Marina Dock Age, September/October 2003

Something Like a Shopping Center…
by Dennis P. Kissman

Most people with limited experience in our industry see a marina as a place to store boats either in the water or on land. However, out of the more than 14,000 marinas in the United States, I would estimate that less than ten percent do nothing but provide mooring or storage for boats. Almost all marinas have come to realize that they are cheating themselves out of opportunities if they don’t capitalize to the fullest on their waterfront location and the additional services they can provide.

With this in mind, a marina is more like a shopping center than it is a storage facility. The obvious difference is that in a shopping center there usually is an owner of the property who leases out commercial space to different types of businesses. In a marina there are still these different types of businesses but the marina owner also operates many or all of them.

Exploit Your Resources

The failure to fully exploit a marina’s resources can stem from the specific background of its owner. Like most people, owners or managers usually find one aspect of their business they are most comfortable with, and that is where the marina excels. Unfortunately, this means other profit centers get neglected. For example, the owner that came up through the ranks servicing boats more often than not doesn’t realize the full income potential of his dockage or storage, and will rarely fully appreciate how valuable his space is for restaurants and other entertainment venues.  

One obvious, yet not uncomplicated, solution is to lease your space to smaller businesses. Whatever the solution, it’s not going to be simple, and the first step in getting to the solution is to recognize the complexity of the situation and address the specific factors that affect your location.

The Professional Manager’s Approach

From a management standpoint, having to manage different businesses creates some very interesting problems.

A marina’s operation can be divided into two key components: employees and how you control the process.

We as consultants look for three things in marina employees: First, do they have a positive attitude towards their job and the company? Second, do they have the basic skills to do the job? And third, are they capable of multitasking? Any employee who possesses these three attributes will always be an asset to your operation.  

As a manager you must be able to recognize these attributes. Through your direction and example you should cultivate them to continually increase their value to your organization. A management style that is dominating will not be able to retain good employees for very long. Continue »