Sports & Recreation

How To Start A Watersports Business | Water Sports Activities Company

Sail Into Your Future

Most Americans love the summertime, sunshine, beaches, ice-cold beer, and clear blue water. Each year, millions of people flock to the West Coast, Florida, or anywhere with a lovely beach by the sea or at a pretty lake. And while many seek a golden tan and a spot by the pool, they also love water-based activities like parasailing, swimming, diving, boating, snorkeling, or windsurfing. Watersports is a big business, and each year it continues to grow. Watersports businesses essentially offer rental equipment or adventures with skilled operators to pretty destinations on or near the water. Most vacationers don’t own the equipment or have the skills required to have a fun and safe day out on the water, so they will always be searching for companies that do.

What Type Of Water Sports Company Will You Set Up?

Research the people who venture out along the beach near your location to determine what equipment might be a good fit for your area. Also, the kind of operation you set up should depend on the type of water-related activity possible in the area. For example, you cannot go wrong with jet skis, canoes, or parasailing equipment, but if there is no area to operate, you will have to go another direction or choose another location. If you do not have enough marine life in the water or the water is not deep enough, diving equipment is a waste of money.

Water Sports Equipment Rental Services

Starting a watersports business can be lucrative, depending on the specialty. If the equipment you choose to work with is inexpensive, the overhead and maintenance costs are not high, and margins can be significant, especially if there are numerous customers any particular year.

The two considerable downsides are that it is a seasonal business and is often affected by the weather. However, for those who are always at the beach and love the outdoors, sun, and water, starting a watersports business is not a bad idea to bring in a decent income. Read on for tips on how to create a watersports business.

You can choose from literally hundreds of activities like jet ski rentals, parasailing, surfing and bodyboarding, fishing, paddle-boarding, boating, pontoon paddle boats, wakeboarding, sailing, and many more.

Create A Partnership

Creating partnerships with nearby hotels, restaurants, and other tourist destinations is a great way to start your water sports business. You could work out a deal where the hotel would earn a small fee for a customer referral.

Do I Need A Certificate To Operate A Water Sports Business?

It all depends on what type of watersports-related business you will be involved in. If you offer boat rides or charters, you will need to have or hire someone with a USCG-certified captain’s license. The captain’s course can be done online and takes about three months. You will need to have completed 365 days as a crew member or on the water with your own vessel to qualify for a 6 pack captain’s license. You will also require a CPR and First-Aid certificate and be active in a drug consortium.

USCG Website – Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard Captains License

Maritime Drug Consortium

Here is some useful information from the Coast Guard

USCG Drug Testing

How Can I Improve My Water Sports Business?

Learn from other business owners
Offer a captain for your charted boat tours
Have a wide range of activities
Offer dry boat rentals
Offer package deals
Get to know how to predict the weather
Make yourself known on social media platforms
Offer free wifi at your store
Sell beverages, T-shirts, and other watersports paraphernalia
Provide a great experience

What Are The Negatives Of A Water Sports Business?

Some insurers may not offer insurance for water activities. Those that do may charge high premiums.
Zoning laws may prevent you from establishing your business, especially in congested areas.
Dock access can be a challenge if you rent out boats
The business is seasonal
The competition is intense

How Can I Get My Customers To Come Back?

Keep in contact with your clients and regularly send them a list of new activities or services
Allow the customer to customize his or her watersports activity package
Always send a thank you note and mention a discount for the next visit
Connect with past customers via social media

Watersports Business Plan

Once you have your general location mapped out and know what type of rentals or activities you want to operate, you’ll need to make a business plan. This plan will help you get organized and anticipate any problems in the future. The plan should contain the following:

What are the startup costs for a watersports business?
Do I need a license or permit to operate a watersports business?
What equipment will I need?
What will I charge for my rentals?
What are some of the negatives of running a water sports business?
Will I need insurance to run my water sports business?

There are some handy services available online

Some business plan templates that you should consider include:

Watersports Business Matters

Register for state and federal taxes
Obtain an EIN
Open a dedicated bank account
Create a legal entity like a corporation

Check out these few companies that can assist you in getting your LLC started

Here are a few government links you might want to visit

IRS Website

This site by the IRS is a must-see when beginning your LLC

What is required to succeed in the watersports business?

Patience
Ability to work long hours
Work on holidays and weekends
Must be able to enjoy working with people
Have a good business sense
Able to tolerate stress and frustration
Not easily discouraged

Startup Costs To Open A Water Sports Business?

Your startup costs will depend on the size of your business, inventory, and location. It would help if you considered the following costs:

Leasing a store
Inventory
Utilities
Insurance
Permits
Furniture
Employees
Dock fees
Computer and POs
Rental Equipment
Staffing

It might be a good idea to look for some apps and software to track inventory, rentals, bills paid, bills pending, bookings, etc.

The two major expenses are rent and inventory. Your minimum startup costs will be around $10K. But you will need extra money to help sustain the business for the first three months.

