boat business idea

[atrocity]

Hey i was wondering if you guys thought my idea was any good. Please be open minded and tell me what you think, ups and downs:

So i was thinking a lot of people are starting to drive hybrids and smaller cars due to the economy and still want to boat/ fish. I was thinking offering my service for the people who still want to boat/ fish who: do not own a tow vehicle, do not live on the water, do not know how to work the boat ramp, do not want to deal with the hassles of trailering a boat, and want to hop in their boat and go. My idea is i come to the client's house and pick their boat up with my truck and tow it to the boat ramp, either they come in my truck or meet up with their car. I launch the boat and make sure everything is a ok for them, I leave, drop the trailer off at either their property or mine (only if i have more clients that day). They call me about 20-30 minutes before they arrive at the ramp. I pull the boat out and drop it off for them, while they continue with the rest of their day. I do not know if i would offer a quick wash/ flush yet, still thinking it through. The most clients i could handle a day would probably three max. I would only do this on Saturdays and Sundays because i have school (high school). I wanna know what you guys thinks, any flaws i haven't thought of. I would probably need some special insurance when trailering the boat, if you guys could help me out with that. I know this is a big responsibility, but i wanna know what you guys think. Think like you are one of those people i states earlier. I use a public boat ramp 3-4 times a month so i know what to do. Thanks again!

[SudoomFisher]

I think you would have a really, really hard time finding clients for this business.

Also, you being only in high school, you will find it hard for people to trust you with their property.

I am not sure if you would need special insurance but if you did, insurance is expensive as hell and you would probably find it hard to break even if this became an expense.

Also, think about how you would be giving up your weekends completely, is it something your willing to do? With your plan now you may be thinking you only give up that hour at launch and at pickup. But what if their is a change of plans or emergency on the water and they need to leave early, you would have to go get them.

I think you would be better off renting out the seat in the back of your boat (i don't know if you have one) to people that had to get rid of their boats because of the bad economy, basically a guide service but then again age issue is still there and getting strangers to trust you would be hard.

[Dogface]

Interesting idea but there are liabilities. You would need insurance, etc., to protect yourself. By the time you satisfied the legal requirements there may not be any money left over to put in your pocket.

[cart7t]

Depending on how busy your local public boat ramp is, you might want to just hang around there and offer your services as a designated boat backer upper for those waiting in line.  $10 bucks a pop.  You might have quite a few takers on that.  Great opportunity to meet girls too.  

[done]

if you can get everything else to work, the insurance will be hell. I know from my years working a rental desk, if you are under 21 yrs old, you are going to have hell finding a company that will insure you for less than a small fortune. The rental company I worked for our insurance would not allow us to rent to anyone under 21, they just wound not insure them.

As a boat owner, I would absolutely require yo uhave soem type of insurance should you get in a wreck, bang my boat against the dock, etc.

If you can work out the insurance, consider how you would do the scheduling. You would need a launch, pick-up time. Then you would need to allot for emergencies. If a guy needed to get out 3 hours early? You could charge extra but then you would need to worry about impact to your schedule for other folks.

You would also need to get yourself a good lawyer. You would need terms drawn up for making sure folks are held responsibly for crappy equipment. If the dude's trailer sucks and throws a wheel while you are towing it and wrecks your truck, or some other variant.

Not trying to discourage you. Any business venture requires you to troubleshoot all the potential issues and develop them into a workable model. So, if you are willing to take the effort, think through the issues folks brought up here, find solutions, throw them out here.

Go to a launch or 2, for folks that will give you their time, throw your proposal at them, get their take, would they use such a service? You may get some great ideas, or they may give you enough info for you to determine it is not viable. Either way man, a good exercise. Don't stop thinking. For each sucess many business guys have, they have plenty of failures or other idea that just did not work out.

[fishfordollars]

I happen to be in the insurance business. Trust me on this one. The liability is going to be high and the cost prohibitive.

The first thing you will need is a chauffeur's license and the coverage required. The cost on that alone is going to be cost prohibitive. It's basically the same policy coverage as if you were hauling a bus load of gamblers to a casino.

Not to mention huge maxiums on your liability, personal injury protection, and all sorts of other certs that may or maynot be required by your state.

[SydneyBass]

considering the cost of insurance, and the costs of milage on your tow vehicle, you would have to charge a lot and I think it would be so much that the average weekend boater would not be willing to cough it up, however, if you were at some ritzy marina catering to a wealthier crowd, then they might be willing to pay the high price

[atrocity]

considering the cost of insurance, and the costs of milage on your tow vehicle, you would have to charge a lot and I think it would be so much that the average weekend boater would not be willing to cough it up, however, if you were at some ritzy marina catering to a wealthier crowd, then they might be willing to pay the high price

Those were the kind of people i was targeting.

Thanks again for all your help. Just an idea i had because its hard to find a part time job down here with something you love doing.

[Jig Man]

Around here people with money either have their boats in docks in marinas or in storage close to the marinas.  They just call ahead and say, "Put my boat in the water.  I will be there at such and such a time to take it out".

[SoFl-native]

Hey i was wondering if you guys thought my idea was any good. Please be open minded and tell me what you think, ups and downs:

So i was thinking a lot of people are starting to drive hybrids and smaller cars due to the economy and still want to boat/ fish. I was thinking offering my service for the people who still want to boat/ fish who: do not own a tow vehicle, do not live on the water, do not know how to work the boat ramp, do not want to deal with the hassles of trailering a boat, and want to hop in their boat and go. My idea is i come to the client's house and pick their boat up with my truck and tow it to the boat ramp, either they come in my truck or meet up with their car. I launch the boat and make sure everything is a ok for them, I leave, drop the trailer off at either their property or mine (only if i have more clients that day). They call me about 20-30 minutes before they arrive at the ramp. I pull the boat out and drop it off for them, while they continue with the rest of their day. I do not know if i would offer a quick wash/ flush yet, still thinking it through. The most clients i could handle a day would probably three max. I would only do this on Saturdays and Sundays because i have school (high school). I wanna know what you guys thinks, any flaws i haven't thought of. I would probably need some special insurance when trailering the boat, if you guys could help me out with that. I know this is a big responsibility, but i wanna know what you guys think. Think like you are one of those people i states earlier. I use a public boat ramp 3-4 times a month so i know what to do. Thanks again!

Props on being creative but scratch this idea. Too many hurdles and too little demand.

[fastcasterjo]

If you like boats I would look in yellow books for boat detailing businesses. my buddy is one right now and with all the big boats around Lake Norman, NC, he gets bank. he only gets paid minimum wage but he will get 100 dollar tips or more for a 20 footer. Its a tough job but you will get strong like karate kid. WAX ON WAX OFF.  ;D ;D haha but hey my friend made 4000 in a summer.