Starting my own fish store?

[Islander84]

The loophole around that is going to cause you to loose some profit until it takes off if its as good as you say. You specifically state as a disclaimer that the product is not recommended for use on a marine tank......you market it for general lighting purposes. Didnt you say earlier over 90 % of your profits were from led light sales....but then you said your profits were from working with computer skills?..I dont know if your confused or im confused but anyways if you have your parents supporting you with your goal (and they paid to have a million gal pond dug) you shouldnt have any problem getting any small business up and going.

never mind i see the patent, that really is ridiculous, a patent for using LEDs over marine tanks.

 

[Islander84]

and with any business....it takes time to clime the ladder. It takes time to find all the good and bad vendors or the ones that have better products for less money to maximize your profits. It takes time to find good employees that will stick around and be loyal. Unless you walk into a turnkey business it takes time to establish...some markets faster than others.As far as wasting four years or more on a business degree...lol...forget it. But majoring in engineering or something you could always quickly find a job and fall back to incase things dont work out...excellent idea! Or you could take a few short courses on things that you will actually use in your business do alot of research and go at it and hope for the best, or go work at a couple of lfs learn the system, do night classes or work part time and take classes on General Info you will use. Hiring someone smarter than you is also a good idea

 

[alton]

Go to school, work in a fish store, and in four years if you are still passionate about it and your parents back you up financially, go for it only after the economy picks up.

 

[snorvich]

The loophole around that is going to cause you to loose some profit until it takes off if its as good as you say. You specifically state as a disclaimer that the product is not recommended for use on a marine tank

Right. Patent attorneys would not even blink an eye before going after this one.

 

[jeff@zina.com]

Start by working in a fish store, or even a series of them, while you get your degree. Business management is a great degree for this, but for two years of college you basically learn nothing but how to learn. Concentrate your last two years on your work goals, whether they stay the same as now or not.

And volunteer at the zoo. You may prefer a zoology/ecology/biology degree instead.

Stay off drugs, don't drink until legal and for god's sake stay away from girls. They're the major reason it took me 23 years to get a bachelor's degree!

Jeff

 

[Anthony.Luciano]

i said 90% of my profits are from LEDs but as a life long career i would like to use my computer skills to make a living. and i took down the LED page on my website but are you saying that if i state that they are not intended for use on a marine tank i can still sell them. an orbitec also has a patent for mixing two color lights to make a different spectrum in liquid. so if i say these are ment for like lighting in a room i can sell them without any problems?

The loophole around that is going to cause you to loose some profit until it takes off if its as good as you say. You specifically state as a disclaimer that the product is not recommended for use on a marine tank......you market it for general lighting purposes. Didnt you say earlier over 90 % of your profits were from led light sales....but then you said your profits were from working with computer skills?..I dont know if your confused or im confused but anyways if you have your parents supporting you with your goal (and they paid to have a million gal pond dug) you shouldnt have any problem getting any small business up and going.

 

[snorvich]

i said 90% of my profits are from LEDs but as a life long career i would like to use my computer skills to make a living. and i took down the LED page on my website but are you saying that if i state that they are not intended for use on a marine tank i can still sell them. an orbitec also has a patent for mixing two color lights to make a different spectrum in liquid. so if i say these are ment for like lighting in a room i can sell them without any problems?

Short answer is no. You might also modify your signature to exclude details on your lights since you sell them commercially.

 

[Anthony.Luciano]

oh ok thanks. and im talking to someone from orbitec now. they say that my idea might not interfere with their patent since it is not using 1 single enclosure and their patent includes everything including power supply LEDs and controller in 1 enclosure. my LEDs will be separate from the power supply and the controller will be sold separately or just controlled by an apex so im still getting more details form them and approval to continue but it looks like what i will be doing will work out. and now that i realize how ridiculous patents can be. is there like patents against glueing leds to a heatsink or putting fans in an enclosure?

Short answer is no. You might also modify your signature to exclude details on your lights since you sell them commercially.

 

[Anthony.Luciano]

the lights in my signature are the diy ones i made for my personnel tank they look nothing like the ones i sell and have absolutely nothing to do with the ones i sell.

Short answer is no. You might also modify your signature to exclude details on your lights since you sell them commercially.

 

[jlylec]

oh ok thanks. and im talking to someone from orbitec now. they say that my idea might not interfere with their patent since it is not using 1 single enclosure and their patent includes everything including power supply LEDs and controller in 1 enclosure. my LEDs will be separate from the power supply and the controller will be sold separately or just controlled by an apex so im still getting more details form them and approval to continue but it looks like what i will be doing will work out. and now that i realize how ridiculous patents can be. is there like patents against glueing leds to a heatsink or putting fans in an enclosure?

