Clownfish Sales: Wholesale or home grown?

[ClownfishHatchery]

I have bought and resold clownfish from wholesalers and I have also been breeding and selling clownfish for a few years now. From your experiences, which do you think is more profitable, selling clowns from wholesalers or breeding them yourself? Please explain why you feel that way?

[downbydasea]

So heres my 2 cents on this.
I guess the question is can you produce a single 30-60 day old fish ( plain O&W ocellaris ) for $5.25. If you can then producing them yourself will be more profitable. I am pretty sure that most small scale breeders will have a challenge with doing this.
Now when you say "resale" do you mean retail or wholesale to a LFS? If you are selling retail then raising them yourself would be less profitable just do to the time requirements (I can think of serval more things I can be doing to make money ). Whats having 2 or 3 dollars less margin in your fish?
However with that said, there is something to be said for raising your own. First you have the satisfaction of actually providing a fish to the market that is up to your standards ( quality and size of the fish ). In my market area the big complaint is the LFS are ordering from the big players and what is shipped is always a suprise on the size...noramlly to the small size and of course the actuall ordered amount may not get shipped, so I am offering larger fish and suppling what the LFS actually needs or wants with the benifit of personal service and delivery which I can get a couple extra dollars per fish.
As you are aware there are many facets of the business to make a dollar so a strong, versitile yet flexable marketing plan in conjunction with a well organized breeding program is the key I believe to success, however you measure that success by ( either the dollars or personal satisfaction).

Again just my opinion. I would be interested in what others think.

James

[downbydasea]

on another note moderators might want to move this to the business forum.