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File your taxes online if you only have a w-2. If you have a ton of other things then it might be worth paying someone else to do it. But otherwise do it online and it's simple and will take ya 30 mins. http://www.irs.gov/uac/Free-File%3A-...Taxes-for-Free

I'm in the final sprint now. Things seem to be coming together. The vision is starting to form up. My builder wants super bowl Sunday off. So I'll be doing some staining work on the wood racks on Sunday.

Just filed for a business license with the city I'm in. Only a handful of cities in my state require a city business license. I have a feeling this is going to be a battle. $125 to apply for a license. Had to have a to scale drawing of my layout of the store with intended uses. So they could...

Looks like I'll be pushing back my soft open till the 15th. The lighting I need for my aquariums is out of stock. They could fill 8 out of 50 fixtures I needed. They come in the 13th. Besides that I think I could use the time anyways to get more stuff done in the place.

Anyone have experience with a sign waver? Usually I see either real estate or Mattress outlet places using this. Basically a guy standing on a busy corner directing traffic to you. I'm about 1/2 mile off a big street/intersection. If they followed a guy pointing them in the direction they'd run...

Build your site the way you are. Being that they have backers etc. They need to see a bigger return much faster. Lots of these ideas fail because they don't turn money fast enough. They can drop 50k in 3 months. 9 months later they've only brought in 10k.. Money doesn't keep coming.. Has to shut...

Originally the soft open was planned for feb 1st. It looks like now it'll be feb 8th. Grand opening May 3rd. As it'll let me spread the word at a few local events to build hype.

As far as payment for the electrician goes. I've put $500 towards parts. Holding all other payment till the job is done. The neighbor seems to be cool with me now. After having the night to think on it she realizes it likely wasn't me at all. And has focused all the attention to the landlord...

Today was frustrating. The electrician I hired originally quoted 4 days to get the work I wanted done. That was last Saturday. He was also supposed to start last Friday not Saturday. Then after starting a day late, he took Sunday off for football. Early in the Week he thought he'd be done by...

Smoothed things over. Neighbor realizes it's not my fault. She submitted claim to her insurance. They kicked it over to the landlord and now the landlord is dodging it it seems. Atleast it's out of my hair now and I didn't make an enemy somehow.

I'm going to talk to the maintenance man tomorrow. But so far I've been saying I don't see how it's my fault. This looks like a landlord problem not ours.

IRL it's Mr. Corndog

So drama tonight at the shop. Neighbor comes over and says their window cracked down the middle of it and claims my construction caused it. Which is basically 0% chance as we were working on the other side of the unit. They claim the landlord wants nothing to do with and said to come talk to...

I plan to carry live blackworms, white clouds, guppies and live brine shrimp.

When I read marketing books etc. All the information is generally stuff we all know. All the books are really doing is hopefully explaining it in a way that connects with the reader. So whoever is the one that cracks your brain is the winner. Doesn't matter who is writing it as long as it...

Then plan is to have fish signs in the window and about 6 ft back from the window have some 40 gallon aquariums and to the left hand wall have a large aquarium so you Can see it from the window but not in direct sunlight. But yes with the brown paper up it does look like a hotel.

It's way more common than you think. Only on the high dollar fish. Just have a bucket of water in your car. Then grab a fish and put it in your pocket and walk out. It's super easy to pull off because no one thinks it's possible. Employees and stores don't watch for it. They're more worried...

I have a lumix zf35 point and shoot camera. I want to improve taking pictures of aquarium fish. Which is very difficult as it's a moving target, with lower light usually etc. Without buying a SLR. I'm looking for a way I can setup a external flash to shoot down from the top of the aquarium and...

Progress of sales counter Door to another unit that gets covered up. 3rd room with expensive fish and glass door eventually.

Water meter installed with lines running to both walls. Indirect waste lines put in on each wall to code. This is what is behind the rooms on the left side at the back. This will be walled off from the public and a shipping fish station put in.

So I thought I'd give some insight to the store build out at this point. Trying to achieve a upper class image. All my trim and countertop is being made out of maple. It's been locally harvested from sustainable growth and hand milled etc. The countertop has a live edge on each side meaning you...

