The Secret to Choosing a Strategic Location For Your Private Boat Rental
One of the first things you have to figure out when starting a new company is where to base it. Several elements go into finding the perfect spot: competitors, substitute products, the pace of the real estate development in the area and other recreational offerings. Boat rental operators also have to take mooring pricing and terms and other water-related facilities that guests can enjoy during the day into account. All of those have to be taken into account, but fear not! It might seem a little daunting, but we’ve compiled some of our top tips when considering a new location.
The underlying value of a good location and the hidden competitive advantages
Businesses today rely more and more on their online presence and rightly so. Almost 80% of consumers conduct online research prior to purchasing. The number of possibilities for building better online visibility is endless. Easy website builder tools, content curation platforms, social media management solutions are getting easier to use and are now available to everyone.
At the same time, information flow has become so intense in our days, we process an enormous amount of data. Only on Wordpress, 70 million blog posts are published every day and 89% of B2B businesses use content marketing to generate growth. There are many social media statistics to look out for. Although very important, it might be difficult to differentiate yourself online, which is why a physical presence might help you to differentiate from other businesses. Walk-in traffic is a huge competitive advantage. By welcoming guests at your rental business you can educate them about the maritime world and your business process all whilst generating sales and having an amazing marketing effect. Your location can therefore be a huge competitive advantage that requires careful planning and investment.
Identifying interesting areas of development projects
If you’re lucky enough to live in a city with a high level of growth and development, then there might be a fantastic option for finding a location within that. Do your research about the growth of your city and the perspectives for future developments. Identify real-estate professionals and city planners and contact them in order to be up-to-date about the growth of the market. This kind of business networking enables you to buy into areas that are not yet available to others, and might be out of the price range as soon as they get on the market.
Getting in at the early stage of a development project can be one of the best options, because you know you’re going to be the first business of your kind on the block. If that isn’t possible then planning and doing your research on the real estate market increases the likelihood of establishing your business in an area with minimal competitive advantage. Doing that research can be one of the best ways to make the most money once you’re established.
Over the years we’ve given a tremendous amount of support to our partners regarding their real estate questions. Often people are surprised that there’s so much potential in this industry. One of the many advantages of a franchise is that we provide new partners with our experience and advice to help them find the perfect location for their boat rental.
Supporting recreational offerings
Cooperating with other businesses in order to attract more visitors is a frequently used, successful method of making your business more attractive. Boat rental is usually not a full day activity, so having other activities or things to offer your guests you give them a more complete and wholesome experience. The customers are also more likely to target your locations because there’s so much to do, they don’t have to go anywhere else.
When looking for potential partners look out for food and beverage facilities, paddleboards, go-karts, amusement parks, museums etc. that you might be able to cooperate with. It’s important to identify which one of these facilities represent additional value to your private boat rental, and which ones are competitors or substitute products. Work out whether or not these other goods and services represent the same value in the eyes of your customers as your offerings. If they do, then they’ll only add to your business.
Mooring pricing and terms
Our absolute top advice? Always read the small print. Mooring pricing and terms are two of the most important factors that can determine your success and profit. We have seen several agreements during our time that undermined the expectations of at least one of the parties. It is essential that you don’t sign a contract with disadvantageous conditions. A contract that has the possibility of annulment from the other party and other agreements without an exit option for you are a business risk and can cause your business to fail. If you want a better understanding of the contractor and whether she is the right partner to cooperate with, run a background check of her history. Be aware of the factors that can make a contract invalid.
How much rent can I afford? Whilst you’re searching for the best possible mooring for your business, think about your budget for it and the maximum amount of money you can afford for this purpose. As a franchise business, we have gained experience during the years and we recommend it to be less than 10% of your cost structure in order to achieve your business objectives.
Close or far from the competition?
Being close to your competitors has its pros and cons. Areas that are densely packed with offerings attract vast crowds of visitors, enabling everyone to have a (small) slice of the cake. In some cases, this piece can be big enough to achieve your business goals. In others, you need to do more than simply be in and amongst the hustle and bustle by being more up-to-date regarding the industry trends, utilising them, and taking steps to differentiate the value proposition of your rental business from the rest by being aware of the pain points of your customers and the characteristics of your competitors.
In our case, we understand the importance of sustainability in business, being customer-centric, operating in the experience economy and serving the community. We’ve shaped our business strategy to conform to these necessities, which makes us more attractive to our customers.
Specifically with a private boat rental business, it’s worth considering what you would want as a customer. Because it isn’t a full day activity you want to do something else after. Having deals set up with cafes, restaurants, shops and activities nearby lets your customer know that they’re being cared for and you want them to have a good day. They haven’t necessarily planned a whole day by the waterfront. By helping them you’re sure to score some customer experience points.
In other cases, the best way of not having competitors is to be far away from them. This can be a reasonable step if you feel like your business idea is too difficult to differentiate from your competitors. If that is the case, it might also be worth questioning whether you need to change your idea slightly? Far from other businesses your customers do not have the opportunity to compare, you have better elasticity to set your price and you do not have to pay much attention to differentiating yourself and making a deep competitor analysis. At the same time be aware of your customers and how they find your business, as further locations have the disadvantage of being less known than businesses in busier areas.
Why is sustainability important?
Sustainability is becoming a bigger concern and the importance of it is increasing both for private people and businesses. Weather conditions are getting extreme, sea levels rise and forest fires are getting more and more common. Climate change is affecting not only the environment but sustainability in businesses as well. More and more successful business ideas are shaped to be eco-friendly, using renewable energy resources and customer expectation towards green products and services has been increasing as well. 66% of consumers say that they are willing to pay more for sustainable products. Being responsible for the environment isn’t only something to focus on to do good, it also has a positive impact on business as well. It helps to reduce costs and to build a positive brand image. And of course it also helps to ensure that there’s still something left to see.
Sustainability is gaining attention in almost all industries and in the maritime ecosystem as well. As an electric boat company, we are constantly experimenting with new solutions to fulfil our responsibility of saving the environment. In our business process we use sustainable food and beverage products, recycled materials for docking and electric boats to save the marine ecosystem.
If you think you know of a great location for a boat rental or you’re interested in starting one, then please don’t hesitate to get in contact with us and we’ll see how we might be able to help you in your venture.