Starting a reptile store

[artgecko]

I've been thinking of taking my herp hobby to a new level and starting a small retail pet store.

My idea is to have a small pet store selling geckos, bearded dragons, some snakes, frogs, toads, turtles, select invertebrates. And the supplies needed to house, feed and care for them.

My wife would like to get the geckos out of the house (before they take over) and if I treated the hobby as a real business, I could enjoy the tax deductions while I enjoy keeping and breeding reptiles.

Wondering if anyone had any first hand experience that they would share? Or any other thoughts/suggestions. Is this a crazy idea?

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Not a crazy idea, but do your market research thoroughly as to a potential customer base. People usually won't travel too far for a pet store. Are you a member of your local herp society?

 

[Mel&Keith]

My husband owned a reptile shop in the 90's. The economy was much better then and it was still tough to make a profit. His shop was also USDA licensed and he did lots of educational events around the community. He also didn't have to compete with a chain store on every corner. Not trying to discourage you but make sure you think about a few key points really hard before you jump in. Opening ANY new brick and mortar business and making it successful is really hard these days.

A. Understand your customer base and what they want:
Are people interested in buying designer morphs or just the basics? How many herp keepers are in your community? How is the attendance at your local reptile shows? This may be a good indicator or interest. Also, are you considering selling snakes? This is a large part of the reptile market.

B. Are you going to carry pet supplies and what type?
Do your research on the cost of wholesale pet supplies and what it takes to open an account with a wholesaler. Supplies may be where you end up making most of your profit. Sure, you can sell a gecko for $30 but how many would you have to sell a day to pay the bills? If you can sell a $30 gecko and $100 in supplies you'll be doing a little better.

C. Consider your advertising plan and how much it's going to cost. Word of mouth ultimately earns most small businesses their best customers but you still need a plan to get people through the doors.

D. Why would people shop at your store instead of one of the large chain stores? Having worked for a pet supply wholesaler, I can tell you that your wholesale prices won't be in the same ballpark as theirs. Can you give competitive prices and still make enough profit to survive? (puts devil's advocate hat on) "Why should I buy a $50 gecko here when the chain store down the street has them on sale for $7.99? I know yours are a little bigger and you claim they're health guaranteed but this is just a purchase to get my kid to stop asking. Every penny counts these days!"

E. Are you going to sell feeders and will you breed them yourself? If so, consider the cost of doing so vs. profit.


I'm pro small business and reptiles so it's not hard to sell me but how many of me are there in your area? Can you sell the majority on your store and get them to spend money?

 

[M_surinamensis]

Wondering if anyone had any first hand experience that they would share? Or any other thoughts/suggestions. Is this a crazy idea?

Is it okay if it is not the most encouraging?

Massachusetts isn't the best place to open a reptile specialty store, there's a densely populated customer base but the laws surrounding reptile ownership and sales and the operation of a pet retail front are more restrictive than they are in the surrounding states. It's not a coincidence that there are enormous pet stores right across the border along every major route in every direction.

The overhead is substantial. When you start looking at capitol required to start and maintain the business over a period of even the first year, you're talking about a bare minimum, absolute bottom line, don't even think about it with any less of about half a million dollars. It's something I was investigating pretty deeply around six months ago, formulated a business plan, did market research, factored out all my costs and was speaking to commercial realtors about potential properties... I was looking closer to Boston, but when I started seeking lenders, I arrived at a decision that I wouldn't feel comfortable trying it with less than about two and a half million dollars, which would cover anticipated costs for about three years, which would be my deadline for self sustainability and profit.

The actual operation also involves some... compromises. There are some excellent pet stores, owned and staffed by experts, who manage (through an awful lot of work) to arrive at a point where their standards and practices are exceptionally positive. Even they make compromises though. Things like stocking densities and quarantine methods won't be what you really want them to be. You'll find it necessary to compromise with the public when it comes to animal sales; you simply can't refuse every sale to every customer who refuses to buy everything you suggest or follow every instruction you issue. You'll find yourself dealing with other suppliers who may not abide by every practice you feel is appropriate, no matter how extensive your breeding operations, you cannot single handedly stock every species you'll want to sell in sufficient numbers to keep them in stock at all times. You also can't be too rigid about the sources you seek out, it'd be wonderful if every leopard gecko in every pet store met the standards of quality and lineage as those produced by yourself and those like you, but you've got operational costs that you need to cover and the public is not interested in consistently buying hundred dollar geckos (after your markup) when they aren't experienced and knowledgeable enough to see the difference between your stock and the ones on sale with a PALS card for twelve dollars.


