Marina Dock Age, May/June 2000

So You’re Thinking About Renting Boats…
by Ron Brazda

Watching other marina owners make money from boat rentals may make you wonder if you should try it. On the surface, it looks fairly easy. How difficult can it be to buy some boats, rent them out for a few hundred dollars a day, and make a killing?  

But, if this were the case, more marinas would be in the boat rental business. As with any business venture, proper research and planning will tell you whether boat rentals are for you.

IS THERE A MARKET FOR RENTALS?

Your first step is to determine the market demand for boat rentals. Are there other boat rentals within five miles? Can the population support your business? Will your clients be locals or will they come from a nearby city, hotel, or resort? How far do you think people would be willing to travel to spend $200 to rent a boat for the day?  

Keep track of the number of phone calls you receive asking about rentals. If you are getting 20 calls a day from people just looking you up in the phone book, figure you can close on 10 percent of those calls, about two boats a day.

BASIC PLANNING

What type of boats are you going to offer? Where will you keep the boats? If you are in an area with extreme climatic changes, where are you going to keep the boats during the winter? What is going to set you apart from the competition-price, boat quality, cleanliness, or staff? How many boats do you want? How will you pay for the boats?

BUYING THE BOATS

Your first expense is the purchase of boats. Are you going to finance them, or do you have the capital on hand to purchase them outright? If you are a dealer, you will be able to buy them wholesale. You may even be able to set up a deal with the manufacturer, because they will get better exposure from the traffic that comes through a busy marina. If you are not a dealer, you may want to look for one who will give you a reasonable price for multiple boats in exchange for doing advertising for them.  

ADVERTISING

In your first year, you will want to saturate the market with advertising. Place ads in the local “action weekly” or travel and leisure section. Set up rack cards in hotels, even if you are not in a vacation area. Invite the hotel concierge to go out on a boat, then give her free rental for every five she books for you.

Depending on the size of your ad, yellow page advertising can be expensive. Look in the phone book to see what your competitors are doing. Have your ad designed to stand out.   Continue »