# whats needed to start a shop



## williamsom (Feb 24, 2009)

well as u can guess from the title what does it take to start/open a reptile shop.
firstly premises, psl licience, health and safety passed but what else if anyone who has started there own shop give me some advice as im looking to hopefully open one next year i have enough aside from my breeding schemes just need some more pointing in the right direction many thanks


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## Glaurung (Jun 27, 2009)

williamsom said:


> well as u can guess from the title what does it take to start/open a reptile shop.
> firstly premises, psl licience, health and safety passed but what else if anyone who has started there own shop give me some advice as im looking to hopefully open one next year i have enough aside from my breeding schemes just need some more pointing in the right direction many thanks


A HUGE amount of cash to fall back on for the first year. Also insurence. And getting deals on live stock and supplys and food. That what I've got from the top of my head. : victory:


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## williamsom (Feb 24, 2009)

Glaurung said:


> A HUGE amount of cash to fall back on for the first year. Also insurence. And getting deals on live stock and supplys and food. That what I've got from the top of my head. : victory:


yeah i thought that i have a fair bit stached away and should make a fair bit more begging of next year, and im working on contacts for live stock and stuff i have torts covered and a few snake morphs covered, just wondered what the call for would be like in cambridgeshire(huntingdon/st ives area)


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## New2Reptiles (Jul 22, 2009)

A well situated premises that has plenty of nearby parking even be it pay and display it is better than driving round and round looking for a space.
Also you will want customers to be able to get parked reasonably close by if they are going to buy a vivarium or something else heavy.
Popular shops nearby is usually a good thing for the passing trade and possibility of first time buyers.


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## williamsom (Feb 24, 2009)

think i have the covered with the premises ive got in mind has the bus station 50ft away car park about 50/60ft and 6 spaces out front, and its just off the town centre


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## xxstaggyxx (Oct 22, 2008)

I have a few suppliers i will tell you about 

1.Monkfield nutrition number:01223 208261 
2.Euro Rep:020 8573 4311 - there are quite exspensive even at trade level
3.Underworld: 01509 610310

these are the suppliers i use a present but i am waiting back from a few more wholesalers


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## Matt Northampton (Dec 20, 2006)

The suppliers are the easy bit as long as you have good credit they will help you how they can, the hard bit is finding the right premesis, solicitors, negotiating with landlords and finding the capitol to start with. When we set up the solicitors alone cost 4K so be prepared for for some shocks. A lot depends on where you want the shop, if you want a good spot where there is parking and foot fall passing or you want a back street where its hard to find and you end up spending a shed load extra on advertising. If you serious give it a go but it will cost more than you would imagine and money is hard to borrow at the moment, also forget time off , holidays , a social life, and a finacial comfort zone and be prepared for very long hours ,stress, no regular pay and strained personal relationships. I know this post is a bit negative but to start with its hard work and sometimes you think why did I bother but also its very rewarding and you will meet some good friends, but the biggest mistake I have seen peole make is to make a shop an extension of their own collection , its a business and has to be run as such.


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## Jim2109 (Mar 30, 2009)

Business support, information and advice | Business Link

read that site from start to finish, get your ideas clear and think about what it is you are setting out to achieve, write a solid business plan (which will include all of the necessary research into the market, suppliers, etc), and then take it from there.

setting up any business is fairly tricky, setting up in retail carries a lot of additional hurdles. its also typically expensive to start out in, because shops work best when they are in high traffic areas (e.g shopping malls, high streets, etc), which also means ££££ for renting due to demand. since reptiles really shouldnt be impulse purchases, and really shouldnt be in the same place as clothes shops, etc, it may pay to consider small business centres. these are currently popping up in every town and city all over the place, where they build a site with 50+ small business units. the units have a monthly rental price which includes most of the overheads, you tend to have to pay for telephone and electric usage on top, but the units are all fully fitted out ready to use with phone line, electric, etc. you just have to furnish the units however you see fit. they also tend to be on monthly rolling leases, so you arent committing too much money to it. most of them offer the first 3-6 months free, then some additional months at a discount rate, although the full rent tends to get steep once its at full price. its definitely worth considering though for a startup company. youd probably be located a bit out of the way from normal retail outlets, but if people know about the shop they will come to visit, and reptiles are a specialised market so that is in your favour.


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## blood and guts (May 30, 2007)

To run a good reptile shop other then the money and locality side of things you need one all important thing,

A very good all round knoledge of all things reptile.

