I Need Feedback on my Business Idea.

There are plenty of reef systems out there that the owner has NOTHING to do with. It's eye-candy so to speak in his/her home. Tank maintenance companies can do very well with that kind of clientele.

 

Most of the high dollar setups are done this way. Most of the reefers in my area that I know don't know anything about there tanks besides it's pretty. It's not a hobby for everyone, for some it's a piece of art and they just want it to look pretty and don't care what the cost. There is a very large market for high quality visually appealing large AIO systems. And I'm talking South MS.. I can only imagine larger more high end markets. Businesses are great customers for this type of setup as well.

 

Guys, I really appreciate the feedback so far. I want to focus some attention on a question that is really important ot the project.

What would make a stand better? What do you wish your stand allowed you to do? What do you wish it didn't do? Anything at all; what are the features that make a stand better than another?

 

Without commenting on the feasibility of your concept. You should figure out the dimensions of a system that you will be shipping, and the weight. Then call FedEx and UPS and get an estimate to ship them. This could really make or break your idea.

 

There's definitely an under served market out there for the mid-range type of setup that I think you're talking about. Right now you have basically 3 options - MDF from a big box store, full-custom or DIY.

I think if you could offer a semi-custom type of product that was aimed people moving up-market specifically those going from entry level to a more custom set-up you might capture some pretty good business. I believe you'd have to be national (i.e. internet based) in order to get any kind of scale though.

I've had some thoughts about this before as well, but it never went any further than that...

 

This says some of my hinking very well. I definitely plan to aim nationally for distribution.

 

Without a doubt, the shipping is brutal on this sort of thing. I have some ideas in this regard, but ultimately, UPS takes a painful lump.

 

- Invisible doors and the "ends" that allow you to access the sump not only from the front/back.

- A nice American DJ type electrical setup built in.

- Couple of little shelves inside, up towards the top, to hold some small frequently used items.

You plan on keeping your current job, right? What would the minimum start up costs be? To take it on fulltime would be a whole different ballgame. As said, you'd really have to see if this is something that could feasibly ship all over the US. If not, and this is to be local only, you really should do a market analysis if you are sinking any amount of money into it. The trend right now is, the "general public" is trying to maintain status while paying less. That leads to things that look comparable, but costs a fraction. 2008 and before, your idea would have been steller. Now the economy sucks.

 

Oh yeah, I'm planning to keep my current job. This is an investment idea. As for market, I have no in this if its a local venture. While I have tremendous respect for small shop craft, it is not what I have in mind. I have to be able to sell a reasonable number of units to be able to make what I want at a cost people can pay for. I don't know what that number is; I'm going to build mock-ups, then possibly a couple of model tanks and then I can start costing and working out production runs.

As for the economy, it won't suck forever (though its starting to feel like it may). I'm a contrarian. I think the time to invest is when everyone is hiding under the covers.

 

To make this full time you would have to sell directly to wholesellers who then sell to LFS's. Unless you did high end custom work and built to order for very expensive set-ups. And some people like the idea of metal stands for larger aquariums. So you might want to consider metal and wood as separate options.

I work for a LFS, and I think it's completely ridiculous (and so do my customers) that marineland/perfecto or aqueon/all-glass (the two largest aquarium and stand manufacturers) stands cost more than the tank that sits on top of them. For cheap looking and flimsy/lightweight feeling stands. Most of my customers dont like to pay more for a stand than the aquarium itself. Of course if you build high end stands you will be in a different market than the average hobbyist.

I also would go with stainless steel hinges because my perfecto stand hinges rusted and broke after a year of light salt creep.

Just my 2 cents