I can not speak for other ex-shop owners but for me it was just to time consuming. Between the classes, staffing issues, maintenance on the compressor, the shop itself, computers, etc., working on new marketing plans, talking to suppliers, shipping companies, email promotions, planning and conducting diver's day outs, constant monitoring of other dive shops, trends, consumer needs, well it just got to be to much. I think people always tend to boil it down to price and really that is just one piece of a very large pie. I was cheaper and competitive with every dive shop both locally and online. I was turned in by those dive shops over and over again for violating MAP's and other selling practices. I thought I was just playing in a competitive field. I can't even begin to tell you the number of times Troy and I sat at the dive shop by ourselves and shook our heads and thought the customer/staff has no idea what it takes to keep a business like this going. Some customers understood, some did not. Some staff understood, but most did not. I got tired of asking for help, needing help, arguing with idiots, traveling long distance, altering my schedule for ungrateful customers and staff alike. I blame myself in the end. I was not a business person and thought that by being open minded, looking at the bigger picture of sacrificing profit for customer satisfaction would create more of a loyalty, but it did not. It's been a tumultuous road since I sold my shop. I have a few regrets, but for the most part I am very happy now, less stressed, and surprisingly enough we have more money than we did than when we owned the dive shop. We spent a lot of money of convenience because we had to eat a lot of meals on the run, at the shop, or purchase meals for other people. Hotels, snacks, gas, ice, soda's , it all adds up. I appreciate the question FIXXERVI6, it helps to get it off my chest. I hope that the members of Scuaboard or any forum can understand what I am trying to say. It was fun for a while and then it just became a burden that took it's toll on my life. I would not do it again and I am very selective with my day to day activities now. Troy and I are planning a trip to West Texas/New Mexico to dive the blue hole next month, and then hopefully to Bonne Terre mine in May. This summer we are looking at motorcycle riding the Black Hills of South Dakota or stay local and travel to Big Bend and dive Lake Amistad. We have a trip planned for a week at Lake of the Ozarks in July with diving and motorcycling. I am really just coming out of a 6 month long funk and I am looking forward to my return to diving reguarly and locally. I still want to do some deep water and more cold water diving. Now I am rambling....carryon....
That is... if you want the company.