I think it's somewhat smart to talk to somebody at orbitec. i'd play up the fact that you're a 10th grader too. otherwise i would have said you should have talked to a patent attorney before contacting them.

a patent doesn't keep you from doing anything...i just keeps you from profiting off something that somebody else has already thought of and registered. they're intentionally written somewhat vague to protect the original inventor. you could make an exact replica of a toyota camry in your basement, but don't try selling your new yotata cumry!

 

[snorvich]

I think it's somewhat smart to talk to somebody at orbitec. i'd play up the fact that you're a 10th grader too. otherwise i would have said you should have talked to a patent attorney before contacting them.

a patent doesn't keep you from doing anything...i just keeps you from profiting off something that somebody else has already thought of and registered. they're intentionally written somewhat vague to protect the original inventor. you could make an exact replica of a toyota camry in your basement, but don't try selling your new yotata cumry!

Good advice.

 

[ezerasurfr]

This thread got a lot more responses than I expected.

Some thoughts.
- I'm going to college no matter what. I won't have a ton of debt at the school I'm going to, but I will have some loans to pay off.
- I don't think my parents would support me with this financially at all - I would be all on my own.
- The school I'm going to is located in an urban area, that doesn't seem to have many good LFS, and no great ones. However judging by the reef clubs on these forums, there's a decent amount of interest.

All colleges and schools are expensive, and any loan you take out for education will compound interest while you're in school. Make sure whatever you go to school for can pay back you loans within 4 years of graduating otherwise it's not worth it. (education loans are the reason [IMO] most people these days cannot afford a house until they are in their 30s.)

 

[Faye]

I think the thinking between younger people less than 30 and people older 30 is education. 30-40 years ago it wasn't mandatory to get a degree and be successful. With the economy the way it is today and how competitive business is it will do nothing but help you to get a degree especially at this point in time in society.

No, it is still very possible to open a buisness that provides a service with no degree and become a success. The mentality behind buisness does not change as time passes. If I could go out and open shop twenty years ago, I can do it again today.

Even if you do have a business plan that is really good (I wrote one over the past year) nobody is going to lend you money in this economy. With no experience and a first time business owner, no bank or venture capitalist or angel investor is going to take that kind of risk.
Of course they won't. UPS started in somebodys basement. Just because you have to open your own buisness does not mean to run out and take out tons of loans with no form of income. Start small.
Therefore, go get a job part time at a local fish store while you go to school and earn your degree in business or something that interests you.I agree, the op will more than likely change his mind with what he wants to do.

 

[Anthony.Luciano]

well i have some good news that may have nothing to do with this topic but everyone that was talking to me might be interested. I've been speaking with Orbitec all day and they have agreed to never sue me for my LEDs and they told me they are doing everything in their power not to go to court again so i can continue with my LED business without having patent problems.

 

[lolgranny]

Best of luck bud, you better plan on making this your life as you will be working everyday all day until you can afford to have people do the work for you.

Make sure you look at locations and ones that will bring in alot of traffic. Ive seen a bunch fall out because they were hidden / in the middle of no where and people didnt know about it.

Have you thought about starting up inside your house 1st and seeing how it goes? You do this and you will be thousands of dollars ahead of the competition because you wont be payin xxxx$ for rent a month.

Not sure how much rent it for buildings by you, but for instance i have a few Dairy Queens around the Chicagoland area and im anywhere from $2500 - $3500 / month for ~1600sq/ft Make sure you do some good planning and figure everything out before investing in something you dont know everything about.

 

[Faye]

well i have some good news that may have nothing to do with this topic but everyone that was talking to me might be interested. I've been speaking with Orbitec all day and they have agreed to never sue me for my LEDs and they told me they are doing everything in their power not to go to court again so i can continue with my LED business without having patent problems.

You totally hijacked this thread...

 

[Anthony.Luciano]

yea sorry about that... i gave advice in the beginning and then everyone else started talking about my stuff. but to the OP. dont open up a live fish store in a building, start from your house and make a cheap little website to get to people from far away and then just get a good reputation and expand. as long as you start from your house, the most you can lose is like $100 for the business license and your time from planning everything. Good Luck!

You totally hijacked this thread...

 

[h20player101]

I would add for a general business model, focus on cost not sales. If your cost are low, you can always increase sales. Having to increase sales to cover overhead is death to the small business.

 

[campos]

ive owned my own buisness for the last 20 plus years, i have work in one of the worst recessions in decades. I have no education. I know othets who have opened local fish stores with no buisness degree. One of my uncles started out in sales and rose to VP with nothing more than high school. The kid is not looking to be general electric, he is looking to open up a store in a shopping center. He askef a question and i gave him my advice. I pointed out your mistake in an attempt to keep him away from misinformation. Settle down. As long as he understands basic math and supply and demand he'll be fine.

Please do not listen Faye. Things are a lot different now than they were in the 70's.

 

[Faye]

Please do not listen Faye. Things are a lot different now than they were in the 70's.

Yeah, the kid should listen to the ******* that can't count. The 70's were fourty years ago, you quoted me saying I have been employed for 20 years.