Bait shop?

[MisFitFarm]

With the way the economy is right now, I'm thinking it's not a good idea for anyone to invest in a new business. However, the little town five miles from our new farm no longer has a bait shop, and it's located on Lake Beshear. Lots of fishing going on! If a person did it on a small scale, doesn't it seem like this could be a good possibility for extra income? I wouldn't want to sink a lot of money in to it, since it wouldn't be a year round business, but it's a thought.

[Rocky Fields]

Hey.

Sounds good. I would try to locate the previous bait shop owner and find out why he quit. If you have the exact legal address, you could probably track hin down thru real estate records probably held in the county seat. Even if he rented, the owners probably could help you out. Some counties have real estate tax records online. Good Luck.

RF

[MisFitFarm]

Thanks Rocky, I figured it wouldn't hurt to at least check in to it.

[whiterabbit454]

hou 'bout instead of a "store" in the nornal sense why not a cart like the hotdog carts in new york this way you could be "open" when there are people there not having to be open all the time i think it would work

[MisFitFarm]

Hey Rabbit! That's along the lines of what we were thinking, but hadn't thought of a cart! That's worth looking in to. Then again, I already use my little red wagon a lot........

[whiterabbit454]

where are you located? im by owenton

[MisFitFarm]

At the moment, just outside of Owensboro. But pretty soon we'll be in Dawson Springs.

[Beltane]

Someone just opened a small bait shop in our town a few months ago. I haven't been in yet to check things out, but he sure looks happy every morning outside adjusting his rods and such in the morning. I think its a good idea - no matter how tight things get, folks will still go fishing.

[clovis]

What an exciting opportunity!!!

I think the key to a bait shop is keeping your overhead low.

I think the thing that kills most small businesses is cash flow and taxes, and bait shops fall in there too.

I have seen a few bait shops come and go, and some of the things that kills them are:
1) Seasonal business
2) Stock is overloaded on hard inventory like rods, reels, etc.
3) Cash flow...great for selling hard inventory in the summer, but nothing in the winter
4) Failure to exploit cash revenue opportunities

I have been in alot of bait shops. I see that most shops fail to sell high profit, fast selling items that add up over time, and add to the shop's bottom line.

These would include coffee, canned Cokes, ready to eat Hostess items, chips, beef jerky, popcorn, fountain drinks, breakfast items, bagged ice, single roll toliet paper, etc.

Why not sell all the impulse, got to have it now, consumables that anglers will use during the day?????

I have seen too many shops with the attitude of "if you can't fish with it, we don't sell it." At the same time, they have tens of thousands of dollars in hard inventory sitting and collecting dust, eating up valuable cash flow.

If I am going fishing, I am going to stop by, buy some bait, chat for a minute, and also pick up a few cans of pop, something to eat, and see if you can refill my coffee thermos. If you are on my way to work everyday, and are convenient, I might also stop in for coffee on my way to work.

Don't forget about rod and reel rentals...lots of folks will fish if you just rent them the rod cheap enough, and they will buy the pop and bait from you too. I was in one shop recently that rented a cheap rod and Zebco reel, with hook, for $2 a day. The owner told me it was one of the best money makers he had. (He did have some rods that rented for $5 a day.) He said you would be surprised how many people would rent 3 rods for themselves, plus one each for the kids, or how many people would rent the $5 rod when the cheap one would have done just as well. He also said that many of the rod/reel rentals went to folks that just wanted to fish for an hour, both to tourists and people on their lunch break. Don't forget to put that on your sign: Rent a pole for just $2"

Just my 2 cents.

[Oldcountryboy]

I've considered a portable bait shop. Rigged up so that I can carry live bait with me plus a little bit of tackle. I live nearby a river where I thought maybe I could drive through the many state parks on the weekends when the most crowd is and sell bait, tackle, and fire wood. Also there's a couple of hotspots nearby thats just loaded with people standing elbow to elbow when the fish are spawning in the spring. These are below one dam and a low water rock dam. When the sandbass are spawning people are continuously having to leave the area to go after more minnows, tackle, or food, and its about a 7 or 8 mile round trip to the nearest town. So food items would be a good thing to sell also in certain situations. In the hotspots like I just mentioned I would sell live and artificial bait, tackle, pop, chips, and sandwiches. I believe I'd make a killiing if I would just do it.

Several years ago when my oldest daughter was in Pre-K and Kindergarden they would have a fund raising in the spring time to raise money for the next school years supply. Which ever kid(s) sold the most candy bars got to be the spring festival King and Queen. Well we would take several boxes of candy bars with us when we would go fishing at the dam on weekends. Come about 10 or 11 O'clock we would whip out the candybars and start going around the bank and sell them. By this time a lot of people were getting hungry and didn't want to leave the hot action to go for food. We would have those candybars sold in no time. Both Pre-K and Kindergarden, my daughter would sell the most candybars and would win Queen of the spring festival the school would put on.

[blufford]

They are a little pricey. I don't see why you couldn't do the same thing with a used soda machine.


http://www.milton.edu/academics/page...ebio/bait.html


http://www.vending.com/catalog/plugi...nfig&ItemID=27

[pheasantplucker]

I'd be sure to include an obnoxious calliope machine that belts out music like an ice cream truck...

