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What type of dive business?
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If you want to make a million dollars in the dive industry, start with 2 million. Most people in this industry will tell you that your actual time in the water will take a significant hit also.
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Hi tshark, I’m still trying to piece together something sustainable. Ideally, I would like to have a small dive resort, or else a dive center accompanied with a charter business.
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tcoljeep,
I have heard that before, but I still see plenty of dive shops that have been in business for decades. If it wasn’t sustainable, I would think the majority of those would close up. I’m not in it to get rich either. I love diving and want to do as much with it as I can. I’ve spent enough of my life in a cubicle, and would like to do something I enjoy with the rest of my life.
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Invest, hire a Gen’r Manager. Then You won’t have to work to lose your A$$. Recreational/Travel business’s is not an investment while $$ gets tighter for most.
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another business rule that seems to get forgotten after time,,, treat your customers as youd wanted to be treated if you 1st walked in the door and smile!!
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Ok, well you’ve identified something specific - Dive resort/Charter/Dive center - so that means you’re looking at setting up business on or near the water.
The benefit, much easier to dive/run your business and the drawback is most dive shops are located near water so you have much more competition from already established shops with a loyal following.
I agree that hiring a quality staff is going to be vital. Make sure everyone is customer driven and focuses on treating every person who walks through your door or gets on your charter feels like they are the most important person there.
I will go back and pay a little more for a specific charter boat on the coast, or do business with a particular shop based on service and how they treat our group(s) when we travel.
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Greg - 3/10/2014 8:18 AM 
I would recommend you think of the word "business" in the dive industry as a "lifestyle". A business in the dive industry is not going to make you rich. If run properly, you should be able to survive...so it’s more a lifestyle choice. And just like everything in life...if you’re required to work to earn a living, then even working doing something you love becomes a chore. So make sure you’re ready for a dive "lifestyle" rather than a dive "business".
- Treat all customers with respect.
- Accept the fact that divers buy gear online.
- Don’t expect to make a large profit on selling gear. Find alternative ways of earning revenue.
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If it is in the USA, don’t hire too many employees or the government will nail you. Also, try not to make over 250K in a year or they will nail you there as well.... In other words try not to be too successful.. Sigh....
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Southern coastal is definitely by focus. I would love to go international, but I think I may be at least partially dependent on an SBA loan, which would keep me stateside. I definitely agree that you need good employees. I don’t have the ability, or desire to do everything myself. I’ve actually quit training at dive shops because of the lack of professionalism that their instructors portrayed, etc.
I do the majority of my shopping online too (at least the preliminary shopping). Usually, I’ll find what I want online and then ask the local dive shop if they can be competitive with the price. Sometimes they can, sometimes they can’t. But they are usually willing to give it a shot and adjust the price. If they are at all close, I’ll buy local. If I can be competitive at all, I would like to have an ecommerce presence as well. I ran my own web development company for years, so I wouldn’t have the overhead that most businesses would have with this.
@NewtoScubaHB2 - I can only hope that I have to worry about making that much. I’m just hoping I can survive without having to eat sea weed for every meal.
Is there anything that has really turned anybody off from going back to a dive business?
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Yes... most dive shop employees I have encountered don’t even look up from their computer when I walk into their shop. I have also noticed, however, that they immediately notice a female customer. Hmmm. Maybe it’s an age thing, too... I have white hair.
Like most of your other folks who commented, I will ALWAYS go back to a shop and/or a dive operation where the employees smile and treat you with respect.
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Greg - 3/13/2014 6:18 AM
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From RockRat2008: most dive shops are located near water so you have much more competition from already established shops with a loyal following
You would think but 3 shops in Point Pleasant NJ within walking distance of the docks and a shore dive used by instructors for training failed.
One I liked and my son got certified there, not sure what happened.
One was mainly a fill station with some point of sale but he didn’t seem interested in stopping work on some handicrafts to take care of customers. This was owned by a shop in another town that got a reputation for pumping water into tanks, not maintaining their compressor and everyone stopped using them. They are gone too.
A third had a stupid bussiness model, you had to be a member first, I went in to buy a mask and he wouldn’t talk to me! He’s gone!
There is now a fill station in the back of a bait shop.
There was another shop about 10 miles away I stopped using when then went ScubaPro only and wouldn’t service the Oceanic regs they had sold. I believe they are gone too.
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Greg - 3/13/2014 9:40 AM
Possible future of the dive shop industry:
- Self-serve air fill stations (divebuddy.com/photo/72942/self-serve-scuba-tank-a...shop-in-switzerland/)
- Independent instructors for training/certification.
- 95% of scuba gear bought/sold online.
- 95% of scuba travel bought/sold online.
- Mail-in service for gear maintenance.
- More local scuba co-ops and dive clubs.
