IMHO, and as I have observed as a PADI trained pro with
some, but not much, technical training and experience, one thing you have to keep in mind is that for the VAST majority of scuba instruction endeavors, technical courses represent but a small fraction of the fish pond. I, like you, once thought that I wanted to go tec, teach tec and increase my credibility and sale ability by becoming a tec instructor. The truth I have found in a couple years since has painted a slightly different picture.
First of all if you want to eat, (and not have 2 other jobs on the side) you are going to teach rec divers.
Secondly,
Put
Another
Doller
In has done just that... there is no other organization who compares to PADI as far as brand recognition. 18 months ago while teaching/guiding in the Caribbean, I had a diver come up to my counter and ask how long it would take him to get his PADI card since as all he had was XXX (another RSTC recognized agency). Granted that was just a lack of knowledge mostly due to him being only 50% 'there', but it proves that even the unwashed know of PADI and as such quite often they recognize and value PADI
without you or your staff having to qualify and pre sell
Thirdly, practice makes perfect. Every class you teach as a new instructor gives you credibility and comfort in your abilities as a teacher. By teaching the PADI courses, you will, whether your tec side wants to admit it or not, better you
as an instructor. The teaching experience you gain as a new instructor will go towards your abilities to relate to and imbue knowledge unto all different types of student. While the diving skills may not transfer from one to the other, the prowess as an instructor will.
Fourthly, you are not typically going to have experienced divers (tec course potential students) come into your new shop unless you have something bigger better badder to offer them. In the local markets it is quite common for a diver to ally him or herself with a LDS. TYPICALLY that is their first shop, where they took Open Water, until said shop says or does something either through stupidity or omission to loose the diver as a client. Yes there is something to be said for luring in the technically inclined diver from strictly rec shops... but then you still have to distinguish yourself/your shop from the myriad of other established LDS' who have a technical presence but also have established credibility. If you can catch 'em while they still think all divers use pure Oxygen in their 'bottles', you stand a better chance of certifying them to use that pure O2 for deco later...
DO NOT LET ME DISCOURAGE YOU OUT OF HAND, just make sure you have done enough due diligence that your disillusions and idealistic inclinations pass the scrutiny of reality. I know I was where you now are about 2 years ago, and if I knew then what I know now, I might have looked a bit harder to find some thing more lucrative to study that would allow me to afford to travel and keep my diving as a pure unadulterated hobby.
I wish you all the best in your quest, but keep in mind that if you see a pool of blood around a pile of dead corpses at the foot of a brick wall, do not assume that you can necessarily run through that wall unless you are doing something different than the others before you tried.
Before everyone who thinks otherwise jumps on me for my wildly inaccurate information, let me pre-empt them with this one wee little disclaimer:
These are just my opinions…
…and no matter how stupid I may sound or wrong I may be, I am human and thus entitled to my opinions
