Meet Frank Garner | Saltwater Aquarium and Fish store owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Frank Garner and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Frank, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Initially I’d figured that if I could create a business that I enjoyed that would put food on the table, I could do these things with minimal time invested…far less time that would be required to when working for someone else. I’ve done it long enough now to know that you can indeed put food on the table but that minimal time idea doesn’t apply in all self employed businesses.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I think that what sets me apart from others is my honesty about what I’m selling. I try not to sell the same thing twice to the same customer. If there is a large enough gap between the price of something that a customer wants and what I know they need, I explain the differences upfront. Cheaper is not necessarily better. Nor is more expensive. But the right equipment to run the aquarium that a customer is either purchasing or already have makes good dollars and cents! ( sense ) This honesty is the best customer rentention.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love a great steak. I love to grill. But when I’m not grilling the steak myself, I enjoy and dine with my friends at Saltgrass restaurants in the Fort Worth area. The people that I hang out with are people I’ve met inside my store. My closest friends and associates are people who’ve walked in my store and allowed me to build a relationship with them.

I love to scuba dive. I’m a certified diver and I love being below sea level where it seems that all problems above the water have evaporated…….at least until I resurface!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I worked under the name of Frank’s Tanks as a home based aquarium maintenance business when I met a customer and now friend, Dr. William Runyon. He had an aquarium in his business that was poorly maintained by another company and he was ready to remove the aquarium from his work place. I’d been directed to his office by another doctor who’s intent was to show me why he did t want an aquarium at his place of business. When I told Dr. Runyon what I was knowledgeable and capable enough to do, he gave me an opportunity to prove it! Since then, Dr. Runyon removed the 125 gallon tank but only to replace it with the 375 gallon system that sits in his office now. It was Dr. Runyon who talked me into opening my store in 2004. We are friends and brothers to this very day!

Website: www.franks-tanks.com

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/frankstanks1/

Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCKaMrbI0fFQH_zMn2azKhZg