Jim



Well I wish you the best of luck in healing. As for starting a shop, here are a few thoughts based on my experinces thus far.



Start up money is a MUST. Be ready to spend a good amount of money to get this going, 50-100 k would be a good place to be at if possible. Thats thinking small, and yes you could start for less but its tough.



Keep you overhead low, Im not sure what your markets like, but in mine to survive I had to think cheap on rent. The less you spend on rent the more you can spend on the shop itself, advertising, ect.



Keep the place clean, nothing spells a disaster more then a smelly shop. Im sure you wouldnt have to worry there, but its worth mentioning.



Supplies sales for us have been GREAT. We keep our prices at or below pet co's prices. In our market thats a cheap as it gets. My feeders are likely to low, but another way to get people in the door.



We purchase our supplies in large bulk when they offer specials. This allows us to make a great mark up, but does call for a bit of an investment. The down side is come tax time you want to have as low of an inventory as possible, so keep that in mind. We purchase mostly one line for our reptiles, exo terra. This allows us to buy in bulk, and to get benifits of a gold level vendor from them. This allows us to keep our prices low to help draw people in.



If I can be of any more help, let me know. Good luck if this is the route you go, be ready for alot of stress.
OUR SHOP


-----
Mickey Hinkle



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"I am the lizard king, I can do anything"....Jim Morrison

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