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EMG - 3/13/2014 3:51 PM
My favorite dive shop has a few things going for it
-It’s close and the diving is great
-They are on a semi-developed beach/island that is easily accessible, but the food sucks at almost every restaurant, except for theirs. The former German owners taught the cooks to make bread every day from scratch, and how to cook great pizza and pasta. It’s cheap but blows the rest of the restaurants away.
-It’s located on the nice and busy beach with nightlife, so there’s more to do than diving.
-Good boats and good equipment. Familiar faces that know all the regulars.
That said, it has changed owners multiple times in my 2 years of patronage, and recently changed names. So obviously they’re not making millions. Still, there are familiar faces, good food, and good boats.
And a fun dive is like $20.
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The success of a dive shop is not how well you treat the customers. Its all about the marketing strategy/advertising. Dive shops make very little from experienced divers. The profits come from new customers starting with the classroom. Buying new gear,trips during the first two years. You wouldn’t walk into any other retail shop and talk to the salesman about life for an hour every month or so. Its a business not a bar. Get the hint when your ignored because you never buy anything. Its bad business practice to waste time with a no sale customer month after month. It doesn’t pay the bills.Get real !
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Greg - 3/14/2014 7:16 AM
From DiveBuddyChgo: Get the hint when your ignored because you never buy anything. Its bad business practice to waste time with a no sale customer month after month. It doesn’t pay the bills.Get real ! I would only agree if an experienced diver and new diver were both in the store at the same time. Then the dive shop should probably pay more attention to the new person. Maybe even get the experienced person involved with the process to help answer questions from the new person. But if the choice is between the dive shop employee sitting on their ass behind a computer screen or talking to an experienced diver for a bit, the wise choice would be to chat it up with the diver. I’ve seen so many shops that don’t care at all about existing customers. Who do they think will help promote the dive shop? Do they think all new customers come from their advertising only? Or is it probable that a good chunk of their new business comes from word-of-mouth? It doesn’t take a business wiz to know that the more sales people you have pushing your business the more customers you’ll get. A dive shop should treat every experienced diver like one of their sales people.
Plus, a lot of people choose a business based on their online reputation. Existing customers are most likely to be the ones to post comments online or rate a dive shop on sites like Yelp.
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Greg - 3/14/2014 7:27 AM
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Don’t feed customers a line.... I had a shop tell me that for my first class, I would have to buy the mask, fins, snorkel, and dive tool (knife). Hummm.. Why would I need the dive tool as part of my basic training??? Guess, they must have fish lines in the pool... I was just getting started... That didn’t make sense to me so I never returned to that shop ..
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Greg - 3/18/2014 11:31 AM
From oceanfloor: I had a shop tell me that for my first class, I would have to buy the mask, fins, snorkel, and dive tool (knife). And in Texas, some dive shops force you to buy boots and strap fins, when most of the year the water is warm enough to wear full-foot fins.
No gear should be required before learning to scuba dive. If a dive shop forces you to buy gear, they are definitely one of the "churn and burn" dive shops. As a new diver, you don’t know enough to make an educated decision on gear. Usually the dive shop pressures you into buying something that you end up regretting later. However, if the dive shop rents you the gear while you learn to dive, and educates you about the different types of gear throughout the course, and offers reasonable prices, then you’re likely to buy from them when you’re ready.
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I am a typical diver, who went to many dive shops all over Canada and the States, it seem I always go back to "my dive shop", when I want something. Having a repore with the owner and going diving once and a while with him has not only made me a better diver, but, made me a good customer to him. Smart business and good dive buddy. Personal attention to your regulars while promoting your business (discovers) will keep you going and give you a business to support your passion. Good Luck !
let me know where you start up, I love to travel.
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Thanks everybody for all of the responses, I appreciate the input. Sorry I kind of fell of the face of the earth. I started my divemaster classes and am picking up where I left off on my management degree. I’m hoping to get the instructor class knocked out in the next couple months too! Full speed ahead!
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From Greg: Have you read my past topic about a dive shop country club? divebuddy.com/forum/28244/dive-shop-country-club-members/
I love the idea of this. I’ve seen places online that offered packages like "all of the specialties you can do in a year" and stuff like that.
Personally, I just love it if there was a place I could hang out and meet other divers, even if a lot of the stuff was a la carte.
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From Greg: Self-serve air fill stations (divebuddy.com/photo/72942/self-serve-scuba-tank-a...shop-in-switzerland/)
The dive shop in Sarasota where I’m doing my divemaster has a box outside for after hours tank exchange. That’s probably a first step towards something like this.
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From oceanfloor: I had a shop tell me that for my first class, I would have to buy the mask, fins, snorkel, and dive tool (knife).
I kind of agree with the mask part, just because peoples faces are so different. I think a poor fitting, leaky rental mask would suck. Especially when you’re a new diver. Lots of dive shops require a mask, fins and snorkel, but that’s the first time I heard of a dive knife. That’s a bit of a stretch. I started out with a $35 mask/fins/snorkel set off of ebay, and I wouldn’t expect a new diver to come in and drop a couple hundred bucks on a set just to learn how to dive.
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