The Planted Tank Forum banner

A Niche to Fill

2K views 6 replies 7 participants last post by  sadchevy 
#1 ·
There's a trick to starting a new business: find something no one else is doing, and do it well. Just having a unique product isn't enough (or even necessary). You need a unique angle. I noticed there's need for a particular kind of business in the hobby. I have no room to do this myself, but I thought I'd put it out there in case someone else wants to give it a shot.

The idea is simple: produce high quality livestock for complete newbies with cheap shipping. Just focus on the dozen easiest plants and inverts and have them all in one place. People who are just getting into planted tanks want easy plants, but they would prefer to buy everything from one seller and pay for shipping only once. Most sellers, including pet stores, will have some of these species. I haven't encountered any that have all of them for reasonable shipping.

For instance, there are about a dozen plants that are always recommended to beginners: java moss, java fern (regular, needle, trident, and windelov), anubias (nana and petite), water sprite, water wisteria, Egeria densa, hornwort, guppy grass, frogbit, duckweed/Salvinia minima, banana plant, vallisneria/dwarf sag, and Cryptocoryne wendtii (green and bronze). Even with the different varieties, you would have less than twenty species to keep track of, yet you would cover 90% of what beginners look for.

There are about a half dozen breedable inverts that are recommended to beginners: mystery snails (ivory, gold, blue, and magenta), trumpet snails, ghost shrimp, cherry shrimp (red, yellow, and blue) and ramshorn snails (red, pink, and blue; with or without leopard spots). Total varieties: 12.

You could also offer basic drystock, like gelcap root tabs, Indian almond leaves, forcepts, mini measuring spoons, and dry ferts in small portions. Beginners want these, but can rarely find them all in one place. Don't try to offer more than the bare essentials, though - you don't want piles of stuff in your house.

Most people buy fish locally, but if you wanted you could offer some higher quality strains of the easiest species: bristlenose plecos, guppies, platies, swordtails, danios, cories, longfin whiteclouds, etc. Or just some easy rare fish: Heterandria formosa, gardneri/australis killifish, endlers (black bar, tiger, chili), etc. It probably would be best to focus on plants and inverts, though, since they don't have as much bioload and aren't as hard to ship.

The shipping would be the main selling point: Everything you need, with a live arrival guarantee, for a set shipping price (no added charges for heat or cold packs). Priority shipping would be ideal.

Keep it easy for yourself to keep it easy for the buyer: don't tinker with the water, don't use special foods, standardize the shipping process, and have set prices for everything. Ideally, you would grow the plants submerged, but emersed would be fine for most of them.

Set up your tanks to hold one or two species from each category. For instance:
Tank 1: Java moss, floating water sprite; blue ramshorn snails, blue mystery snails, blue cherry shrimp, black bar endlers(?).

Tank 2: Frogbit, Egeria densa; red ramshorn snails, magenta mystery snails, red cherry shrimp; longfin cories(?).

Tank 3: Guppy grass, Salvinia minima; pink ramshorn snails, gold mystery snails, yellow shrimp; Heterandria formosa(?).

And so on.


If anyone wants to set up a profitable fishroom, I think you could make a lot of money by catering to newbies.
 
See less See more
#5 ·
I would also say there is probably no profit to be made from beginners due to the amount of time and effort it takes to explain things to them.
Agreed. The fact that 10 gallons are often sold at a loss by pet stores is telling: they are eager to bring in beginners, but only for the sake of making them into long term customers. It's the same logic behind "the first hit is free" in drug dealing! The real profit comes in when your beginners become experts. If you brand yourself as the retailer for beginners, customers will order from you once and then move on.
 
#3 ·
Also it might be noted that this is not an ideal time to be bold. It might be noted how much money is moving into the stock market and where it is going. Not a real item to motivate one to take a chance. New business ventures are called ventures for good reason.
This would be a venture to try for the effort and experience but not for profit as the hobby market can turn almost overnight. A few years ago African cichlids were a rage but now the local shops have stopped giving credit for them at times. I would not want to have a tub full of plants only to find them not wanted.
 
#4 ·
I just don't think there is that much demand dealing with just the beginners in a niche area of a hobby that is waning in popularity. Small profit margins on a perishible living inventory that requires a lot of space with special conditions, and one of the most important aspects (shipping cost) is totally out of your control. Sounds like one of those businesses where you could make a small fortune......if you start with a large fortune.
 
#7 ·
I agree with what the others have said. But, a small scale operation selling locally at club meets and to individuals, could make enough to supplement your hobby. That being said, it would still be a big commitment for little monetary gain. The education and experience would be priceless. Places like Seagrest and such are huge because they need a large variety of products to maintain profitability. They also change products based on popularity and demand.
The idea is solid, but beginners aren't where the money is. Your market should cater to long term hobbyists, while also being patient enough to work with beginners. Our member, Method, has the best idea I have seen, he's a teacher. As part of his class, he teaches his hobby. Introducing his students to the science behind the aquatic world, but also the aquarium hobby. Those young people are the future of our hobby. Even then, the interest is only going to be carried on by a small percentage of his students.
We are a large community of enthusiasts, but in the grand scheme, we are a very small sector of the hobby world.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top