Running a boat rental business can be a 24/7 job that consumes your life, and working 80 hours a week isn't much of a life. However, there are only so many hours a day, and if you don't find any downtime to relax or see your family, you can begin to wonder what it's all for. Streamlining your operations to improve your boat tour and rental business could be the key to giving you your life back.
Streamlining a boat rental business is important because tasks can be mundane, repetitive jobs that take hours out of your day, and finding a new way to do them, either through automation or outsourcing will help improve your boat rental business. It also involves recognizing you're not good at everything, so get someone good at the things you're not to help you out. Doing this will free up hours for you to focus on the things you do well, and you'll find you become more profitable as your business becomes more efficient.
Use boat rental software to help streamline the management of your business. Getting the information stored in a central place will make it easier for your team to access it. Everything you need, such as inventories or bookings, will be available at the press of a button. Creating an operations manual will ensure everything is done the same way, correctly, by anyone who does it without you having to be there.
Paper liability waivers are one big headache—they’re expensive to print and store, can easily get lost or damaged, and present security concerns when you have them laying around your facility.
Select a software, that can link to your reservation system, allowing you one software to manage your boat rental company. Indexic has software that can do both. aWaiver is a fully web-based that takes your liability waiver from your insurance company and transforms it into an electronic waiver. It’s easy for your customers to sign documents online and for you to manage! You’ll be able to safely and securely capture the identity of the person signing your waiver, which will be kept in a database for 7 years so you can reference it as needed.
Robust processes are the key to efficient customer service. A boat rental business with poor or inefficient processes is going to face a mountain of customer complaints. Not to mention frustrated employees, plenty of mistakes, and wasted time and effort dealing with all these. So it can be a good idea to assign someone to look at processes regularly and keep your customer satisfaction high.
The US Coast Guard has the resources available to help you create a safe boater course that boaters should watch before going out. Also, each state has different regulations for licensing that you must follow. Here is a list of state licensing regulations American Boating Association
If you are looking to build and scale your rental operation, you'll need repeatable processes that are documented. Otherwise, every time someone leaves, they will take their knowledge with them, and you'll have to start again. Train new staff to document any changes they make so that you're not making the same mistakes over and over again.
Use digital platforms, tools, and boat rental software to automate tasks for you. This is one of the keys to streamlining. You don't need to hire someone to do straightforward yet time-consuming tasks.
One of the first things you should do is get someone to look after your operations, even if they're doing other tasks as well. If you can find a person who naturally organizes as they go, then let them do their thing.
Look to hire people with the skill set to assist across multiple areas of your business. Or people who have the ability to acquire the skills required. This will keep the streamlining in your operations going and allow you to focus more on strategy and execution.
Having access to someone who has been there and done that before you is invaluable. They can help you avoid mistakes before you make them and see things you will not. You'll get to where you're going a lot faster when you take the right path.
You can streamline many processes yourself; however, having the right people around you can take it to the next level. If you have a team who can work independently and add their own ideas to yours, it will transform your boat rental business.
It's best to begin by streamlining your systems before looking at new strategies. How are you going to know how much you are earning? How is your cash flow going? How many bookings do you have available? Before strategizing, you need to know where you are right now. Systems are also essential for calculating any ROI on a path or action you may take. These systems keep you afloat during the hard times and provide a springboard for the future.
Find the biggest bottleneck in your operation. That is your starting point. If you can't find it, think if a particular activity is the most valuable use of your time. If you can delegate a task that is menial or repetitive, do it.
Keep an eye on fellow businesses, rivals, and mentors. If they are doing something, is it working for them? Aim to learn constantly from everyone around you; it is a great way to ensure your boat rental business is continually developing and evolving.
At Indexic, we know what it takes to run a successful tour and rental business because we have done it. We’ve lived the highs and lows of the tourism business and we have taken our extensive knowledge and built it into our software. We know what you want.