Fail on this one thing and customers will walk away and worse still give you a bad reputation, infact not knowing enough you do that yourself.

Sorry to be negative but seen many with the wish to start a shop through dreams of easy money and they not only lack the business side of there knoledge but just aint clued enough on the stuff they will be selling. I dont mean this in anyway as a personal dig as i dont know you and have read no other posts by you but its somthing to bear in mind.

Ive been self employed in the past in a few diffrent areas with plans to go into reptiles, the best thing i did was keeping reptiles as a hobby and getting a job with a stable income. I could easy work 20 hour days with nothing to show for it and was lucky i had little over heads, a shop has many that must be met befor you can even think of eating and sleeping.


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## Jim2109 (Mar 30, 2009)

blood and guts said:


> the best thing i did was keeping reptiles as a hobby and getting a job with a stable income.


this is a very good point, and something that always needs consideration with setting up your own business. most people that set up their own business set up a business that coincides with their interests/knowledge.

if your knowledge is accounting, well thats not something youre particularly likely to want to take home with you lol. if your knowledge is reptiles, well thats something that is very much a hobby as well. the danger is that by spending all day everyday slogging away doing your "hobby" for a job, you can start to lose interest in it. eventually you can become fed up of it and it becomes just a job, and you lose your hobby and interest, which is detrimental to your life.

i work in motorsport, its been my main interest and hobby for much of my life. once you spend all day everyday doing it the excitement dwindles somewhat. i can watch what 10 years ago would have been an awesome race car fly past me on a pit wall, and not even pay it a glance. its just another car going round and round, as long as whatever car im working with is faster thats all i care about lol. luckily im still very interested in my work from a technical standpoint, and i still learn something new everyday. i also have a zillion other hobbies (too many in fact) to fall back on. i cant really think of another job in the world that id rather be doing, so it isnt a problem for me.

what im trying to say though, after all that rambling, is to consider whether you should keep your hobbies and your work seperate, and consider that if you do your hobby for a job there is a chance youll get sick of it over time. can you afford to lose your favourite hobby in that way? if not then setting up a reptile shop is potentially a bad idea. on the other hand, if you absolutely love reptiles and wont get fed of of them, then setting up a shop can also be a great idea, as an enthusiastic shop owner will pass that enthusiasm on to the customers and theres nothing better than buying something from a shop owner that thinks in the same way as you do and that you can relate to.


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## williamsom (Feb 24, 2009)

i have plenty of experience with buisness i run restaraunts with a turn over of over a million a year, so the buisness part isnt a problem i dont have to worry about solicators and estate agents as my OH is an estate agent and we get discounted solicators fee only pay cost price, experience with reptiles isnt so much of an issue my family has kept dwa since i was 11 and ive had experience with camians large retics, royals, corns all sorts of snakes kept a fair few lizards in 16 years as well also had parrots. ring tail lemurs and so on, thinking of starting up with my dad and doing a family run buisness as between us we proparly have over 40yrs of experience with exotics


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## Victoria_O (Jan 11, 2009)

We are also opening a shop in that area. We will be either in Huntingdon or Peterborough depending on where we feel there is a greater market. We will be opening in mid 2010

Vicki x


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## williamsom (Feb 24, 2009)

ok cool we need more around this area, where abouts in huntingdon have you looked and how have you found the prices pm if u like


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## Victoria_O (Jan 11, 2009)

We have been offered a number of properties including a large one opposite wilkinsons in the main town square. The rent P.a is around £18,000 which is very appealing indeed. We have a plan drawn up for the shop above to house around 250 vivariums with a number of additional show vivariums.


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## williamsom (Feb 24, 2009)

lol believe it or not i looked at the same place on the square on the corner going down the path to centre :lol2:


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## arwen (Jan 9, 2008)

Also bear in mind when we got our pet shop license we needed to show to the inspector that we had knowledge of animal care- i had been on a 2yr animal course a few years ago and he also knew that i had ran a childrens farm previous to owning our shop , not sure if all inspectors ask this but surely they should do to make sure the owner knows what their on about.

we have been open for 3 years and are still not really showing a profit as such it takes soo much money and time to start up alot more than we first thought it is literally 7 days a week all the time day and night and if you breed alot of the reptiles yourself as i do it is even more time consuming when you get home you have to start again and don't get me wrong i love reptiles/insects etc but it would be nice to just get in and sit down and watch t.v!!

if you want any more help then pm me 

suzanne


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