How Will I Fund My Beachside Business?

Because the startup costs are not too high, one can get a loan from a bank or a private lender provided one have a good credit score, a business plan, and at least a 20% down payment. Other options for funding include:

Small business loan
Crowdfunding
Seek assistance from a venture capitalist
Ask friends and family for a loan

Here are a few other options

Small Business Administration

The Small Business Administration, SBA has a program to fund new startups and is worth a look

Some Financial Tools That You Might Consider

Budgeting Tools

Accounting Software

Expense Tracking

Payroll Management

More In-Depth Reviews Here At The Barcode

Tax Preparation

Inventory Tracking

Billing And Invoicing

Watersports Business Banking

Here are a few of the standard business banking options available online

Water Side Beach Location

The location is one of the most important things you need to figure out before opening your water sports business. Some of the things that you should be looking for include:

Is the area busy with tourists all year round?
Are the other watersports companies in the area safe?
Are the local waters unpolluted and rich in marine life
Is the water suitable for water-related activities
Are there local zoning restrictions?
Is there any competition nearby?

Here is a list of some popular commercial real estate companies:

P.O.S Accessories

In general, you want to set up your watersports business in an area where the natural environment is pristine. Waves should be large for surfing, with sheltered areas for diving and paddleboarding. There should be abundant marine life for dolphin or whale watching, and that the location is popular with tourists. No one will rent snorkeling gear if the water is dirty with zero visibility; hence, you’ll need to check out the entire local area.

Do I Need Insurance To Run A Water Sports Business?

Yes, it would be best to have both general and liability insurance. When renting out equipment for water-related activities, injuries can occur, and thus you need to protect your business. Liability insurance will cover you if a client is injured due to water activity or due to a malfunction of the rental equipment.

It would help if you also had general insurance to protect your inventory against damage, theft, and vandalism.

Here is a list of insurance companies specializing in watersports activities

Here is a list of some standard insurance companies

biBerk
Three Insurance (Berkshire Hathaway Company)
Next Insurance
Thimble
Geico
Insureon
Mercury Insurance
Allstate
Chubb
CNA
Farmers Insurance
Huckleberry
State Farm
Hiscox
Nationwide
The Hartford
Travelers-Business Insurance
Liberty Mutual
Progressive Commercial

Best places to get small business insurance

Mobile P.O.S Solutions

Business Law

Here are a few services available online

Should I Consider Buying A Watersports Franchise?

There are not many water sports franchises in North America. The benefits of buying into a franchise are that they will support you, assist you with marketing, provide training, and the business will be up and running fairly quickly. But the downside is that franchise fees, royalty fees, and administrative fees eat into your profits. It would help if you weighed out the pros and cons of buying into a franchise before signing any deal.

Should I Start From Scratch Or Buy An Existing Business?

Starting from scratch is not recommended as there is no guarantee that the business will succeed, and it is costly. Instead, buy an existing business. This way, the company will come reasonably well-equipped and established. Plus, you will not need to do any marketing. However, buying a running business outright may be costly.

Demographics And The Market

Once you have found your dream location, the next thing to do is to assess the demographics. In general, much older people do not usually rent out water sports equipment. Similarly, backpackers on a budget probably only want to pay for high-ticket activities or equipment. They will be looking for low-margin rentals. Most people paying top dollar for your equipment will be middle-class tourists and locals who love watersports.

How Should I Market My Water Sports Business?

Create a webpage and showcase your services, prices, and contact information
Distribute flyers in the local community
Distribute your business cards to nearby hotels, recreational facilities
Participate in social media watersports groups
Create a vlog of your daily activities
Attend water sports conventions and build a network

Your Watersports Company Website

Some of the common domain registrars include:

Here is a list of some options for building a regular website.

Here is a list of drag-and-drop page builders for WordPress.

What Type Of Water Sports Equipment Is Usually Required?

Kayaking equipment
Life jackets
Paddleboards
Snorkeling equipment (e.g., mask, fins, snorkels)
Surf equipment (wetsuit, surfboard, life vest)
Jet skis
Canoes
Waterproof cameras
Water goggles
Wet suits
Wakeboards

Pool floaties
Towable tubes
Water trampolines
Water skis
Inflatable boats
Diving gear
Air tanks
Sailboats
Sailboat accessories
Rash Guards
Kneeboards
Bicycles
Gloves
First aid kits
Safety equipment

Watersports Equipment Wholesalers

Kayak Wholesalers

Waverunner Jet Ski Wholesalers

You’ll need to keep your skis out of the water at night

Boat Lift Warehouse

Buy The Latest Portable Power Station Delta Series At EcoFlow.

Parasailing

Here are a couple of must-see sites if you want to start a parasail business

Conclusion

Starting a watersports business does require good business acumen, hard work, and long hours. The industry is seasonal, so it is essential to diversify the activities so there’s always something new and exciting for your customers to do.