Okay. This may sound insane but its a concept (just an idea) right now. For the past three years I always wanted to start my own reptile care shop (supplies that are SAFE and maybe eventualy place rescue animals.) i have a city councilman behind me if I want to start this. This comming year in college ... I have applied to vet tech schools that are local, and will probably be applying to BelRea in Colorado if I can't get in to any of the local ones. I also want to minor in business management. Anyone here have any advice for me if I were to carry out my plan to start a reptile care shop? Any ideas? anyone with expirence want to share?
hey thad be so kool! u should become a licenced herp vet, and do stools and check ups and stuff, and then sell reptiles, and care supplies right from your vet office/store...ud prolly attract alot of customers from around your area, id be so kool to have a reptile shop, and a reptile vet in the same building....but dont forget, it takes money to make money...so ya id reccomend saving now! lol... u could like put cages in ur shop with all types of rare herps, and amazing realalistic set ups! wow......dont even get me started lol, thad be my dream! lol....well good luck with it all, keep me posted on how it turns out
store get some that is as interested in this as you are because i am telling you right now it's not easy. Pick someone you can trust with your life. John_
Re: RE: What would I need to start my own shop. lol I wouldn't sell herps. goodness knows there are so many breaders local everywhere... (there is one within a 10 min drive from me, does beardies (where i got yavie) frillies, cresties and scorpions i believe too) I want to sell items that are safe for herp care and help to place abondoned herps with good knoweldgeable people (and maybe educate some of those knoweldgeable people with the things i know.
RE: Re: RE: What would I need to start my own shop. I have my own supplies store right now. I had to get a DBA and fill out tax forms and get an EIN. That cost about $100. I have spent $5000 on my inventory, but I'm constantly buying more stuff. It should be up to $10,000 by the end of the year. I went all out on my home office too, and spent nearly $1000 on office supplies. Just from my experience thus far, this is a very difficult biz to get into. Most people that buy supplies usually go with companies that they've used and trusted for a long time. Right now, my only customers are people I've known for years and their friends.
RE: Re: RE: What would I need to start my own shop. Hey, if you live close by maybe I can lend a hand. :-D Are you selling online? or from home? I know a breader that works out of her basement its amazing.
RE: Re: RE: What would I need to start my own shop. Find yourself a herp vet to hook up with. May be even try to get some shop space on his premises or near by. You're going to need some contacts with breeders/vets if you're not planning on selling the reptiles themselves. Most people tend to buy the equipment/supplies from petshops where they buy the animals. It wld be great if you cld go into partnership with a vet or breeder. That will give you immediate credibility too. I would definitely explore the online market. You can tell just from this forum that most of us recommend and buy from online vendors. You'll have to do some marketing research on how viable the demand is for a herp supply store in your area - and be prepared to be doing this for the love of it, not for money. You have a few years to get trained and learn. I think it's great that you have a goal to work towards. Good luck!
RE: Re: RE: What would I need to start my own shop. Thanks Spot. I don't trust the closest reptile vet to me. (After he told me Luna was healthy, then he died-- he went south in my book.) and many of the other vets here don't do reptiles. I am going out in search of a job this comming week (i find out monday if i graduated or not so that will decide my job status.) zenreptiles, I just realized you are a online shop. I like your site a lot. (Bookmarked!)
RE: Re: RE: What would I need to start my own shop. Yep, my inventory is all stacked up in my basement. I'm hoping to get a store front in a few years, maybe sell animals or something. But if I do that, it's going to be on my terms and I'm going to make sure people know what they are doing before they take an animal home. Kinda like the SPCA does.
RE: Re: RE: What would I need to start my own shop. Sounds awesom. The breeder that I got Yavie from works out of her basement. (over 150 lizards down there last time i was there.) Tanks on tanks and rubbermaids on shelves. She even has her own egg room down there. Its quite amazing to see what someone can do with a little space. She's got a webpage and goes to lots of shows to sell as well.
RE: Re: RE: What would I need to start my own shop. Yea, there's quite a few breeders that work like that. I'm starting a leopard gecko breeding project myself, but it most likely won't get that big.
RE: Re: RE: What would I need to start my own shop. yea everyone breeds leopard geckos, there everywhere, in most pet stores....crested geckos are what to breed lol...there expencive, somewhat hard to find, and not many ppl breed them
RE: Re: RE: What would I need to start my own shop. The lady I got yavie from does cresties. Only seasonal and she's got some amazing morphs.
