Question Buying a shop

[bhend16]

So I may be way out of my depth here. My wife and I have a fair sized nest egg and we are looking to move abroad, we do not have enough to live out our lives so we will need to work. We have two young kids and we want to move somewhere we can have a good education for them and a strong community.

One thing that has come to mind is buying an established dive shop that we can run without the stress of setting up the shop, I know there will still be more work than I realize but I really think I would enjoy this work. We are looking at Spain and the Caribbean as we speak the language/s.

I guess what I am asking is, can we provide a living for a family of four in Spain or the Caribbean by owning a small dive shop.

If we are being absolutely out of our minds please do not hesitate to say so. I have done some of the preliminary research and will do a much deeper dive if this is something we decide to pursue it further.

I really wanted to hear the reality from current and former shop owners if it is viable.

Thanks!!

 

[Tracy]

It depends on the quality of life you seek. You definitely won't be wealthy, but you can survive.
I honestly have no idea in Spain and the Caribbean. In the US, if you worked it full time without paying any employees, you can make a livable wage. By the time you are paying someone to work it for you, it eats most of your profits.

 

[bhend16]

It depends on the quality of life you seek. You definitely won't be wealthy, but you can survive.
I honestly have no idea in Spain and the Caribbean. In the US, if you worked it full time without paying any employees, you can make a livable wage. By the time you are paying someone to work it for you, it eats most of your profits.

That is kinda what I figured, we are not going into this thinking we will get rich, just want to make ends meet and maybe save something for when I am old.

 

[Umuntu]

Mainland Spain is going to be very seasonal (winter with less business).

Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla probably less so. Canary Islands has established dive tourism and is subtropical, maybe tropical, weather.

Caribbean is closer for US tourism in general.

 

[runsongas]

do you have a background as a small business owner? if not, this is probably not going to end well. all the dive shop owners i've met who were doing well were not relying on scuba as their main income stream for the shop, because the overheads are fairly high and the margins low if you can't sell gear.

 

[bhend16]

do you have a background as a small business owner? if not, this is probably not going to end well. all the dive shop owners i've met who were doing well were not relying on scuba as their main income stream for the shop, because the overheads are fairly high and the margins low if you can't sell gear.

I do have some experience, never a brick and mortar shop, I know it will not be an easy row to sew.

 

[NothingClever]

If I were you, I’d start here:

Scuba Diving Industry Market Size Research Report - Business of Diving Institute

Finally! A scuba diving market report on the dive industry size. Dive equipment, scuba certifications & dive travel. USA, Europe & worldwide.

www.businessofdiving.com

 

[NothingClever]

The host of this podcast is difficult to listen to but Darcy provides great insight here.

 

[bhend16]

The host of this podcast is difficult to listen to but Darcy provides great insight here.

Thanks Clever I have tried to listen to that podcast in the past and was unable to finish an episode. I will listen this is one. I have been looking that the business of diving for a while, to be honest I never thought my wife would even entertain this let alone greenlight starting the process.

 

[Umuntu]

In terms of location, it’s important to be located in a high dive tourism destination if you hope to make a living from a primarily diving operation rather than it just being a hobby.

I have dived with scuba operations in some exotic locations with my sons and we were the only customers that week. It’s hard to see how the owners family could make a decent living from that level of business.