Fishing and Boating Business

kaelc

kaelc

Crew Member
I just took a deep dive into a fishing-related business, and almost bought it, but we were too far apart on the value of the business. I'm keeping my eye open for fishing, outdoor clothing and boating businesses for sale or potentially starting one. Is anyone looking at starting a business, selling one, or looking for partners in these spaces? Feels like the best way to have a 1 Million Dollar Fishing/Boat/Clothing Business is to start with 10 million, I don't know if this comes from the airline industry but seems like it rings true for many 'passion' businesses.

Would love to go fishing and chat business and am happy to chat with members anytime about even non-fishing related businesses.
 
Captain obvious here but i think the offshore market has flooded the world so badly and made it super easy to have stuff delivered to your door. The days of brick and mortar storefronts sadly seem to be over.

The one saving grace seems to be the fact that people are still willing to pay good money for an exceptional, hand made product. ( AP comes to mind or Peetz spoons etc )
I know for my self i pay a lot for tackle. I misplaced a tackle box of mine last summer, and i had a full blown panic attack thinking it got stolen from my boat. The rough math in that one small tackle box exceeded $500 with all the AP and my most used plugs.

So i think it would need to be marketed as niche handmade tackle and displayed in kind.
 
Seeing what happened to Wise Buys, I feel the way to go in the industry is by offering accommodations. From there, have some charters, tackle, gear, clothing, if you wanted to dabble into that arena. A rental has year round income stream depending on the location. I like the idea of a rental/vacation unit but you really have to like a place to go there all the time. I looked into a place at Renfrew to run as such but the cleaning/management fee were just too high. Even 90min away isn’t convenient. It’d be hard to compete with the main guys here on the South Island. And most are hunting & fishing stores. Like it was said earlier, it’d have to be custom made tackle like AP tackle or a very specific lure. I do see a new brand like Westcoast Fishing Tackle making a pushing into the market. Nice gear.
 
I personally would never consider anything retail related but I would think if a person had some accommodations and a couple boats guiding in a popular fishing/kayak area you could probably do ok. My concern would be finding a good guide or two and whether or not you’d make enough to float the place all winter. Airbnb with guiding all summer and maybe rent the place to some locals in the winter type of thing.
 
If I was to look at a business to buy or start from scratch, I would focus on the following.

Reoccurring revenue, with annual auto renewing contracts with clause for cost increases.
No Emergency Service response if possible, like 24/7 service on call, if needed contract it out.
Reasonably high barrier for entry into this market, keeps competitors out and deters staff from becoming your competitor.
Business could be operated from industrial or low rent or owned building, not high priced retail premises.
Ability leave for personal time away without customers/clients leaving.
Ability to find staff without having to have high priced technical people on the payroll, have them on contract if needed.

Now that would be a business I would be interested in.
Examples, owning Multi family housing complexes, Internet ISP's Hosting services etc.

The opposite of my current business, except item 1 & 4.

If you want to discuss business you can PM me, I started and have run the same business for 37 years and currently have about 30 staff, I've seen a bit in my time.

David.
 
Usually preferable to look at an acquisition, than starting something from scratch. Getting a loan or operating line of credit is easier when you have twenty years of books to show them. All my investment friends look for established provable acquisitions. Then you can expand.
 
Kiwi Canuck said:
If I was to look at a business to buy or start from scratch, I would focus on the following.

Reoccurring revenue, with annual auto renewing contracts with clause for cost increases.
No Emergency Service response if possible, like 24/7 service on call, if needed contract it out.
Reasonably high barrier for entry into this market, keeps competitors out and deters staff from becoming your competitor.
Business could be operated from industrial or low rent or owned building, not high priced retail premises.
Ability leave for personal time away without customers/clients leaving.
Ability to find staff without having to have high priced technical people on the payroll, have them on contract if needed.

Now that would be a business I would be interested in.
Examples, owning Multi family housing complexes, Internet ISP's Hosting services etc.

The opposite of my current business, except item 1 & 4.

If you want to discuss business you can PM me, I started and have run the same business for 37 years and currently have about 30 staff, I've seen a bit in my time.

David.
Click to expand...
What you are describing is a Unicorn business
 
Valuations for family run businesses are a pita. Owners look beyond the numbers and forecasts and often behave like you're trying to buy their first born child, which in essence, you are.

In my case, we had a deal done for about 600 in a business I've been part of leading for 29 years. Then he drops oops you have to pay off my 700k loc, I'm like wtf, no way that's yours for your poor business practices. He wouldn't budge, stomped his feet and walked out the door saying you run it now, it was insane. 2.5 years later I've paid off the loc and the swine sells for 1.5m, and the buyers did zero due diligence as he restricted them from speaking to me in fear I'd torpedo the deal. He was correct, too. Needless to say we don't kick it anymore.

So, if you find the right deal I'm raising my hand!
 
Also, if the business has any ip at all, that's a different ballgame, particularly if there are licensing rights aka next level of recurring revenue.

My grandfather with a grade 8 education invented a tool In the late 30s which he licensed to a little company called Boeing just in front of the wartime effort. That funded his business ventures so he could have the flexibility to do wtf he wanted. That business was sold in the early 70s and continues to thrive today. Way to go Walter One Thou as they used to call him...one precise dude.







 
 
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