Today we’d like to introduce you to Alan Akins.
Hi Alan, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My name is Alan Akins. I grew up East of Atlanta, in Covington Georgia, where I received loving support from my parents, my brother, and those around me.
Along with schooling, as a kid, I was able to try many different extracurricular activities such as karate, band, piano, foreign language, and rock collecting.
In school, it was the science classes that I found most interesting. It went from a fascination with insects, to dinosaurs, to space and astronomy, and eventually geology. Right now, I am currently attending college full-time with another couple years until graduation. This semester my favorite classes are Biology and Sociology.
The one thing that has fascinated me over the years has been collecting mineral and crystal specimens. When I first started reading and showing interest in specific rock types, my parents bought me a kids book on gems and minerals. That was the first book of many, to which has now grown into a small reference section of books, magazines, and reference guides all on rocks and geology.. Not only did my parents support my current interest in rocks, but I also had a science teacher, named Mrs. Peterson, at school who had a small collection of personal minerals that she brought in to show me. I was completely fascinated with all the different types of specimens that came out of the Earth.
When my family and I took trips, I would always find places with “rocks”. It could be an actual store or a hike in the wilderness; I would find something.
The outing that really cemented me as a young collector who had knowledge was a trip just south of Columbus Georgia. My dad had taken my brother and me hiking. My dad, wanting to take a picture, had my brother and I pose for a picture near a rocky outcrop. I noticed a hole in the ground right beside my foot, to which my dad told me not to put my foot in. After the picture, my brother went over to join my father. But not me, I saw something of interest down in that dark hole. It was a rock that stood out. Before my dad could even say anything, I had almost my entire arm stuck down into the dark hole in the ground. Of course, I got yelled at because who knows what animal or insect could have been in there and bit me. But that wasn’t what I was concerned about, I saw a black rock and believed I knew what it was. So, after stretching and reaching down a bit, out came my arm with my rock specimen in hand. It was black and flat. One side of it was smooth while the other side was bumpy, like the back of a toad. My dad was not happy with my judgement right then. I showed him my black rock and stated that I believed it was Hematite. My dad said it looked like a piece of asphalt or a broken piece of a kid’s toy. I asked if I could keep it and take it to a rock shop next time we were out of town. He said that was fine. A few months later, we were going to be at a location with people who knew about rocks and my top priority was to get my specimen identified. After a visual inspection and a couple quick tests, I had my answer. All my reading and learning for pleasure were being tested. While my instincts were telling me I was right, there was a bit of doubt as well. Was I right or was it the asphalt my dad had mentioned. I am proud to say that I nailed it! It was Hematite. What a confidence booster that was for an 11 year old. I knew what I was doing and could identify specimens by sight out in the wild.
After many years of weekend trips and vacations, when we would go out of town, there were certain rock shops that I always wanted to go to because they had unique specimens, and I could ask questions and get accurate information. I would save up my allowance, and any money received as a gift, to purchase items for my own rock collection. When I was first getting into the hobby, a simple five-dollar specimens would do, but as I became older and wanted more rare specimens, it wasn’t uncommon for me to spend hundreds on a single specimen. As my collection continued to grow, my parents provided me with a couple lighted showcases to display my collection in. Anytime friends or family came to visit, everyone was in awe of what I had collected. And I enjoyed sharing details about the different specimens and answering any questions that came up.
From my interactions with others, I observed that most people love to view crystals and to learn about unique minerals specimens and fossils. Everyone states that gems and minerals are something that makes them feel as if they’re in a museum. Many people believe in the metaphysical attributes of gem and crystal healing as well.
Growing up I had wished there were more people into collecting so I would have some friends with that one common interest. I started wondering, why are there not more people in this hobby if so many people find it fascinating. Looking back at my own experience I saw two big reasons. First and foremost, to be blunt, it’s an expensive hobby. And kids rely on parents to support their interests, and it can be hard for parents to spend a large amount of money on what they may see as just a rock. Then to make it an even harder hobby to get into, most big cities only have a few rock shops.
In order to get people into this hobby, I decided that I would open a shop. In doing so, I would have to overcome the biggest barrier in making it affordable. For me, this was always a hobby that I loved. To make it into a business and offer what interests me to the rest of the world was something I found highly appealing.
My business model at Geological Finds Rock Shop is very different from most. I am not in it to make a living and gain monetary wealth. I am in it to allow others to enjoy what I always enjoyed growing up.
For my customers, they have an affordable way into this hobby. When compared to other shops, my prices are far less. Some small inexpensive items may only be a couple of dollars cheaper while the bigger items could be hundreds of dollars less than one could find elsewhere. On top of the lower prices, I pride myself on having a wide variety of specimens available. My goal here is to get more people into the hobby or at least give them some nice decorative pieces.
