Hey, I'm from TO too.
I thought about the feasability of starting a fish breeding business in Toronto. Not very likely it'll be successful if it's done full time, at least in the short run. It'll take a lot of hardwork and dedication to make it. But you never know. If you do it on the side and get a good rep, I'm sure there's good money to be made. Here's my $0.02.
If you want to be price competitive, your competition is PetSmart, PetValue, Wal-mart, Big Als. It is not likely you will have lower prices than them. If you want to go specialized, high-end, there tons of established LFSs in Toronto already. On top of that you have some serious hobbyists who like to breed on the side--not for pure profit but to simply support their own hobby. I guess you fall into this category?
Most of breeders do the fish thing on the side, they have their own full time jobs, or are not dependent on the breeding thing for main income. A lot of fish hobbyists in Toronto sell their fry to LFSs--but it's not like you can make a living of off that. You can also sell to other hobbyists--that could work really well.
There are also online breeders who already have most of the niches covered. Equipment and discus especially. Kois and pond fish--covered. Marine fish--covered. Guppies--covered.
On top of that, the overhead cost for maintaining a decent sized operation is quite high. You want a nice location--rent goes up. Too far from traffic--no customer turnover. Even if customers do come, they're usually coming in to check it out, not buy anything. Customers are usually pretty stubborn when it comes to the stores they buy from. You can start at home though--that's always a smart move.
I guess if you want to have a semi-decent profit, it depends on what you personally like keeping for fun. Your experience, knowledge, and business smarts all come into play.
If you want to start a plant nursery--I've talked to other planted tank enthusiasts in Toronto about it--it's not very profitable. Personally, I just give away my all my plant trimmings for free. I'm trying to spread the hobby.
I guess you can experiment with what works or not. There's always room for money to be made.
A good article that's slightly relevant is:http://characin.com/carey/articles/98/fish_store.html
Hope I helped.
I thought about the feasability of starting a fish breeding business in Toronto. Not very likely it'll be successful if it's done full time, at least in the short run. It'll take a lot of hardwork and dedication to make it. But you never know. If you do it on the side and get a good rep, I'm sure there's good money to be made. Here's my $0.02.
If you want to be price competitive, your competition is PetSmart, PetValue, Wal-mart, Big Als. It is not likely you will have lower prices than them. If you want to go specialized, high-end, there tons of established LFSs in Toronto already. On top of that you have some serious hobbyists who like to breed on the side--not for pure profit but to simply support their own hobby. I guess you fall into this category?
Most of breeders do the fish thing on the side, they have their own full time jobs, or are not dependent on the breeding thing for main income. A lot of fish hobbyists in Toronto sell their fry to LFSs--but it's not like you can make a living of off that. You can also sell to other hobbyists--that could work really well.
There are also online breeders who already have most of the niches covered. Equipment and discus especially. Kois and pond fish--covered. Marine fish--covered. Guppies--covered.
On top of that, the overhead cost for maintaining a decent sized operation is quite high. You want a nice location--rent goes up. Too far from traffic--no customer turnover. Even if customers do come, they're usually coming in to check it out, not buy anything. Customers are usually pretty stubborn when it comes to the stores they buy from. You can start at home though--that's always a smart move.
I guess if you want to have a semi-decent profit, it depends on what you personally like keeping for fun. Your experience, knowledge, and business smarts all come into play.
If you want to start a plant nursery--I've talked to other planted tank enthusiasts in Toronto about it--it's not very profitable. Personally, I just give away my all my plant trimmings for free. I'm trying to spread the hobby.
I guess you can experiment with what works or not. There's always room for money to be made.
A good article that's slightly relevant is:http://characin.com/carey/articles/98/fish_store.html
Hope I helped.
