Water sports rental is a dynamic and exciting business idea that could be right for you. However, there’s a lot more to it than being passionate about kayaking, jet skiing, and everything in between.
You need to know how to put together a water sports rental business plan. This plan is going to play a big part in both your ongoing success and securing the funding you need to get started.
Let’s look at what the plan should contain.
Industry Overview
No matter what kind of business you’re opening, your business plan will start with an industry overview. This section basically serves as an introduction for anyone unfamiliar with the nature of the industry, as a potential lender might be. It sets the foundation for the more specific content to come later.
Some general information about water sports rentals and their extent in your area can make up the industry overview. State or national statistics about the industry overall can be good as well, demonstrating the viability of the business concept in general.
The Executive Summary
The executive summary is the rundown of the overall contents of your water sports rental business plan. It will give the gist of your business, what you’re going to offer, what your market is, and a bit about yourself and any partners as business owners.
This section isn’t the first thing to write when figuring out how to start a water sports business plan. Despite being near the front of the plan, you’ll have to work through all of the other parts first to actually know the details you need to put here.
Your Services
Here is where you really get into your business and what it’s going to do.
Water sports rentals can cover a broad range of services, so you’ll have to specify what your business will offer. Are you renting kayaks for coastal journeys, jet ski rentals for lakeside getaways, or any other combination of water sports rentals?
You might also consider additional revenue streams for your business. While your rentals are, of course, important, is that all you’re going to offer? If your site is right on the water, you might consider selling snacks and drinks as well. In tourist areas, you could even carry souvenirs — it all comes down to your individual business idea.
The Mission Statement and Vision
The mission statement and vision should have a bit about how you want your business to present itself. It’s an important part of how to open a water sports rental store. You could say something about your motivation for starting the business or about giving people a chance to experience the great outdoors in the best way possible.
In general, you can also say a bit about delivering quality rentals, friendly service, and so on. This section is unlikely to make or break your business plan, but it is still important to include.
The Structure and Roles
This section is back to serious business planning. You’re going to have to define the structure of your company. Is it just you, or are you going to have employees? If so, what are their responsibilities going to be? These are all important questions.
For small businesses, you don’t have to worry about being overly specific. However, you should show that you’ve put some serious thought into how your business is actually going to run.
The SWOT Analysis
A SWOT analysis is going to break down your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. You’re going to try to show lenders the reasons why your business can succeed and that you’ve had the foresight to identify areas of concern.
This section is going to be highly dependent on you and your individual business. However, you can mention a few industry-wide perks like always being popular and having high margins while listing possible competition as a potential weakness.
Your Sales and Marketing Strategies
You’re going to need a way to draw in customers for your business, and any lenders will want to see that you have a plan. This section is where you can detail plans like distributing brochures to local hotels, having a social media presence, and other tactics.
Identifying your target audience is also important. Are you trying to sell to tourists, locals, or both? Is your specific water sports rental business for hardcore enthusiasts or families on vacation? These are important things to consider.
Your Sales Forecast
Of course, your water sports rental profitability is going to be a major sticking point with lenders. They want to know if you’re actually going to make money. That means you’re going to need sales forecasts for your business.
This section can be difficult to put together. A good starting point is other businesses within your region if you can determine their revenues. You can also work backward from their rental prices to see how much you might be making.
Your Pricing Strategy
It isn’t always obvious how much you should be charging for rentals, especially in seasonal businesses like water sports rentals. You need to make sure that your rates are low enough to draw in customers, but high enough to pay the bills.
When you’re considering this, you also need to think about what the market has to say. Your best bet for finding the right prices to charge is to look at other businesses in the area to determine what the going rates are.
Your Business Expenses
Your business plan should have a clear breakdown of all of your business expenses. This breakdown will include purchase prices for equipment but also ongoing costs. You’ll have to determine estimates for maintenance, insurance, utilities, employee wages, and more.
Working through your business plan in so much detail can be challenging. Our water sports rental business plan PDF template can greatly simplify the process and make sure you aren’t leaving out anything important.
Running Your Water Sports Rental Business With Quipli
Once your business is established, you need the right tools to run it. Quipli’s integrated platform provides you with the inventory management tools and online storefront that you need to make it easy for customers to book rentals. To find out more about what Quipli offers, Contact Our Team Quipli Today!