There's a business by the name of ProExotics. Owned by Chad Brown, operated by Robyn Markland, widely known for the outstanding quality of their high end animals (mostly snakes). Their reputation is outstanding, their stock is amazing. They had a retail front where they sold some of their animals (and I think re-sold some animals from suppliers who met their quality demands) at pretty much the same prices that they charged online. They don't do that anymore. They're open once a week to sell feeders. I'm sure the details of exactly why that decision was reached are complex but I can guarantee that it did not help that they were located about a mile down the road from a place that seemed to operate on a policy of "Order fifty of everything from the wholesaler and shove 'em in a fishtank. Customers don't know enough to see the disease and the feces, as long as the prices are cheap." ProExotics was everything a retail store should be, the other place was a reeking murderhole. The murderhole is still in business.

I'm a bit cynical though, so I'd definitely suggest that you look into the specifics, think and plan and project and anticipate for yourself. I'd only want to discourage you to the point where you don't put up your house and life savings in exchange for investment capitol, I'd love to see you succeed but think it is wisest not to risk more than you want to lose in case you fail. I've worked in a few retail places, I've known the owners of a lot more and seen the whole spectrum from good to bad; so I'm happy to answer any questions about my experiences that you may have... and I'd also be happy to help you out if there's anything you need directly too. I'm local, so if you're going ahead with things and could use a hand with anything, from grunt labor assembling your shelves to thoughts about stock and inventory to providing a little TLC and tease feeding an animal that you haven't got the time to devote, to writing up care sheets for species you haven't kept before (provided, of course, that I have)... just yell. Anything, absolutely anything I can do to help a person who I know will operate an excellent pet store is yours for the asking. It's important to me that good, quality people see success in this sort of endeavor, so you just name it and if I can provide it, it's yours.

 

[artgecko]

Wow! Thanks. A lot to digest, but great info.

I was thinking of starting real small, learning as I go and growing accordingly. Probably need to do a bit more research.

 

[acpart]

I also did a bit of research on the pet store in MA topic, not because I wanted to open a pet store, but because when I became a sole proprietorship I wanted to make sure I wasn't a pet store (I'm not, I checked with the State). If Seamus is in the ballpark about the expenditures you may want to consider spending considerably less money either renovating your basement or building a free-standing (heated) shed so you can have a substantially separate reptile room. You could then consider opening that space on a part time basis to sell your reptiles. I may be wrong, but the info I was given from the state is that if I'm operating out of my home and am not receiving reptiles from others to sell, then I am not a pet store and not subject to the pet store laws.

Aliza

 

[M_surinamensis]

If Seamus is in the ballpark about the expenditures

Here's a somewhat simplified list of the operational and startup costs I was looking at, it's not everything but these were some of the major expenses either in terms of total cash they required or because they were particularly necessary-

● Retail space. If it's going to be a full pet shop then you need to be located in an area that is zoned for retail use. There's some variables involved, but it needs enough floor space for your live animals, adequate supplies to sell with them for their care and maintenance, room for overstock, employee work spaces (back room, quarantine room, etc), a cash register and counter and aisles which meet the legally mandated requirements (for width) and are arranged in such a fashion as to encourage sales, discourage shoplifting and allow for ease of movement. You'll need appropriate utility access too, you'll use a LOT of electricity and need easy to work with access to water. You also need to consider things like the location in proximity to an interested customer base, the visibility of the business relative to commercial centers or major roadways and the availability of parking. I also found that a lot of spaces that were available had additional restrictions or demands on the part of the property owner in the case of strip malls and the like. Stuff like parking lots closing at 10 PM or strict punitive clauses in leases.

● Retail fixtures. Shelving, pegboard, counters, display cases... I found there were a lot of options (with wildly different prices) for cash register systems, you'll probably want a computer, alarm systems, door-counters, possibly some tweaks to the lighting. Some of these things are kind of mandatory (shelves), some of them are a lot more optional (a register that is connected to your computer which ties bar codes and sku numbers into inventory control software to help you better track sales, formulate orders and quantify losses), you can get more out of it with some choices but you have to put more in to obtain those benefits.

