Ambitious teens looking for a future.

[GoDownOnHer]

I am a 17 year old graduating highschool in a couple months. Me and my buddy(18) are looking to save up money for the next three years, we want to start our own dive business. We plan on financing a Catamaran for scuba trips, and eventually owning a shop. I know PADI has a pretty good program that I have yet to look into but I just want to converse with people in the same industry and find out any tips or advice you might have. I know itll be hard to finance a boat at such a young age because it will be practically impossible to have good enough credit for that. I am financially literate so please throw your suggestions at me, no matter how "grown up" they might sound. I mean after all that's IS what i'm trying to do is grow up.

 

[FinnMom]

Want to seem like a grown-up? Your user name already canned any hope for that.

 

[yle]

Your personal credit history doesn't matter as much for attaining business financing; a solid business plan matters much more. Spend some time putting together a detailed analysis of the costs involved with your planned business, as well as a detailed analysis for your expected income. Be sure to include all costs that are easy to anticipate: equipment purchases (scuba gear is expensive when you're buying for just one person; it's really really expensive when you're buying a lot for your guests), equipment maintenance, insurance, payroll, licenses, boat storage, etc; and include costs that aren't so easy to anticipate.

I'm guessing since you're 17 that neither of you are scuba instructors and neither of you have a captain's license. Which means you'll need to hire people to take care of these jobs for you. If you plan to crew the boat yourself, you'll need to get the appropriate licenses. Do your homework to find out what's involved.

If you can convince the bank that they will be repaid by showing them a solid business plan, they'll be more likely to lend to you. If you convince them that you're a 17 year old that wants to borrow money to buy a boat so you can have a good time... they probably won't be so inclined to lend you money. If you're serious, convince them.

Beyond that... you don't say where you're planning to have your business, but I would guess (just roughly) you'll need around half a million saved in order to convince the bank you're serious. It won't be easy, but if you really want to do this it will be worth the effort.

Good luck!

 

[W1ngz]

Dream big kid, don't let anyone tell you not to

A few tips, not necessarily financial advice.
-get yourself hired in a local shop so you can start learning the business.
-find a high-ish interest savings account at a local bank, and do NOT allow it to be linked to any debit cards.
-Research your local chamber of commerce, youth employment center, or even a school career counsellor. They may know of resources like mentors and workshops for young entrepreneurs.
-Don't blindly trust anyone who promises to take care of anything for you. There's a ton of "advisors" out there. Question the benefit or value they add to your goals. MANY are just parasites looking to suck money from you with little to no return on what you give them.

... and yeah, a more appropriate user name would put you on a better path to be taken seriously and respected.

 

[Phil_C]

By all means have big dreams - you would be surprised what can be achieved if you set your mind to it and work hard - BUT - and it is a big but.

Are you even a qualified diver or instructor yet? neither your profile nor your post indicate what experience if any you have had as a diver. Running a profitable dive operation is not a constant bundle of fun, it is hard work, and more often than not you spend 5 or 6 times as much time out of the water running around filling tanks, cleaning and preparing kit, doing maintenance, completing paperwork, all so you can babysit/guide/teach people who expect you to make THEIR experience what they expect it to be, not to please yourself. Like all customer service industries what you want to do, and like comes a distant last place to the wants and needs of your customers, creditors, suppliers and everyone else first.

Finally sadly you will have alienated at least 50% of your potential customers by your choice of user name - as you will have probably detected by the first response you got to your post, or don't you believe there are female divers?.

Ten out of ten for asking for advice, that is not always easy and a big step, but lose the user name and have something that is not going to imply, whether it is true or not, that you have not grown up and have a juvenile sense of humour. - Good luck if you choose to pursue this course, - Phil.

 

[RJP]

Welcome to ScubaBoard!