thanks o doyle. very cool !

azulAg said:

---

was just thinking of some ideas for the possible future, i love the ocean and being around aquatic life. A friend suggested boats. i have no clue how any of that works obviously. any advice would be much appreciated

---

The reason you're getting snarky responses is that you asked an impossibly broad question. Do you have any particular areas of the boat business that you're interested in? There are companies that broker yacht sales. That actually might be fun.

Houseboats are under rated. Rented one up in Arkansas for 3 nights with 2 other families and decided right then and there that I wanted one as a second home instead of buying a lakehouse.

Come up with a name first.



Hmmmmmm........



How about FoxCat boats?

You guys are ass holes

Do you have any existing skills you can stack onto such as being mechanically or electrically inclined?

Say you enjoy tinkering with electronics and wiring... Combining that with an aybc rigging cert and an eye for detail could make you pretty darn marketable. Quality riggers often charge $75+ an hour. You may have to put some sweat equity in at a shop to really learn the ropes, but it shouldnt be hard to break out on your own.

Or if you're decent at networking, study a little and learn to implement nmea networks to make trolling motors talk to GPS units which gather ais info from vhf units. This is something a young guy like you who probably grew up using phones, ipads, and the internet should pick up pretty easy. And it's black magic to rich older folks with nice boats who can afford to pay someone to set it up for them instead of having to read the manuals themselves.

Maybe you're mechanically inclined. Work at a shop that'll pay for you to become a certified Yamaha / Merc / zuke / tech. If you learn to work on motors and have a knack for providing good customer service, you could grow from repairing motors to selling and rigging new ones.

There's a whole niche market out there of guys restoring and flipping old 2 strokes which are still in high demand due to their lighter weight and the high price and complexity of new 4 strokes.

azulAg said:

---

Look I'm a just a dumb 22 year old kid exploring possible options in the future so if you don't want to contribute that's fine. I would just like some general insight on starting a business

---

Whatever you choose, I wish you the best. My insight is to stay away from any business that has inventory or requires a lot of employees.

why ? just curious

azulAg said:

---

why ? just curious

---

30Wedge is right - Inventory and employees are extremely expensive!
You'd be better off flippin boats if you want to do anything in that field without much experience.
Buy low - clean - sell higher - rinse - repeat.

If I may tag on, im in a position where I know most everything about irrigation and drainage there is to know and have all the licenses. I've installed many irrigation systems, many drainage systems, and done thousands of repairs on irrigation systems. I've sold about 20 of each and managed the installs. All of this for the same company.

I do not know when the right time is to startup. I would feel very bad about walking out because they've invested so much in me and there's nobody here currently who could replace me. Also, the GM is 67 years old and could retire (although not sure he's the type). This would mean me moving up and being 100% in sales. If I leave and he retires, the company is up a creek.

I could start with just me doing repairs by myself (not much initial investment or operating costs). I know people who could help me on weekends if I get an install. I have a few other ideas that would kind of be industry firsts.

Any advice would be great.

Edit: I'm only 23 if that changes any of your opinions.

Have you been giving out your contact info in addition to the company's? Has your customer service been momorable enough that customers call you first and not the main company number? Breaking out into a repair role would be alot easier if you have a client base set up already.

Since the company has invested in you, I'd be up front with the owner before going out on my own. See if he has any retirement plans or interest in selling the company. Offer to help him with the paperwork and books to learn as much about the business side as possible if you aren't doing that already.

Does he have any children / family involved in the business? That could throw a wrench in things.

azulAg said:

---

why ? just curious

---

Work on some numbers. If you have 100 boats in inventory, what will their cost be to you? Parts, etc. will need to be on hand as well. You could wind up with a few million dollars of stuff you are having to pay interest on to provide you stuff to sell and service. That will run you $15,000 or so in interest costs every month, just to have that amount of inventory. And you will need a decent selection of boats, you will be competing against Bass Pro Shops and the like.

Employees are additional mouths to have to feed. They want and expect a paycheck every week. Probably will either have to provide benefits, or higher pay than your competition to keep them around. And you will have to have people to do warranty work and other repairs.

Estimate those personnel costs, insurance, rent (both location and showroom), and figure out how many boats you have to move each month just to cover those costs, much less what you would want to get out of the place each month.

Inventory and employees can put you in a bind unless you have a lot of capital to see you through slow times.

That's the thing. I'm in DFW, but if I went out on my own it would be in the Houston area. Not sure how to test the waters there without leaving my current company. I do have customers that call me first when they have issues, but like I said this would be done in Houston.

He has a daughter at A&M that works the phones some in the summer and over breaks and a son in high school that hasn't ever worked with us.

mAgnoliAg said:

---

If I may tag on, im in a position where I know most everything about irrigation and drainage there is to know and have all the licenses. I've installed many irrigation systems, many drainage systems, and done thousands of repairs on irrigation systems. I've sold about 20 of each and managed the installs. All of this for the same company.

I do not know when the right time is to startup. I would feel very bad about walking out because they've invested so much in me and there's nobody here currently who could replace me. Also, the GM is 67 years old and could retire (although not sure he's the type). This would mean me moving up and being 100% in sales. If I leave and he retires, the company is up a creek.

I could start with just me doing repairs by myself (not much initial investment or operating costs). I know people who could help me on weekends if I get an install. I have a few other ideas that would kind of be industry firsts.

Any advice would be great.

Edit: I'm only 23 if that changes any of your opinions.

---

Good on you for thinking like this at only 23. Just curious, has the owner or owners indicated a desire to retire, or slow down? Might approach him about buying his business. Of course, I don't imagine you would want, or need, to pay much for it, since I suspect a lot of that sort of work is new installs, which you could do by starting your own business, though their book of business would provide you a base of customers for repair work. Sounds like you already have a great skill set and experience and would be something you could turn into a great career either by acquiring their business or going out on your own.

If you want to break out in a different city it should make it easier to part from the current company since you won't really be a competitor. Seems like irrigation is a pretty localized business.

Just spit balling here: If you have a good relationship with the owner, maybe he'd be willing to stake your start in Houston. Set up some agreement to split some percentage of profits for a limited amount of time and then that branch becomes yours.

Nah he's full speed ahead and actually has 5 different dba companies. He's only mid 40s anyways. The only interesting part of this is awhile back he was considering branching our company (the irrigation and drainage) out to other Texas cities, but he hasn't mentioned it lately. If he was considering Houston in the near future that would be a great option for me, but I think this thought is on the back burner for him.

Funny