● Animal fixtures. Outside of the fact that you'll probably have to negotiate with the landlord to allow you to have an electrician and possibly a plumber come in and customize the property for you, you'll need enclosures. Lots of enclosures if you are going with an animal intensive business model. Different sizes, different setups, but one way or the other you'll need to have the physical ability to house a store full of reptiles. The inexpensive end is a bunch of tanks with screen lids, effective as far as it goes but aesthetically sometimes not the best (arrangement and shelving can help). The expensive end would be to contact a caging manufacturer and have them build you the exact setup you want, all uniform and custom designed for your purposes, it will look amazing and can help you implement features which cut down on employee hours (a savings over time) or maximize the efficiency of lighting and heating elements... but it's the opposite of cheap.

● Initial stock. Ideally, if the business is successful, you'll sell your products and animals and make enough money from doing so to cover ongoing operational costs and make a profit. You need to have things to sell to begin with though. Animal products are mostly handled by intermediaries, distribution companies who will provide you with a list of the products they have available (often from multiple manufacturers) from which you will order what you need (to replace what has sold or that you anticipate selling- the second option is better when it works because it means you never have an empty hole where a product belongs). Your ongoing orders will loosely match your sales but the initial order is all out of pocket and requires an entire store full of items all at once. Perishables also introduce a new dimension to the process.

● Animal stock. You're breeding a portion of it, but your capacity for production and the sales from the retail front are unlikely to match up perfectly evenly. There are things you don't breed, things that you'll sell out of and need to replenish, things your customers may want that you haven't got... but can get. Similar to the physical inventory, you need a full store as you open, or there will not be sales in order to propel future orders. You can go through large wholesalers, probably will from time to time too, but you'll also find yourself making a lot of deals for specific animals from other individuals. Initially you're going to be anticipating customer demand, which is a significant investment and a bit of a risk, depending on how well you predict it. In my own experience... it helps to step away from yourself when deciding exactly what to stock, in terms of animals. You need a few big, rare, eye catching, attention getting ohmigosh! kinds of animals because they are a draw to the public and because having them there speaks to your specialization, but you'll sell hundred of inexpensive leopard geckos, corn snakes and red eared sliders long before you sell the expensive, almost never seen, ultra-rare animal. The four foot tegu and the two thousand dollar newly introduced gecko morph; may as well give them a name and consider them mascots, they're going to be there awhile.

● The food, water, electricity, veterinary care, substrates, cleaning supplies and other consumable factors that cannot be reused for all of the above.

● Licenses aren't too bad, but they come along with a list of laws about what you must have to maintain a petshop (which has extra laws and is also covered by those needed to operate any other business). One of the costs that kind of snuck up and surprised me was insurance. Whoever you're obtaining your capitol from (assuming it is not totally out of pocket) will probably insist that you carry insurance policies against theft, loss, disaster and so on... but the state then requires liability insurance, and lots of it, when you're selling animals. It's not a bad idea anyway, keeps you from losing everything if someone gets bitten or scratched or contracts an infection because they were dumb enough to lick your turtles, but it's an ongoing operational cost and the premiums are high enough to be noteworthy.

● Employees open up a whole new set of costs. They allow you to operate, by dividing the work and hopefully by being adequately skilled in sales. They cost money though. They need to be paid, but they also potentially change the kinds of things you become obligated to offer them, as the owner. Full time, part time, the number of them you have working for you- you can potentially find yourself on the hook for giving them medical insurance (for example). They also increase some of those business insurance costs mentioned above. It'd also probably be nice if you weren't actually losing your personal money and were making some kind of salary.

● Advertising. From having a sign made up with the name of your business so that people can find the place, to business cards, to television, radio and print advertising, to the time you spend building a business related facebook profile or website, banner ads... it all costs you something, either money or effort.


When it comes down to it, everything you decide, every purchase, every square inch of the floor space you're renting, every second the lights are on or the employees are in the building is going to cost you money. You're just trying to build it all up in such a fashion that each of these generates more than it consumes, or in some cases that one cost is offset by a gain somewhere else. You need to put a pretty significant amount of money in to start though, otherwise it won't have a chance to be successful. Given the way such stores rely on repeat business and word of mouth, it can take some time to build the kind of customer base that's needed for long term viability. That's why I chose the three year mark when I was looking at investment dollars, one year is too short, five would have been better but not a lot of banks or lenders are willing to go in for that kind of investment without more substantial assurances of being paid back, three was the middle ground, a time when that kind of business should at least be able to demonstrate positive trends and visible gains.

