do you think a fishing shop in michigan can profit?

[michfishgod]

with what i spend in fishing gear i think it would. see we have no shops close by to bs etc... this is ware i thought it mite be a good idea to open a fishing only shop. like lake side tackle before they closed up. in farminton or even lovina tackle before they closed up lol's. all i got around me is gander moutian and dick's. then there is bass pro in pontiac and cabelas in dundee. so what is your thoughts on this of course i would start small and work my way up to a bigger building like lake side.
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[davetclown]

depends on where you are fishing,

if you are going to kensington on grand river rd between milford road and the entrance on the south side. dont remember the name. Party store / bait and tackle

on milford road across from the park entrance is another party store / bait and tackle.

on duck lake road north of m 59 across from the lake is a bait and tackle shop.

on m 59 and williams lake rd next to pontiac lake is K&D sports shop.

are you seeing a pattern here? I hope so, it is pointless to put up a bait and tackle shop unless you are near where your coustomer is going to use your product.

500 oo a year is a drop in the bucket when it comes to keeping stocked up on what you need to get though the year.

the average angler today dosnt spend 25.oo a year, and that includes what they spend on thier licenses. Then again, he only goes fishing 4-5 times a year.

the rest of us would rather be on the water chasing fish sticks than being anywhere else.

point is, location location location, I know mc sporting goods is probably gone on 14 and orchard lake rd, I havent been there in 10 years. there is a new dicks over in novi. you will be hard pressed to get a box of worms and that is about the extent of thier live bait.

DC, Walts, and other live bait suppliers are supplying worms and such at every gas station and mom and pop store in the area flooding the market with bait.

there are 5 party stores and one gas station with in a mile of my house and of the six places, 5 of them sell wroms and grubs. with in 5 miles there are 30 stores that sell worms and grubs.

to be able to have the bait and tackle shop like you want, you would need to have a good location plus an added market on top of the bait shop, say a coffee and donut shop, or a breakfast diner... somethin...

between the bulk market stores and bait suppliers selling your business to every one else in town you will be hard pressed to make a living.

so maybe with a few tables selling coffee and donuts and fountain sodas along with counter candies and chips you might, maybe make enough money to pay the rent.

I remember how you had to sign a contract with live bait supplies to buy only from them, and now you still have to sign that same contract, yet they will drive across the street and supply the gas station with the same product you are trying to make a living on..

[michfishgod]

ya the one on milford road is holdens party store they have a deli etc to compensate for it. i am wondering how they can do it. it is just as your saying. even up north they have 50 gas stations and stores with in 45 miles of manistee that have flies in them. there is to many people doing it how could i survive at it lol's. it always a dream lol's why lose it j/k.
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[davetclown]

there is one thing that can help,
that is getting a minnow retailers license.

if you can provide minnows that will help to get costumers in the doors.

Keep the dream,

keep the dream, but be realistic about it. You dont need a lot, maybe like I said, be able to serve coffee, ice cream cones, pre packaged snacks, maybe hot dogs. Keep it simple.. the more cooking you have to do, the more labor intencive it gets.

[davetclown]

there is another way of off setting the cost of running a bait shop, I had forgotten about this.

that is to own in conjunction with the bait shop a couple charter boats. one or two for the great lakes and a smaller guide service for inland lakes.

Running the charter buisness though the shop.

this would have to be a mom and pop style business.

when you are on the charter your wife is at the shop, when you are not on the charter you are in the shop and the wife has the day off.

the only day your closed is christmas day.

you are open by 5 am, you dont close till dark thrity. "thats an hour after dark" This way you accomidate your morning anglers and evening anglers.

there are reasons for opperating longer hours if you are fortunate to fall in to an area that suports it.

