SDI Instructor

[clint@uniquescuba.com]

Hello Scuba127,

In your scenario, would you be the one doing all the recruiting or would the shop be providing you with students?

Also, would you be the one providing a pool and class equipment?

If the shop in question were providing you with students and a facility to train them in I would think that 40% to be a very good cut.

If you are the one doing all the recruiting and training these students at a satellite location using your own facility and equipment, I think you should negotiate the percentages. Especially if your satellite students will be purchasing primary equipment through your sponsored shop.

There are several ways to look at this, and I think it depends on the particular scenario.

 

[Lead_carrier]

Fair enough. So, how many of you SDI Instructors out there are giving 60% of each student to the shop owner? Prove that its common place and I will retract my statements and stand corrected.

Only 60%. I'd LOVE to have that deal. I'm not SDI but SSI. Let's see, I furnish, uh, uh. Time and knowledge. The shop furnishes classroom, equipment, air, pool, insurance, transportation part of the time. I'd love to make a bit more but I just teach occasionally so I figure I'm actually coming out ahead.

I sure hope you didn't get into instructing to make a lot of money. I'd be very surprised if that happens. (legally anyway.)

 

[scuba127]

Thanks for the honest responses. My understanding from this particular shop owner is that I would have to recruit the students myself and the shop owner would keep the walk ins, phone ins etc. That said, my guess is I could get him to give me some of the students he would normally train himself. The shop would provide the equipment, pool, classroom etc. I especially appreciate your response Lead Carrier in that you are clearly an active instructor. Let me be clear, its not about the money - its my love of scuba diving and the fact that I have spent over 30 years training soldiers in the military and I would like to keep training individuals in one capacity or another when I retire from the National Guard. I am currently trying take one TDI class a year in an effort to keep my scuba training going and thought it would be great to add SDI Instructor to that list. I feel a whole better hearing from you that 40% is not way outside the industry lines. I am willing to adjust my position based on new information and your post, and some of the other posts, have me rethinking my position on this particular shop. Thanks again for input and have a great dive.

 

[Lead_carrier]

Thanks for the honest responses. My understanding from this particular shop owner is that I would have to recruit the students myself and the shop owner would keep the walk ins, phone ins etc. That said, my guess is I could get him to give me some of the students he would normally train himself. The shop would provide the equipment, pool, classroom etc. I especially appreciate your response Lead Carrier in that you are clearly an active instructor. Let me be clear, its not about the money - its my love of scuba diving and the fact that I have spent over 30 years training soldiers in the military and I would like to keep training individuals in one capacity or another when I retire from the National Guard. I am currently trying take one TDI class a year in an effort to keep my scuba training going and thought it would be great to add SDI Instructor to that list. I feel a whole better hearing from you that 40% is not way outside the industry lines. I am willing to adjust my position based on new information and your post, and some of the other posts, have me rethinking my position on this particular shop. Thanks again for input and have a great dive.

He furnishes everything except the students? My personal opinion. Grab that deal. It really sounds good to me. Especially if you get into teaching TDI courses. Those usually are a lot more profitable and could make some decent pocket change from them. Good luck with it and have a blast.

 

[Christopher McCaskie]

That would depend on what they do. If they're providing a pool, air and insurance, a classroom and maybe some marketing, 60% might not be unreasonable.

Terry

I am not sdi, although thinking about adding it, but I am SSI and therefore, affiliated with a shop. On a 400 class, I keep 150, the rest is materials through SSI and the shop. So, for that, I can use their classroom, pool, and my students get regulator and bc use. So basically, $30 x3-4 pool sessions and 2 days of open water dives. So I don't need to go buy bcs of every size and enough regulators to have a 3 or 4 person family learn, I don't have to service them, and God forbid there is a malfunction, it is not my gear, that's on the shop. Finally, I occasionally get fed students because I have a weird schedule and can accommodate people with the same.

 

[VikingDives]

Zombie thread, ARISE!

 

[yle]

Zombie thread, ARISE!

How funny... I didn't even look at the date of the original post and replies until I read yours.

 

[sheeper]

It is my understanding that SDI Open Water Instructors must be affliated with an SDI Dive Shop. Is this true? Does this affliation require an instructor to work through the shop (i.e. order books, use the shops equipment, give the shop a cut of the money earned from instructing etc.). I'm really curious as to know what an SDI Shop Owner can demand from a part-time SDI instructor located in the same area as the shop. If the shop owner is asking for say 60% of the revenue of each student the Instructor teaches, does the instructor have no recourse but to pay up? Does anything negative happen to the SDI Instructors Certification if the Instructor refuses to meet the SDI Shop Owner's demands? Thanks and I look forward to your response.

Zombie thread time!

i am an independent SDI-TDI instructor. I am affiliated with a shop (actually 2 shops). So i teach classes thru the shop. The logistics, materials, gear, boat spots is on them. The shop pays me a set rate per student.

BUT...i also have students that i are mine personally. For those classes, it works the other way. I pay the shop a set fee for those logistics. You need to be sure you identify your costs and build that into your pricing. SDI-TDI materials i buy directly from SDI and pay via my credit card.

I also ensure that my personal students buy their gear from that shop. Do that and shops will love you. It does mean that the shop owner has to be business saavy enough to see the upside of this approach.

 

[tursiops]

It may be a zombie thread, but that's good, because you no longer need to be affiliated with a shop to be a SDI instructor. Yes, that was once true, which is why I dropped my SDI instructor card, but is no longer true.

 

[VikingDives]

SDI's been great to and for me. I started off as an independent and transitioned to being my own training facility this year.

They seem to genuinely care about their instructors too. This year, they gave each instructor and each facility three free eLearning codes at renewal.

The costs are about 1/3 of what I pay PADI for everything.

Frankly, the only reason I keep my PADI cert is I occasionally help out another shop in town. It's a full service shop, so we barter my services for the use of tools/fills etc. It is win/win for both of us.