Massachusetts, the state, has SBA courses available through the "Career Centers" all over the state, they can get you put into touch with some additional resources. The state doesn't give small business grants or loans (some states do, we don't) but they can help you organize, plan and connect to the resources which can make it easier. There are federal small business grants but there's also a looooooong wait list. You can apply for federal backing to your small business loan though, it is an assurance from the Federal Government that they will pay back a portion (usually 70-80%) of the loan in the event that you default and the business bankrupts, if you qualify you'll find many more lenders are far more willing to take a risk on the investment.

 

[artgecko]

Thanks for all the information Seamus! I must say that you almost talked me out of going forward with this.

My plan was to use my own money (no loans, partners, etc) and to start very small. I figure I will make a lot of mistakes and it would be better to mess up on a smaller scale.
I figure the first year will be a big loss and the second year a smaller loss. Hopefully by year 3 I would be at least breaking even.
I planned to do most of the work myself, and to hire my sons (19 and 16 yrs). Ideally this would be a good education for them in starting, running a small business.

I talked to a Realtor about some properties in my area. There were a few that seemed like they would work, but the listing agents didn't think a reptile store was what the landlord would want

I did however find a space, on my own, that the owner said he didn't object to that kind of business as long as I had insurance, etc. The rent is reasonable but the space is small and needs some work before I could use it. Maybe $3-4000 in renovations.

The state (Mass) has some specific requirements before they will issue a pet store permit. One is proper quarantine areas. This will require a small room(s) with sinks.
I'm going back tomorrow to look at it again and take measurements. This time I'll bring my wife for her input.

As for market research... Not sure how to do that. I live in a fairly prosperous town, with many professionals. People will spend $1000+ on a mongrel dog (e.g.golden doodle), so there must be people that will let their kid get a high-end bearded dragon or leopard gecko, right?
I live in a county with a population of about 1.5 million + I'm within 10 miles of Boston (in a different county). The closest reptile stores (not counting the big box pet stores and some small stores that might carry some reptiles) are like 45 min away. So I think I could tap into some demand that must exist. How much demand? not sure.

One of my biggest challenges might be making a small reptile store interesting enough to get customers returning and/or telling their friends about. I'll need to carry a variety of species, but I'll be limited to space. So will have to plan that part carefully if I get that far...

 

[acpart]

One thing I can tell you to think about besides the stuff that's already been said is, believe it or not, store aesthetics and cleanliness. The big chains seem to have a pretty reasonable standard of cleanliness as far as I can tell when I walk in, but I've been in so many small, privately owned stores where not only are the tanks dirty but the place in general is grungy and not set up attractively.

Aliza

 

[artgecko]

That is a good point, Aliza. I've been visiting the reptile oriented pet stores in the area and have noticed that a couple were not very inviting. Especially, for small children.

Some had an unpleasant odor when you first walked in, too. My wife has some ideas for decorating a store (not sure I agree with all of them), to make it the kind of place a parent wouldn't mind bringing a child.

After revisiting the possible store location, and then going to see some more stores this weekend, I am feeling like I might really be able to do this.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Most small pet shops have an odor, of sorts. But you don't want it to be repulsive. Some animals seem to wait until they have a nice freshly cleaned cage to poop.

There's a couple of reptile stores in Jacksonville, FL that have been in business a number of years. One is a family owned enterprise, the other has a new owner as of last year. They both have reputations for numerous things like smell, unhealthy animals, and mites. These things can be avoided by having solid proper practices in place, such as using small trash cans and taking soiled cage waste out of the store frequently, and keeping good quarantine habits. People have also purchased animals from them and been very satisfied. You can't please everybody all the time They both also vend at some shows, which can help bring more folks into their stores. Sometimes there's a quality vs quantity issue that can make some imperative financial decisions. In addition to a separate quarantine room, you might want to have a separate breeding room, that isn't open to the public, to insure the safety of your projects. You don't know what someone might bring into your store. They might have a diseased animal at home they were just handling, or just been to pick up an animal they found on craigslist and not know it's covered in mites. Just some things to consider........

I hope you can make a go of this venture! It's exciting!

