owning a shop/charter

I've been posting recently about becoming an instructor. A lot of people have given me the wise advice that it's difficult to get a job as an instructor and even harder to make a living at it. Granted. However, I've been wondering what it would be like to own a dive shop and/or a charter boat as this is my long-term goal. Are these endeavors just as competitive as working as an instructor and do they pay as little? I know shops that own their own boat and I think that would be a great asset and an exciting part of the business. I know there are a few dive shop owners (and former owners) on the board - I'd love to hear about your experience in the business...

thanks!
-Aujax

The first thing you probably ought to do is get your instructorship and get some experience in the dive business prior to even thinking about starting a dive business of any type.

I do know that non-divers can own a successful dive business, I know of one or two here in Kona, however they purchased existing businesses and struggled for a while getting it all to run smoothly. Two more of the local dive businesses were purchased this year by people who know business, not diving, we'll see how it goes for them over time. They'll have their moments, good and bad, for a while.

Starting a dive business from scratch is going to be even tougher. There are lots of huge up front expenses that you are likely to be writing off for the next 3-6 years. You'll need to be able to live off something or someone for a couple of years at least while you are getting things off the ground.

I've recently started a charter business (been teaching locally since '99 and leading private dives and instruction since early '01)here and I don't expect to be making a profit 'til '05. Hopefully I'll have a positive cash flow before then so my wife doesn't divorce me, but it's going to take a couple of years minimum to develop a return clientele and expect to make much of a living. You've got to be in it for the long haul to make a go of it.

Competition is going to vary depending on location. At least for here, there is lots of competition both established and new who are all going after new customers to grow their businesses. How much competition the local market will bear is yet to be seen.

There's a lot to consider when you are thinking of jumping into diving as a career. At the very least though, you get to meet a lot of great people and have a lot of good times doing the job. If you can make a living doing it, that's a great bonus. I'll be able to fill you in better in a couple of years.

Good luck on your dreams.

Steve

is owning both a shop and a boat. You need to have a location that can support diving year round and offer something different from other operators. Thankfully ( I guess), there is an easy differentiator......customer service. You have to engrain it into your staff and hire for it. Its an attitude thing. I can train skills, but attitude is tough to change (some would say impossible). Too many divers have attitudes that are counter to serving the customer (arrogant, complacent). Once you hire for it, you have to answer the WIIFM (Whats In It For Me) -- I suggest sharing a part of the ups/downs. The easiest way is for you to pay two portions, fixed and variable. The fixed portion is around 85% of 'the going rate' for the area. The variable portions allows for 0% to 25% on top of that so they have skin in the game. The 'downside' is that you will have to establish trust with them that you aren't screwing them during the 'bad' times -- that means you will have to share at least part of the financials with them.

Perhaps this goes without saying, if YOU personally aren't a customer-service, then I would suggest you look for something different. Unless you have some other intrinsic source of a competitive advantage (e.g., monopoly, size/scale) you will just be 'another lds' and destined to wallow in the competitive quagmire called the SCUBA industry.

YMMV

Otter

Otter once bubbled...
is owning both a shop and a boat. You need to have a location that can support diving year round and offer something different from other operators.
....
Perhaps this goes without saying, if YOU personally aren't a customer-service, then I would suggest you look for something different. Unless you have some other intrinsic source of a competitive advantage (e.g., monopoly, size/scale) you will just be 'another lds' and destined to wallow in the competitive quagmire called the SCUBA industry.

YMMV

Otter

Click to expand...

I think one of the concepts Otter is trying to touch on... Owning a shop and boat is about providing an end to end customer experience... Unless your in an area with awesome shore diving available, your going to dealing with customers on the front end but then passing them off to another business on the back end when they go out to dive... If you have a buddy with a boat - or can work out some kinda partnership this can work to both your advantages... But the key is customer service - provide the customer with a unified view of the handoff so it appears as you are both one entity....

One of my frustrations with my LDS is the lack of facilitating in town diving activities... Lake Michigan is right here, multiple quarries easily available - yet all they organize are open water checkout weekends.

Q: Do you know how to make a small fortune owning a dive shop?






A: Start with a large fortune!

WileEDiver once bubbled...
Q: Do you know how to make a small fortune owning a dive shop?

A: Start with a large fortune!

Click to expand...

The economics of a discretionary-service business during the current recession has taken its toll on several scuba stores over the past year or so.

I think everybody's dream is to convert a hobby into a profession.

If you are a skilled instructor with good people skills, and the market exists for "another" scuba store in your given area, then it might make sense to go for it.

I know of a course director level instructor who recently moved to Florida and bought his own scuba store. I know of another instructor who plans to do the same thing someday with a scuba boat. [Instructor ratings normally go: basic instructor, instructor trainer, course director, technical instructor, technical instructor trainer, technical course director, all depending on what kind of diving you want to teach and promote.]

It is a fairly common dream to want your own scuba store or boat.

woah you sound just like me. i have no advice whatsoever but i'm going to latch onto this thread and steal what everyone else has to say : )

Wow, this is starting to make my previous thoughts about being an instructor seem like a piece of cake! A couple of things occur to me:

First, it seems that it would make sense to buy out someone else's shop, if possible rather than start from scratch. That would give you the clientele and connections right off the bat, shortening that painful period when you're making negative profits. Of course, it would probably be more expensive.

Second, I do see a serious problem with customer service in a lot of dive shops. It's true, divers and shop owners often have attitudes similar to musicians (i've met some of the worst sales people at music stores) - complacent and a bit arrogant, as Otter mentioned. I've always thought I could do a better job at sales in an industry that I love. I recently met an lds owner who had the ideal attitude - excited to speak with me, gave me all the info i needed and more, friendly, etc. Another thing that struck me about her shop was that an integral part of her business was a dive club that made really frequent trips (a more popular idea in the northeast). This shop is in Brooklyn - I don't know if that would be necessary in a tropical location where it's easier to get to dive sites and easier to get people to dive, but I found the idea appealing. Netmage mentioned his frustration that his lds doesn't facilitate local dives. The key idea is to keep people diving, and offer that end-to-end experience that netmage spoke of.

Third, I've been thinking that I might want to set up shop in California. Is diving there really year round? Or does it taper off in the colder months? When I was in Monterey this year the vis really sucked at Breakwater because of the high level of particulate matter.

I am planning on getting my instructorship first and possibly working resorts before even thinking about a shop.