thats kinda the outline of My idea. A breeders shop so to speak. I dont think I would do it in the Philly area tho. Im thinking warmer climates...lol

 

[crypticdragons]

I wouldnt suggest Florida their herp laws change every 5 seconds. maybe socal lol

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

I wouldnt even think of selling retics and burms.
Or any of the larger species. Its just a recipe for disaster.
I have to figure out where i want to open shop so to speak and work out from there.

 

[crypticdragons]

if you need any help with drafting up a business plan let me know ive done a few.

 

[DragonMom]

:-X

 

[Red Ink AUS]

Do you have any specific species list that you are going to stock/breed. I suggest looking into this as well, you have BDs well covered already. I would avoid anything that is not CBB and your big varanids as well too much upkeep and bad press with WC specimens.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Think small francis,
Geckos, redtails, balls, corns, uromastiix poopers of course. maybe some turtles , feeders, tanks lights supplies.

 

[Red Ink AUS]

Nice, this is going to be a good excuse for you to work with some species you have always wanted to as well. It would be good if you could do in house breeding on most of them.

 

[crypticdragons]

be careful on turtles. Lot of rules and crap people dont know about on them because of the stupid salmonilla scare a few yeards ago.

 

[renich]

I would say location is very important. We stumbled upon a small reptile shop after first getting Bernie. It's where we bought his adult viv. Anyway, the guy was very knowledgeable and very busy.

Whenever we went in there, he was always busy. Locals were constantly coming in and out. The area was filled with teens and adults heavily in snakes and lizards.

The only side note I may have (to play devil's advocate) is can you stand to sell a reptile to a teen knowing its survival may be low. Not bashing teens here. A lot are responsible. From what I witnessed, it is the type where you are giving instructions on caring for the reptile and you know they are not paying attention. Or a teen that you sold a lizard to comes in with the same lizard that is very sick because they did not set it up correctly.

I think if you can separate business from pleasure, it's a great idea.

 

[beardielover17]

Think small francis,
Geckos, redtails, balls, corns, uromastiix poopers of course. maybe some turtles , feeders, tanks lights supplies.

gotta be careful with uros too tom, from what i hear they are a PITA to breed successfully