For me personally, having a business allows me access to more areas such as wholesale shows and vendors. I also get to interact with those in the trade whether they are local, here in the United States, or international. It has also allowed my personal collection to grow with more unique items.
Financially, my markup is minimal when compared to other shops. My goal is to make enough to cover the business space lease, inventory growth, commissions, and equipment costs. Along with those expenses, I am budgeted to make enough to offset the cost of what I collect personally. To put it simply, my business pays for my hobby. I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to operate in this fashion to achieve the goal I have set.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I cannot say it was a smooth road. Every step of getting up and running was a learning experience and a challenge. My dad helped me a lot in figuring it all out.
We first had to figure out how to get a business license and trademark the business name Geological Finds Rock Shop. Luckily, my parents provided the required funding I needed to get started. Buying equipment and promotional items was fairly simple, but all the showcases were meant for normal items, not heavy geological specimens. After I received the showcase, the next challenge was to reinforce every case to support the weight of the crystals and minerals. Then, getting this type of inventory was a challenge in logistics. We traveled everywhere in and around our neighboring states, all the way out to Arizona. There were many lessons learned in distinguishing who was helping me verses who wanted to take advantage of me. At one point, we were halfway across the country and challenged with trying to figure out how to get a couple pallets of heavy minerals, crystals, rocks, and fossils back home. Luckily for us we made some new friends at RL Carriers who taught us what we needed to know and how to ship affordably.
Another challenge was figuring out where to set up a shop. Do I rent my own space with my own point of sale system and all that extra overhead, or do I go into a shared space? I opted to find a location with shared space to keep costs low. My Dad and I looked around the local area for a place that we deemed appropriate. After a few interactions at different locations, we found Madison Markets located in Madison, Ga. Upon walking in and looking around, I noticed a very clean, well lit, and very well-organized store. I knew this was the type of location I wanted to be in. It even had a local coffee shop named Oconee Coffee Roasters right next door. Jane Royal, the owner of Madison Markets, was impressed that I wanted to start a business at such a young age and to become an entrepreneur. I took several items that I would be selling to show to her along with pictures of my display cases. She said it was all beautiful and believed that what I had was right for her marketplace. After signing an agreement with Madison Markets, the only challenge left to do was to move hundreds of pounds of glass display cases, along with hundreds of pounds of inventory and signage. It was then that I learned how commercial truck rental worked. Shortly after, with the help of both my parents and brother, I had my business up and running.
All the challenges I faced when getting started were either overcome by researching and learning what was needed and expected, or by interacting with and receiving guidance from others.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Geological Find Rock Shop?
Geological Finds Rock Shop is the affordable place to go for all your geological needs such as Crystals and Crystal Clusters, Mineral Specimens, Fossils, Petrified Wood, Agates, Obelisks, Spheres, Palm Stones, and everything in between.
On most of my items, I don’t simply have just a price tag, but a card listing exactly what the specimen is and where it came from. Many times, the tag will even list what mine the specimen was pulled out of. I take the time to hand write most of these cards in order to provide the most accurate information. That’s one of my key elements that sets me apart from most other shops in the trade.
I am most proud of the variety of offerings I am able to provide. I have the everyday gems and crystals that always sell, but I also have the unique and more rare items as well. I have these items for the true collectors that are looking for new specimens to add to their existing collection. I have been collecting for a long time, and for me personally, a shop that offers the more unique items is a shop I want to visit.
Geological Finds Rock Shop is located at:
144 Academy St, Madison, GA 30650 and can be found within Madison Markets.
The hours are Monday through Saturday, 10am to 5pm.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
When it comes to networking, most of it has been direct one on one, in person. I have met many other rock shop owners and received advise from them, as well as, helped them with some of the new items I have recently learned. I have met many of the owners at dig sites, to which they have been super helpful in showing me the best locates to dig. When I have gone to the large wholesale shows, it’s one on one business talk. I have found great sources for inventory by meeting these individuals, and I have kept a reference sheet which shows what contact has the inventory I need.
There had been some networking done online as well. This allowed me to meet wholesale international suppliers and see their pricing. This made our face to face interactions much easier because both parties were already familiar with one another.
For the most part, in the Rock and Gem business, networking is one on one.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://share.google/j3PFEzOMqOgjOuesW
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BjCAw83Yo/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/geological-finds-rock-shop-madison
- Other: https://maps.app.goo.gl/89vaGv3Agca4pkvJ8