 

[artgecko]

I picked up the keys to my new retail location today.
The owner is very nice and is basically giving me a free months rent to make some repairs to the place. Most of the repairs will be cosmetic. But I will need to put up a couple new walls, cut a hole in a wall and install a door.

There is so much to do, both to the property, and in terms of getting the business running that I am feeling a bit overwhelmed.

I'll keep you all updated on my progress...

 

[Russ S]

Congrats, Stephen. Best of luck with it.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Congrats!!!!!!! Good luck with the repairs too

 

[Reptil]

Congrats!!

Just wanted to say something, i knew this guy that owned a Reptile Store, and i asked him where most of his money comes from. He said it depends but he did say that Feeders were a very big part of it, he said sometimes it literally kept his business from sinking. What makes you different from Petco or Petsmart or what ever you have there? They are probably gonna sell cheaper equipment witch is a big part of your money maker, and they could sell cheaper feeders too. Be innovative offer thins they don't and believe me you will succeed.

Heres My Tips:

Feeders Feeders Feeders, People will always need feeders but its not just about the crickets or pinkies, its when they go there just to pick up a few pinkies and they check out the animals and see the new stuff in the store. Thats when people buy things, it happens all the time, i go to buy some crickets and wind up leaving with a new pet or a new tank, We do it all the time. Get customers that are weakly or monthly Visitors, Feeders may wind up being a big profit maker for you, Especially if your area has a larger population. For every pet they have they have to feed and image how many hungry mouths there are to feed in your city, thats a lot of feeders.

- Be innovative, maybe offer Shipping to local people. A customer calls up but cant stop by so you ship it to him or her, this would be a life saver. Feeders or equipment.

- Breed your own feeders, offer live rodents, always have a good stock. I get so mad when i got to a pet store and they have no more crickets, my pet still needs to eat and i wasted gasoline, this only makes me mad. So always have feeders in stock make your customer happy. Offer things no one else offers, i wish my pet store would offer fruit fly cultures, roach culture kits, x Feeder, etc.

- Really no need to advertise, make a twitter and facebook and a little website. Website should have updated stocks of live reptiles and feeders, nothing fancy like buying on the website just updates stocks. Also tell your customer if they follow you on facebook or twitter you give out free coupons, and have giveaways, nice way to get customers. This tip is Gold If only my pet store did this i would be all over it in fact, i don't think any pet store ever did this.

-Play around with different types of animals, my friend i was telling you about said that some reptiles or amphibians sell way better than others and he only found out by experimenting, how many pet stores offer dart frogs, to the public a blue frog is Amazing.

Cant write any more it kinda late but if you want i can give you more tips, just pm me. My friend sadly doesn't own the store anymore and it was a long time ago.

 

[M_surinamensis]

I'd also be happy to help you out if there's anything you need directly too. I'm local, so if you're going ahead with things and could use a hand with anything, from grunt labor assembling your shelves to thoughts about stock and inventory to providing a little TLC and tease feeding an animal that you haven't got the time to devote, to writing up care sheets for species you haven't kept before (provided, of course, that I have)... just yell. Anything, absolutely anything I can do to help a person who I know will operate an excellent pet store is yours for the asking. It's important to me that good, quality people see success in this sort of endeavor, so you just name it and if I can provide it, it's yours.

For emphasis!

 

[acpart]

Feel free to call on me for help (and a whole bunch of mealworm beetles) as well.

Aliza

 

[jscianni21]

good luck with the enterprise i am hoping to one day get a shop started seeming as our pet stores here are very dirty and anything you buy from them always dies no matter what it is =/ and they smell of death something horrible .

 

[Mel&Keith]

I too wish you the best of luck, Stephen. And I agree with Reptil, feeders are very important. Keith had a separate building constructed dedicated only breeder racks of rodents and those feeder sales contributed to a lot of his income. As you come up with questions you have plenty of us here willing to help!

 

[artgecko]

Thanks for all the kind words of encouragement! [and offers of help]

I'm making progress. My family has been helping with painting etc. Hope to have the 'construction' part done in a couple weeks. Then I'll need someone from the state to come and inspect. Hopefully, I'll have the permit by the end of August.

Still not sure the best way to house the animals [aquariums, front opening cages, etc.] Probably start with a combination of things and see what works best. Maybe I will post some options and solicit opinions.