Learn the powerful secrets of the super successful marina owner. Integrate his habits into your marina business and obtain extraordinary success.
Staying relevant is the single most important thing a marina can do to keep their current tenants happy and to attract new ones.
How many do you already have in place? Which ones do you need to pick-up?
1. Prudent, realistic planning
It is often said that a failure to plan is a plan for failure. The root cause of nearly every business disaster is mistakenly pursuing short-term goals ahead of long-term ones.
Stop operating season to season and bring the bigger picture into focus.
Most marinas have a tendency to react to yesterday’s problems but top performing marinas keep their focus on the 10-year horizon. Sure, they fix problems when they come up, but they don’t let the little things distract their focus from the big picture.
A solid, long-term plan will help you maintain focus on your goals rather than on any minor setbacks. It will also help keep you organized and on task.
2. Commitment to long-term property health
Nobody wants to pay slip fees at a marina that is outdated and falling apart. Even the best quality facilities require maintenance and periodic refreshment.
Marina owners who take measures to intelligently enhance and improve their facilities on a year-to-year basis effectively safeguard their businesses against the impact of a recession.
The desire to pursue alternative energy sources is driven by several key motivators including economic savings, self-reliance and sustainability. If you have a marina located in a sunny region with upland property and are looking for ways to cut your operating costs, marina solar power just might be worth looking into.
Marine Group Boat Works in San Diego, Calif. recently installed a 483kW rooftop solar system, which is estimated to result in an 81% reduction in annual electricity consumed and an estimated energy cost savings of $155,000 in the first year.
In December of 2016, Marine Group Boat Works (MGBW), located in San Diego, California became one of the first American boatyards to install a large scale, rooftop solar system. According to an article in the Solar Tribune, the new 483kW solar system is located on the boatbuilder’s 35,000-square-foot facility in National City.
The Solar Tribune article also states MGBW anticipates an estimated 81% reduction in annual electricity consumption, generating a savings in energy cost of approximately $155,000 in the first year and over $3 million in net savings over the 25-year warranted life of the solar modules.
Planning for the long-term growth and financial success of your marina means predicting the future. This includes anticipating and budgeting for future investments in your marina’s infrastructure.
A capital replacement fund is part of a long-term financial plan that strengthens the fiscal health of a marina’s business.
Have you given much thought about what it will cost to replace the docks in your marina 20 years from now? Although the idea may be mind-numbing, it’s important information to know.
Knowing this will not only better prepare you for the inevitable future but will give you a clear picture of the value of your current docks.
Owners and operators pour an amazing amount of blood, sweat and tears into building their marina businesses. However, too often planning for the marina’s future doesn’t occur until it’s too late to do it effectively.
A growing number of marina developers are looking to take an ecocentric (or environmentally conscious) approach to the design, construction and operation of their boat facility. This article reveals the environmental issues that are the biggest concern on a global scale and offers 6 guidelines for marina owners and operators to use in making purchase and operational decisions.
According to John Englander in his book High Tide on Main Street, marinas should be thinking about conservation of “energy” rather than conservation of “things”.
Marinas operate in some of the world’s most sensitive habitats.
As environmental concerns grow, more people are wanting to take an active role in being a part of the solution.
Put these two together, and marina owners and developers are smack-dap in the middle of the world’s environmental efforts.
Population growth aside, the single biggest environmental concern is climate change. Biodiversity, water and pollution are the next big 3.
For marinas, concerns about preservation of biodiversity, water quality and pollution are real and easy to understand. Marinas encounter and deal with these environmental concerns daily.
No marina is immune from the possibility of a fire. The risk of fire is just as real for a high-end megayacht marina as it is for a small, modest one. The key for marinas is to minimize their exposure to fire and the chance of it spreading through the facility by utilizing good management of fire safety.
Marina fires can be difficult and dangerous to fight; the real opportunity to minimize loss lies in prevention.
There are a number of precautions a marina can take to greatly minimize their overall risk; however, no matter how gallant the efforts a marina may still one day find itself in the midst of a fire.
Response time, training, and infrastructure are three things that will dramatically impact the outcome of a fire and the level of damage incurred. Boat fires can be extremely hazardous. The materials and gases most vessels put off when burning are very harmful and cause the fire to burn extremely hot. Ask any firefighter what you can do to diminish the chance of a fire going from a single alarm fire to a multiple alarm fire, and he will say engage in proper pre-planning activities and training sessions.
Train your staff how to respond and encourage your local fire department to come out to your facility. These two things will greatly impact the response time and allow your staff and local firefighters to arrive on the scene with a sense of know-how, confidence, and a game plan.