I would like to open a bird store

[SDavid]

Turning something you love into a business venture can be a rude awakening. Remember that you'd be dealing with the public at large and not necessarily BirdBoard type people who'd appreciate a good breeder, bird store, etc.

The percentage of people (customers) that you'd get that are "good" customers like us here are in the minority and won't be enough to sustain your buisiness. You'd have to cater to the average person out there and they won't be loyal to a "good" pet store (or someone who cares) but the store that has the lowest prices. In addition you'd have to know how to choose a location (learn what makes a good location if you don't know), and also know where and who your competition in the area is (not close to a Petco), and you'd have to expand what you sell to include other pets. To an extent that's a must. Again, because a bird-only type store won't bring in as many people. Every other household has a cat or a dog and you'd have to take advantage of those potential customers to have a better chance of making it. Get ready also for people who want to return birds that bite or scream and the million other ignorant people that you'd have to deal with constantly. Every month you'd also have to make the hard decision of selling a bird to a bad person VS. paying the rent. The end of the month comes quickly. By the time you've screened a buyer he's already bought from the other guy who didn't screen and you lost the sale.

You don't need a buisiness degree as this is a fairly unique buisiness. I'm a former MBA student and finance, marketing, etc. classes won't help much when it comes to this. You need to befriend a professional in your chosen field and learn from them and work for a pet store if possible. Observe little mom and pop stores in your area of any kind and see how long they stay in buisiness or how quickly they go out of buisiness when, for instance, someone bigger comes along. Again, this is the age of superstores and mom and pop run stores have a difficult time competing and are disappearing fast.

[SDavid]

But, as for how you could start. If I were to do it I might start by breeding canaries, finches, or budgies at home (if you can) and selling to the public and other bird stores. That way you could get a sense of the market, make your connections, and learn about birdkeeping in general. Do this for a long time. I wouldn't get a storefront right away. Let that come either if you see the potential for growth or when the need arises. Well, that's my thinking, to start small and grow. When you have a storefront you can stop breeding and get your birds from other breeders. Or, continue to breed the small ones at the location, etc. Whatever you'd want to do.

But, I'd really like to emphasize to you, please don't fall into the trap of thinking that if you're a good person, love birds, and care for them, and have real expertise etc. that those qualities alone will bring you success. Buisiness savy is first and foremost. We all know of a "trainer" of bird tricks who's isn't well thought of but is still successfull. That shoud tell you something about the power of proper marketing and about the public and who they will buy from.

And, of course, I wish you lots of luck.

[BigBird]

My dream also is to have a pet store specialising in Birds. I agree with SDavid a good heart aint gonna pay the rent. Not many shops that I can think of have the luxury of being able to screen every customer, however provided they provide each customer with as much information as they can at point of sale ie fact sheets, birds dont live on seed alone, lorikeets poop can cover your walls, can you live in a house that sounds like a jungle, birds make mess, birds need fresh fruit/veg and water every day, this breed eats this and that breed eats those. Maybe even put on little half hour presentations on the weekend on how to look after your bird, clean its cage, feed it, recipes etc on weekends with Qand A afterwards. As long as you know your customer is informed when they walk out the door with a new pet you should be able to rest at night. The rest is up to the bird owner. Reserve the right to not sell to somebody, but be realistic about it. You cant just sell to the extreme bird owner. You are going to have some who just want a canary that will look pretty and sit in the corner singing songs all day. Not everyone wants the bird to be living on their shoulder, in their dinner or messing up their house. Great idea as mentioned above is to work for a while at a local pet store, volunteer your services for a few hours a week. See if it really is for you. There is a lot of hard work involved, maintenance, stock, finding stockists who will give you product on credit as a new store owner, staff, location, long hours. Dont get me wrong it would be fantastic and I hope you do it, god knows how much I want to. But its not all cotton tails and fairy floss.

[BigBird]

My dream also is to have a pet store specialising in Birds. I agree with SDavid a good heart aint gonna pay the rent. Not many shops that I can think of have the luxury of being able to screen every customer, however provided they provide each customer with as much information as they can at point of sale ie fact sheets, birds dont live on seed alone, lorikeets poop can cover your walls, can you live in a house that sounds like a jungle, birds make mess, birds need fresh fruit/veg and water every day, this breed eats this and that breed eats those. Maybe even put on little half hour presentations on the weekend on how to look after your bird, clean its cage, feed it, recipes etc on weekends with Qand A afterwards. As long as you know your customer is informed when they walk out the door with a new pet you should be able to rest at night. The rest is up to the bird owner. Reserve the right to not sell to somebody, but be realistic about it. You cant just sell to the extreme bird owner. You are going to have some who just want a canary that will look pretty and sit in the corner singing songs all day. Not everyone wants the bird to be living on their shoulder, in their dinner or messing up their house. Great idea as mentioned above is to work for a while at a local pet store, volunteer your services for a few hours a week. See if it really is for you. There is a lot of hard work involved, maintenance, stock, finding stockists who will give you product on credit as a new store owner, staff, location, long hours. Dont get me wrong it would be fantastic and I hope you do it, god knows how much I want to. But its not all cotton tails and fairy floss.

[haightm]

SDavid is absolutely right. Have you thought of maybe fostering or rescuing? You could make a big difference in some poor bird’s life that really needs the help. Probably not much income potential here though. You could always work at a local pet store on the side.

[kat3k]

SDavid has given a good answer and hit all the points. I have a suggestion. How about a bird placement service, rescue oriented? You would have the joy of helping birds needing to be rehomed, and it might be a little more of a niche market. You could deal with the enthusiastic, Bird Board type buyers, and you could do the birds (companion types) a very great service by providing intermin care, R & R, and not adding to the breeding of birds where not enough market for a lifetime home exists. You might expand on the standard "rescue" by selling supplies and anything else bird related. Again, you'd have to know your market and your competition. If you live in the vicinity of another bird shop or rescue, it might not work for you. (The more I describe it, the more appealing it sounds to me - I think I'm getting myself sold on it!) But back to you, no matter how you look at it, I would not think there'd be very much money to be made. If you really love birds and caring for them, and are looking for a way to pay some of the expenses of a bird project, that might work. Good luck on your decision.

[Astrid660]

My mom took business admin, and she said it was extremely difficult and didn't pertain much to operating a business. Hm. ?
I think hands on experience is the way to go - hanging out with people in the pet bird store industry, asking them questions about whether it's the right/wrong route for you to go. Lots of people are happy to talk about their own personal experiences!

Good luck! And if this doesn't work out, maybe you could just rescue birds?

[alwaysontimneh]

I am no expert but I honestly do think that you don't have to have the lowest price around to make it as a bird shop. When we bought our TAG we went to many places and we bought from the most expensive one in our area because the employees knew about birds and listened to what we wanted and told us both the good, the bad, and the ugly about each bird there. The store was always kept clean and you could tell that the employees LOVED birds. They made buying a breeze and had helpful answers to all of our questions, its a small shop so they were able to take us around and show us everything that we would need to bring him home. Another good way to help bring in some more money to help pay the rent is boarding they offer boarding for birds we thought this was great because if we ever have to go out of town with out him we can take him to people he already knows. In my opinion go after your dreams no matter how big or hard they may be, as long as you realize that its not going to be easy then your a step ahead of some people. anything that is not hard work is hardly worth having. Good Luck

[Oscar8]

THANK YOU for all of the great advice. What a reality check. I appreciate the pros and the cons. Maybe I will start small out of my home. I also liked the idea of rescuing birds. I never thought of the fact that not everyone loves birds the way we (BirdBoard) do. So, I will take everyones advice, think this through, and keep you posted.