[Ken Scharabok]

While there may not be a formal bait shop in the area check around to make sure convenience stores aren't already supplying the local need.

You might consider a small, used trailer, say 8' x 30', gutted, and turned into the shop. You may be able to get permission to park it during the season at a heavily used boat ramp, open from say predawn to noon.

One problem you might have is dependability. If boaters come to rely on your being there they can get right ticked off if you aren't open.

My recommendation would be to start slow and then grow with demand.

For food items check to see if there is a vending machine refiller in your area. Locally we have one who does so, plus supplying local restaurants with cleaning supplies, napkins and such. They have the ability to buy in case lots through their supermarket supplier.

Plastic Thank You bags cost about $.04 each. Have family and friends start saving them for you to reuse.

For fishing supplies check out eBay. I've seen lures and such sold in bulk lots.

You might grow your own worms, cutting out the middleman's profit.

For shinners you might make an arrangement with a out-of-the-area bait shop to purchase in quantity from them at a discount to their retail price. For a tank a small horizon freezer with a battery-operated bubbler.

At one time crackers, Vienna saugage and sardines were stardard fishing snacks.

Do a Google search to see if you can find something like a National Association of Bait Shop Owners.

[stranger]

Originally Posted by MisFitFarm

With the way the economy is right now, I'm thinking it's not a good idea for anyone to invest in a new business. However, the little town five miles from our new farm no longer has a bait shop, and it's located on Lake Beshear. Lots of fishing going on! If a person did it on a small scale, doesn't it seem like this could be a good possibility for extra income? I wouldn't want to sink a lot of money in to it, since it wouldn't be a year round business, but it's a thought.

live bait will probably sell, but it's hard to compete with the Chinese and Wal-marts for anything else.

[MisFitFarm]

Originally Posted by stranger

live bait will probably sell, but it's hard to compete with the Chinese and Wal-marts for anything else.

True, however there aren't any Chinese or WalMarts in the area! This would be a convenience sort of thing. Who wants to drive 30 or 40 miles for bait when you're already settled in and having a good time?

[Ken Scharabok]

With say an old 14' travel trailer and sales of bait, limited snacks and rental Rs&Rls and cane poles you may be able to keep it attached to your vehicle.

[Shrek]

When I was running a bait worm route, I built small cardboard box stands on top of dorm refrigerators chilling the bait to 55 degrees to put in gas stations. The frige would hold 50 cups of worms in hybernation stasis and on the pegboard on top, I sold bobbers, hooks , sinkers , line and stringers.

On the sides of the units I had 6 inch diameter bubble wrap cores to hold a few cane poles and a rod holder to hold 5 cheap rod and reels.

Each bait stand cost me about $100 to build and stock with items from a local wholesale house.

When I sold off my bait route and mini stands, the five bait and tackle stands had all paid for themselves 3 to 5 years before. The longest stand break even time was about 18 months at the slowest volume station. The other 4 had bait sales that broke even within a year.

The guy I supply bait worms to now runs his bait stand on a pontoon boat and has peddler licenses in the counties of the lake he cruises his floating store on

[EDDIE BUCK]

If you do open a shop or a push cart, Have a plenty of boat paddles, cause if gas keeps going up they will be back in style an will sell like "hotcakes" lol Eddie

[nathan104]

Ive been considering doing this as well on a very small scale. Im only half a mile from the boat ramp and on one of the main roads going to the lake. I have plenty of road frontage in pasture. Been thinking of just building a very small shop or even just doing a little stand with a sign. Would be very easy to raise worms to sell and then youd also have the castings to sell or use. One thing Ive been thinking of for a while is to sell soured milo in buckets for the catfisherman. As far as I know, no one does this. Could be a good seller for little investment. Sell it in 5 gallon bucket and if they return the bucket at the end of the day they can get a dollar or two back.

Ive wondered if its legal to catch bait fish like shad in a cast net on the lake and then sell them frozen. I know a place below the dam I can go and fill several 5 gallon buckets with shad in a few minutes. Throw some in ziplock bags and sell them.

It would be neat to set the kids out there in a small stand selling bait, lol.

[Quint]

When I was a kid I sold nightcrawlers to bait shops and I also had a little store set up in a shed where I sold nightcrawlers, sinkers I made myself and some lures I made myself. I bought pop, chips and a few other things like that to sell and did pretty good with it. I bought cheap "little debbie" type snack cakes and candy bars by the box and the small bags of chips and the like from Aldi and sold them at a profit. I bought my pop from the station for a reduced price and sold it at a profit. At first I used an ice chest for the stuff but later I begged an old fridge from a neighbor who was throwing one out. Kept a couple of bags of ice in the freezer but never sold them for some reason. Frozen snicker bars and reeses peanut butter cups were a big seller though.

I was always kinda proud of the little store I had in that shed. I was not only selling stuff that I caught or made but grownups would come in and buy stuff from me. I thought that was neat as could be. I still have the little gray metal lock box I kept money in.