My store ( BirdBrain Parrots) after 18 months is breaking even at the end of each month. We carry food & supplies for all animals but my main focus is parrots. I have always felt that this is my expertise and the profit margin is better on the bird supplies. We sell parrots, reptiles and small animals. No dogs or cats but I do have a puppy broker when someone wants a dog.
My husband feels that we need to concentrate more on the puppy/dog end. The profit margin is awful for a small business that is 100 sq feet( not a big enough order to get good prices) and since I only carry premium food the sell by date is a lot shorter then the really popular brands. Plus dog stuff takes up a lot of real estate space. The issue is that dogs are the most popular pet owned. I have signs on the window saying we carry dog, cat etc as well as bird stuff. People don't seem to like to read anymore though.
The question is the name of our business needing to be changed? I have decided to compromise and have hired someone to do some graphics for the window that has dog and cat as well as bird images. The other issue is that I consider us a specialty store and I don't want to sell crap yet its the crap that people buy because they don't know any better. They don't realize that by products can make your pet ill and that lots of the popular brands have recalls often ( often voluntary for the merchant) but the brands I sell have them very infrequently.
So the matter at hand is....I am torn...I opened the store with the intentions of being a voice and educating people as to how to care for their pet properly. I am a business and need to make money but I never wanted to be you typical pet store that sells stuff just because we can. I need to put this all into perspective so I can make a decision. I have read lots of posts here that always lean toward..sell what sells but in this case we are talking about live animals that become family members.
I would appreciate any of your feed back on this subject.
My husband feels that we need to concentrate more on the puppy/dog end. The profit margin is awful for a small business that is 100 sq feet( not a big enough order to get good prices) and since I only carry premium food the sell by date is a lot shorter then the really popular brands. Plus dog stuff takes up a lot of real estate space. The issue is that dogs are the most popular pet owned. I have signs on the window saying we carry dog, cat etc as well as bird stuff. People don't seem to like to read anymore though.
The question is the name of our business needing to be changed? I have decided to compromise and have hired someone to do some graphics for the window that has dog and cat as well as bird images. The other issue is that I consider us a specialty store and I don't want to sell crap yet its the crap that people buy because they don't know any better. They don't realize that by products can make your pet ill and that lots of the popular brands have recalls often ( often voluntary for the merchant) but the brands I sell have them very infrequently.
So the matter at hand is....I am torn...I opened the store with the intentions of being a voice and educating people as to how to care for their pet properly. I am a business and need to make money but I never wanted to be you typical pet store that sells stuff just because we can. I need to put this all into perspective so I can make a decision. I have read lots of posts here that always lean toward..sell what sells but in this case we are talking about live animals that become family members.
I would appreciate any of your feed back on this subject.
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