| |
| |
|
Small Business Information |
|
|
|
Boat Cleaning Business Case Study: Entrepreneurship 101
How do marine type businesses start? Have you ever thought of turning a hobby into a business? Let me tell you a story of how I got into the Boat Detailing Business when I started our in the car cleaning business which grew into a franchise system. So often we read in business books to study markets and develop business plans when in reality it does not exactly work that way. Let me tell you a story of how sometimes the entrepreneur just falls into opportunity. I met a guy who came to our web site to buy a Car Wash Guys franchise who had been detailing boats for ten years in Redding CA and later in Coeur D' Alene, ID. At the time we were getting about 600,000 hits on our website per month so that wasn't too surprising judging from the odds. He didn't have the money but we talked about the industry a lot for our franchisee fee or the equipment needed. www.carwashguys.com . He had some fabulous Ideas about boat washing however. I then was marketing up in WA state and ran across another Boat Detailing in Everett WA, who also detailed cars, really sharp Mormon kid previously from Salt Lake. Also really knew his stuff, attends boat shows and has established himself as a marine cleaning products guy. We hit is off and all decided to work together. I then met a guy in Newport Beach who details the interiors of Boats and designed the original equipment for Nauticare, an onsite, pontoon mounted oil change and bilge cleaning franchise. WOW. This would round out the knowledge I needed to put together The Boat Wash Guys. http://www.carwashguys.com/boatlaunch.shtml We sank the first pontoon prototype in Lake Mead; entrepreneurial disaster, total loss. o add insult to injury the local lake enforcement wanted to investigate and it cost $4,000 to recover the damn boat; back to the drawing board with safety in mind. We could not sell a franchise if the boats sank and that was our intention to set up franchises for boat cleaning. A sure way to sink any franchise. So we remembered that one of our franchisees in Lewiston ID has a brother who build boats and also jet boats and customized landing craft to haul cattle. The puzzle was coming together, but we had to figure a way to lower the weight of the boat so we could still carry 1800 Lbs of water without capsizing or tipping in big waves especially in ocean marinas. We put all of our heads together and our prototype now works. We knew the business worked since we had three independents who all made well over 150K per year and I have the marketing because people who get cars washed may own a boat and everyone calls in under one 1-800 number so we could use my existing customer base to also get boat customers. We decided to start by offering these boat franchises to existing franchisees of any other system we had to grow very fast very quick. Our goal was to set up and add 100 units the next year. And here is the kicker, the pontoon manufacturer has a deal with a pleasure craft loan company and can finance the equipment, 1/2 franchise fee and boat for 15 years and the payments? $333.00 per month. Ha, that was all we needed to make it available for all of our team and anyone who really wants one. All this happened from a back burner project in less than a year. Then I wrote a 500+ page manual using all of our expertise. Nathan one of our friends in WA State washed Craig Mc Caws Boat; a 106-foot Yacht. Sounds great right? Well not exactly, turns out insurance was tougher than we thought and the government regulators had attacked our companies based on competitor complaints and the whole thing got put on hold. No jobs were created, very few boats ever got cleaned and the whole project sank. This does not mean we could not start it up anytime we changed our minds, it just shows you that no matter how good you plans are as an entrepreneur you always have to watch out for the Tsunami of brain dead regulators in Washington DC. This project today sits on the back burner once again, with all the pieces ready to go. Entrepreneurs should be well advised to watch all the details before sinking $100,000 dollars into an idea without looking at all the details. Think about it. "Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs
MORE RESOURCES:
Small-Business - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
How To Ruin Your Business If you're like the rest of us, you've spent a lot of time trying different things to make your online business come together. There are countless methods of conducting a viable marketing career, but there are also as many ways to destroy one as well. Proper Care and Feeding of the Business Owner That sizzling sound you're hearing may be a symptom of a major hidden cause of businesses closing their doors. It's called burnout. Work is a Four Letter Word I love work, I can watch it all day.I am not scared of work, I have been known to approach within arm's length of it on a number of occasions. Where Can People Find Information About Starting A Business? Approximately 200,000 new businesses are started each year. More people are expected to start a business for themselves this year than ever before. Selling Your Business, Entrepreneurs Role $elling $elling $ellingWhat makes a great sales person? Well, the natural ability to sell defnitely could not hurt. Sales people are a passionate, obviously people oriented, motivated and energetic bunch. Starting Your Small Business Where do you find more customers?How do you compete with bigger businesses?Answer. Build loyalty and rewards. Venus Transit - and Small Business? On June 8, 2004, the world witnessed what no one living today had ever seen.. Franchising and Royalty Payments If you are thinking of turning your current into a franchising company you will need to determine a fair and equitable franchise royalty fee. There are a number of questions you will need to ask yourself in determining this fee such as what services you will provide to your franchisee team and what that will cost. Dealing With a Crooked on the Take Government Worker Many government department heads are on the take. Oh they'll jump up and down and swear legitimacy, but it just is not so. Do You Own Your Business Or Does It Own You? What was your aim when you went into business for yourself? Chances are you wanted to be your own boss, be in control of your future, improve your chances of earning a high income, among other things.How are things for you right now? Do you feel in control of your business? How many hours do you put into your business each day? Each week? Will your current business enable you to retire in the next 10, 20 years?Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed by all the administrative tasks involved in running a business? Do you wish life could be simpler?More importantly, if you don't work, does your cash continue to flow (inwards, that is)?You see, if you can't take a vacation for fear that you won't make any money while you're away, or if your business is such that you're paid per hour (meaning that if you're not working you're not getting paid), then what you are is a glorified employee, and your business owns you. Creating Lists to Learn About Yourself, Your Business and Your Customers I love lists. I make them for everything. De-Ionization Decisions in Mobile Car Washing Many mobile car wash operators would like to add de-ionized water to their cleaning process. However before you do this you need to understand the reality of the return on investment. How to Bond a Business Relationship When should you create a foundation in order to solidify a business relationship?Before you bond any business relationship, you need to make sure that this is a relationship that you both want to have. No relationship is a one way street; the relationship must work in both directions. Fire the CEO If you are the boss and you think your job is to run the business, you are dead wrong. Your job, the most important job in any business, is to market the business. Market Makers Play a Significant Role in Reverse Mergers One overlooked individual in the process of taking a company public through reverse merger is the market maker. The market marker is critical especially if the company is going to be listed on OTC Bulletin Board or the NQB. So You Don't Believe in Outsourcing Entrepreneurs are hardy stock. But sometimes hardiness can get you into trouble. Got Stimulation? An observation while returning home from a seminar: Getting away from the everyday allows room for analysis and new thoughts. Stimulation while away from the everyday energizes analytical and concept ional thinking. Cabinet Refacing Business Opportunities With all the cabinet refacing business opportunities out there, you could have a home based business that grows in this expanding industry. You've wanted your own kitchen updated, or talked to friends and family who have put out thousands of dollars remodeling theirs. Lubbock TX Good Market for a Service Business We very much like what we see in Lubbock, TX as a good place for a service business. The city is a very well designed and laid out town with growth in the 4-5% per year range, growth in the Northwest quadrant of the city is steady and good. Are You Satisfied With Your Business Just As It Is? Did you know that satisfaction is the number one emotion people want to experience about their life and business? Yes, fame and fortune are up there, but satisfaction is the key. Satisfaction is about contentment, gratitude and pure joy.
|
| home | site map | Web directory | Pham Thanh Long | Luat su| Lawyer| Links |
| © 2006 |