Yep Chaotic that is my lure. Rare fish. I've spawned both the nics and geos before. There will actually be a room in my place that is under lock and key where 100+ fish sit. There will be expensive fish on the main floor etc. But some fish are more sensitive and fish theft does happen. The more...

I rocked these for a while:http://www.amazon.com/Skechers-Newma...tchers+slip+on They went the quickest of all the shoes. Once water got on them they started cracking. I'm actually planning on finding a shoe guy to put a shine on my shoes every so often to help be water resistant and keep em...

Yeah my current "dress shoes" are steve maddens. Until now I've just been a casual slob. I mean common I work at a local fish store. The norm was some jeans, a tshirt, some shoes etc. The problem is, these clothes/shoes will get wet daily. Fish poop etc will get on them. Investing in high end...

Ordered the book. Always looking for another read on business strats. As for a grand opening I'm not sure yet. I know for a petco/petsmart they typically get 70-100k people through their door the first weekend. I'm not sure how to structure the event for 1000 sq ft store. I've been...

Putting together my business uniform tonight. I'm shooting for business casual. I'm thinking these shoes:http://www.amazon.com/Dockers-Mens-P...posal+in+shoes For shirts I'm thinking these polos with my logo on them left chest.http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/produc...20006&cid=6983 Grey...

Great thread and I'll be using all the info here hopefully within the next year.

I know there are a few companies I have never seen in print or tv commercials that are definitely in my memory from radio. I know I've also pondered a radio ad, where I would rarely think about a print ad or commercial. I find it easy to think about a radio commercial while driving. Also...

My saying goes. "I won't remember your name, but I will remember your fish." Usually when you come in I ask you how your fish are doing and reference either the last fish you bought or what I found out you owned last time you were in. The problem is in the retail business, it's really hard to...

The problem is most LFS want to deal in everything if there is money to be made. But that makes them a master of none. I will be focusing on very specific nano tank to 55g range with plant friendly fish. Lots of rare apistos, tetras, danios etc. I myself am into a huge range of fish. But you...

Now, I consider myself very green in the saltwater arena. Show me any freshwater fish and I've bred it, but saltwater is an entirely different animal. I believe what it takes to make a retail store work and attract an advanced aquarist like yourself is things that aren't worth ordering or can't...

I do not. My store is planned to be freshwater only. With the focus of high end fish and planted tanks. The saltwater in my area has been on the steady decline over the last 5 years with saltwater stores closing shop and stores ditching saltwater alltogether. With the unemployment rate in...

So I have a new problem, I've never had before. Anytime I'm not working on the business I feel guilty. Like playing league of legends. Even if it's only for an hour. I feel like I shouldn't stop trying to improve the business somehow each hour I'm awake until I've at least "made it". As I view...

I'm of the opinion that meds are very seldom needed. Mostly for new fish. I use meds because I tend to keep a lot of wild caught fish. My puffer for instance had to be dewormed when he was young as he had parasites from the wild. Basically ALL puffers do if they're wild caught. The mantra I...

This sounds like a good store. Good stores are always worth the drive. The experience you describe is what I'm looking to provide to my customers. With time I may be able to match anything. Just depends how much volume you do to get prices down. What is the name of that store so I can like em on...

Yes I plan to sell online. I already ship a lot of fish out all over the country through Aquabid. WHich is just the ebay of fish if you weren't aware. Aspis can be hit or miss lots of time they're seasonal as not many people actually breed them. But I plan to have lots of more common stuff in...

This is actually a huge problem for all retail stores today. I was reading an article in a pet retailer magazine about "show rooming" which is the term for people touching and feeling the item in your store then buying it online. The only way to combat it is to lower the price. The problem is...

I agree with both of those statements. I think $80 a month for fios and phone with a $65 install fee and free $500 apple giftcard I can sell on ebay outweighs the comcast $100 a month with $200 install fee...

Well in general the LFS should be able to compete on price. It's typical that a fish tank gets a 30% or less markup. 15 or more years ago it was common place to sell the tanks for less than cost just to get the extra equipment/fish sales. Part of the problem is retail space has gone up in price...

There are only 2 options here. Comcast and Frontier. Frontier bought out Verizon. Honestly I was shocked the date was out that far. Now they've gotten it back to the 16th...