When you own a business, no matter how small it is, you need to know the ins and outs of your industry. While some will have more well-known rules and regulations, others might not. This is usually the case for marina owners. If you’re new to owning one of these fine boat yards or want to learn more, this list of things every marina owner should know is here to help.
Be Sure To Enforce Your Safety Guidelines
We’re sure by now you’ve created a list of rules that all visitors must follow while on your docks. Regulations such as “no running” or “no swimming” are crucial for ensuring the safety of people and their boats. Unfortunately, though, some people will start ignoring them if you don’t actively enforce them. This is not what you want as a marina owner.
While your visitors’ safety is crucial, your profit margins’ safety is equally important. The last thing you’ll want is legal trouble because you didn’t enforce your rules tightly enough. While you don’t need to hire employees to specifically watch for rulebreakers, having your staff keep an eye on people while on the docks will be an essential part of their jobs.
Don’t Allow “For Sale” Signs
Speaking of rules, one rule that not enough marina owners know about is that they should never allow “for sale” signs on the boats they house. If a sale transaction for a boat occurs on your premises, you could be held liable for any legal or tax ramifications from the sale. While you won’t be able to stop some people from selling their boats on the marina, enforcing this rule will help keep you safe, legally speaking.
Keep Your Marina Clean
Even though competition for marinas isn’t exactly high, you still need to do everything you can to keep your clientele happy. This starts with you making sure your marina is clean. If there is trash all over the docks, people won’t want to step foot on your docks. Plus, it’ll be very easy for this garbage to end up in the ocean or lake you’re on. Having multiple trash bins will help alleviate this problem.
Also, be sure to clean up spiderwebs whenever possible. Bugs like hanging out by the water, which means spiders do too. Even though the spiders will help keep the bug population down, too many webs will make your marina look run-down and ugly. Cleaning up the more prominent ones will help with this issue.
Offer Other Services
Even though a marina’s main goal is to sell boat docking spaces, you can offer much more to the people who visit your marina. Something that every marina owner needs to know is that expanding your services will greatly benefit your business. It doesn’t even have to be anything big.
There are many reasons to include an ice vending machine at your marina, and all of them will lead to you increasing your profit margins. You could also set up a gas station for boats or a small restaurant for people to eat at. No matter what you decide to add, it’ll help get more people to your marina.
