Personally, I think there are some unbelievely nice wakins, comets and shunbunkins fish out there that can give the koi sold in pet stores a run for their money. Sure, goldfish do not get as big as a carp and, even though I am Texan where folk say "bigger is better", I do not entirely agree with it. Koi keeping has a long history of prestige and breeding and this is why I think there is much money out their involved with them. I would not mind at all having a big pond of 10~14" very nice looking goldfish eventhough they are not the size of a buick. The very nice goldfish from Hawaii have a tremendous shipping cost and I would definitely pay it to have one of their nice goldfish.
Quite likely 4 reasons why pond stores do not do as good as they might should be performing: 1) Economy determining what the consumer can afford to buy; 2) Government interference by preventing a product, reducing international and global commerce; 3) Technology; 4) Perseverance, vision, networking, and evolving.
I think point #1 and #2 is a self explanatory. Ponding is one of those niche luxury interests that is definitely not as recission proof such as agriculture. However, in agriculture, resources, weather, Mother Nature, and government interference determines whether we stay in business. The commonality though between the two is that good decisions, not denying opportunity when it presents itself, and taking reasonable risks is what makes a business successful.
There have been many old family farms that have sold out simply due to not wanting to evolve, not wanting to make a smaller paycheck, and can't seem to stop making bad decisions. So many folk have asked me why I have not completely sold out yet and how I am surviving. Welp, I am surviving since I still enjoy agriculture, make good decisions, reasonable risks, willing to take a smaller paycheck and have fewer luxuries, and still have that perseverance, vision, networking, and never stop evolving how I farm. Too many folk are stuck in a particular lifestyle or farming fad or do not budge from their old traditional methodoligies and do not adapt.
Point #3. Technology. To show how I relate to this and have experienced this as a family farmer, nowadays, I am capable of managing and operating 2,000 acres of irrigatable farm land by myself for the majority of the year, with the occasional one or two extra, part time, seasonal work. Since I don't have to rogue or manually harvest any of my crops, my labor input costs, including all of the other costs of hiring someone, are very low. Back when my grandfather was managing and operating this farm with the same crops, he had at the very least a dozen employees to do what I do now due to smaller machinery and lack of technology. I think this is the big difference between online retailers and the contemporary retailer. The online retailers just need a warehouse, their own shop that includes their offices, a couple or handful of employees, and from here they can reach many more consumers with
out the very significant additional employees and input costs of opening a new store in multiple locations. There are obvious disadvantages of online retailers such as the lack of the hands on experience, talking to someone in person, and knowing there is someone locally in the area within a reasonable distance for possible assistance.
Personally, I would much rather do business with folk in person, but the fact of the matter is that more and more folk are becoming comfortable with doing business without this personal interaction or personal connection. I think it is a very significant opportunity lost for even the local pond store guy to not have a very strong online presence and to not attempt to digitize their business. It is very easy to do and no where as expensive as it used to be 15 years ago, which brings me to point #4.
Point #4. Perseverance, vision, networking, and never stop evolving.
It really bugs me when I hear a business say, " I stopped doing it since it was too much of a headache. ". I understand the possible risk to reputation when doing such things and the consequences of when a business fails to deliver customer satisfaction. Due to the age of information and technology, it is much easier for folk to express their negative experiences and even easier to publicly announce it versus sharing the positive since folk are more willing to express boisterous complaints rather than express appreciation and gratitude for when a product has been positive for them. Unfortunately, this does scare many folk and this fear dictates their actions that then prevents them from growing their business and, ultimately, this shortcoming becomes the downfall of their business.
My personal belief is that, if a business stops reinventing some aspect (be it small or large) of their business, then they are doomed to fail.