[michfishgod]

the second post is what i was thinking cause dead minnow's will stink up the place. see my brother has his boat and a lot of connections for fishing on the salmon trail on lake michigan. and i have met more then a few of them i am. thinking case my sister is a accountant my one brother love to fish and my other brother a lawyer i should have no problem. starting a business just got to get them all together. and coordinate the effort. the one that love to fish has his licences and can charter fish. i just got to do the same thing but for river fishing. instead of on the great lakes. thinking about it up north but how the hell can one survive up there in the winter. that is why i was thinking a small shop down hear and run a guide service out of it. if i do that minnows would help for the ice fishermen. ya but it all depends. to many variables right now just to jump in with cement shoes on lol's
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[davetclown]

with out a doubt. It is a gamble.

unfortunatly, I have lost every time I made the bet.

in the last 10 years we have had 3 winters with no ice, and a couple three more with only a month of walkable ice.

so it is not much better down here.

up north you are kinda chumped after the end of november cuz they close down all the state camping grounds only a few privet camps stay open.

Last time I was up, there was a lodging camp on the side of a river that was up for sale. the part was it was booked with mostly low rent residents from town.

last time I was up north I saw shop after shop closed down. much the same as here.

live minnow will get prople in the door. just so long as the door is open. minnows sell in the summer time as well.

as long as you are vidgulent in pulling the dead out of your tank the smell isnt that bad, plus it is the smell that adds to the whole bait shop abveance. "sory spelling is attroshious"

you can get donuts delivered from your local shop, there is a duncan shop near me that delivers if you can sell enough of them, other wise it is open 24 hours so you can go in and stock up for the day at any time, even an hour before your store opens. There is an ice cream shop near me that found a way to stay open year round, in the winter it sells coffee and donuts via drive though.

as for your brother doing the charter, it wont help you unless he wants to dump all the proceeds in to the shop. honestly I see only problems there, how ever if he would agree to give you a royalty for costomers you send his way you might pick up a couple dollars.

he will need to manage his fairs, taxes and licenses. not to mention keep his family fed and a roof over his head in the winter..

how ever if you can garentee him some sort of income from your shop though the winter you might be able to get every one on the same boat sort to speak. The trick is finding what percentage will do the ballance.

you dont need a lawyer 365 days a year, You only need an accountant once a week or a month if you go sallery in sted of hourly. If you take a short class on bussiness accounting you will only need an accountant once a year. You can pay the suta, futa, soc, and business taxes on your own, You can also handle your accounts payable and receivable during the off peek hours of the day.

every bussiness has the same game plan weather it is being a clown, a lemonaid stand, lawn cutting service or meijers thrifty acres. It is all the same tax wise. Granted the bigger you are the greater the percentage of your money you get to keep.. but that is a whole nother story.

Having a boat that you can opperate will give you the forward latteral to dump all the earning in to your shop. There are people who will keep the busineses seperate for several reasons, untill you hit that magic income number mark, some times it is wiser to keep them seperate accounting wise and leagaly wise. meaning if one part fails and goes belly up for any reason weather it be lack of income or forclosure or business taxes, you dont loose the whole cart of mellons hitting a hole in the road.

the up side is when you have family get togethers you can write off parts of the expences to your business.

say you get the family together for a holliday, then at some point in time you leave the kids with gramps and you set down to a meeting about how the business is going discussing past curent and futer game plans and so on...

there are ways to make it work in to your advantage.

the problem right now is the collapsed aconnomy, michigan is one of the worst hit in the nation. Michigan much like the state of California has higher than normal living expenditures business wise. which is why so many people have left the state. Compitition from larger companies is so great that it keeps 99% of all new start up businesses in failure mode.

rule of thumb is to have enough cash on hand to keep you a float for 6 months. well right now you better have enough cash on hand to keep you a float for 10 years.

corperate has a strangle hold on our government, and I am starting to see another downward faze, the cost of buying off polittions is becoming so great that corperate owners are running for office on thier own.

dont mind me, I am just ranting, there are that 1% that dose manage to find a foot hold and if so long as it is something you enjoy doing and you can make enough to meet every ones needs you may find your self with a happy existance.

[michfishgod]

i don't see it as a rant cause your right it life. i even thought about the rental cabin route too or even a camp ground route too. problem is there is not enough fishers up there in the winter. there all down south hibernating. to make a profit there has to be another way. but with the economy the way it is how the heck could i do it. i would have to own a gander moutian which is a private store just to profit from the venture and run on line sales etc... which is a pain. any ways your bring up good points i can see you got experince at it. glad i ask now.
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