Why most dive center owners fail

WHY DIVE CENTER OWNERS NEED HELP!
 
In Bavaria every year a third of all dive centers go out of business. After 2 years almost 70% of dive shops close forever. This is particularly true for dive centers in Europe with long winter times! Why does that happen? How can dive center owners, who run a dive operation as a second profession prevent this from happening? Here are our top four insights into becoming a successful entrepreneur in the diving industry:
 
1.It’s all about community!
2.Build a brand! Build a legacy.
3.Promote your business on quality.
4.Understand the full value chain of your business.
 
Not sure what we mean? Let’s take a closer look & get you the details:
 
1.Create a community or go out of business.
Imagine you have 2 years until you go out of business. This is a very realistic scenario for dive center owners, who often lack the necessary vision to create a clear goal and implement on it. One of the key goals is to create a community. What do we mean by that? Isn’t a facebook group enough? Well, it all depends on the size of your operations! If you are a one-woman-show and all you can do is max. 4 open water divers during the weekend, then some advertisement on facebook might do the magic for you. However, there is one issue most business owners neglect:
‘Acquiring a new customer can cost five times more than retaining an existing customer. Increasing customer retention by 5% can increase profits from 25-95%. The success rate of selling to a customer you already have is 60-70%, while the success rate of selling to a new customer is 5-20%.’
 
The conclusion is clear: only those dive center owners who can build an active network of divers who actively engage in diving will be able to survive in the long-term. The list of how to actively engage with your dive community is endless. Here are some suggestions on how to retain your customers and increase your top line:

- Following up on open water divers to upgrade their skills with advanced courses including nitrox, rescue divers and other diving skill improvement courses

- Offering divers to buy their own equipment right after a course, particularly those items, which are subject to hygiene like mask, wetsuit and regulator

- Organization of events like summer BBQs for divers, film nights or weekend excursions to surrounding dive spots

- Special sales for outdated dive equipment items or used parts

 
2.Branding is key.
Either you can build a name for yourself or people will forget you very quickly. Branding is key and there are so many ways to make sure people think of you when they think of diving! What you can do is twofold – you have to touch your audience emotionally, while making sure your name is out at the market:

- Give out t-shirts with your brand to your students – your best marketing tool

- Give out or sell branded fun dive items at the counter like SMBs, mask protection or key chains

- Have your dive guide’s wetsuits branded with your company name

- Have all rented dive equipment branded with your company name

- Use your brand on all images you use for online marketing

- Have underwater banners on dives with your logo to do underwater shots

- Introduce the people behind the scene in connection with your logo

- Show videos of students who have been happily diving with you 

- Create milestones for your divers and celebrate their achievements, e.g. 100th dive medal

 
One of the best example we came across of a dive center with perfect branding is Stuart Cove in the Bahamas (Nassau). They brand all equipment - even the underwater gadgets - and post daily images and videos of their operations! They have a very active and creative marketing team in place - just watch the video at the top of this page.
 
3.The discount trap.  
Too often we see dive center owners selling off their equipment or even dive services. It seems the only way to increase sales is to sell at lower prices than the competition! It is so wrong and not sustainable in the long-term! Diving is perceived as a ‘risk sport’. Customers are well prepared to pay the little extra for better service, equipment and safety standards. It is all a matter of marketing! If you are more expensive than others, you need to explain why! Create your own story. Introduce the things you do differently to make divers feel comfortable in the water. We only recommend going for ‘discounted’ services, if you have a huge business and can dominate the market. Otherwise, quality is key to run your business successfully.  
 
4.Leverage your network to improve sales.
This is probably the most striking point to us! Only very few dive center owners have understood the value of their network and how to leverage on it. The most obvious point is to sell equipment to already existing customers. However, building a community by group trips and even earning on dive vacations is something only very few dive centers are actively doing! Our most successful partners would organize a big group trip each month over the ‘cold’ winter months, particularly between November – March! They charter liveaboards or take over whole resorts to do courses and have a good time with their students. These dive center owners have understood that they can still do the theory back home and practical part on a warm and sunny place in the world! Why not introduce a new divers to the underwater world in Egypt, Bali, Zanzibar or the Maldives? As a group leader you travel for free and earn with each buddy travelling with you! It’s the perfect way to combine work and pleasure and make a little dive dream come true for you! Group trips start with 5 guests. A fun group trip is the best marketing for you and it forms a community by itself. The nice side effect – you can create more marketing material while on the trips, which helps you to better promote your dive operations and inspire others to follow your lead. 
 
We are happy to help you leverage on your network and get you the best group dive vacation deals: service@DivingSpecials.com
written by Sarah Schübl - May 2019 

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