My advice would be to look for complimentary businesses that you could partner with. Ever heard of the expression - "Strength in numbers"?....Here are a few things that I have seen work extremely well:
1. Dive shop I was previously involved with partnered with a local college. The college taught hospitality (amongst other things). This particular dive shop managed to get the PADI Open Water course added to the cirriculum of a few of the courses that were offered, and had a steady flow of students each semester - locked in by contract. The theory was, that if you plan on working in a resort once you finish school, having other skills (such as being able to dive) adds to your CV. A few students even chose to go through and complete the IDC
2. Partnerships. Why not benefit from economies of scale? If you have a dive shop in one part of the world, and two of your friends are located in different parts, why not combine forces, co-brand / form an association, and cross advertise to each others clients? Add travel into the mix, and you can do quite well out of it. Furthermore, instead of purchasing material seperately, benefit from being part of a larger group - buy in bulk - and save. Greater volumes give you better purchasing power (for the most part...)
3. Complimentary businesses. If you run a dive shop, then why not buy into a business that will feed you a steady flow of clients? Here is an example. You can ask the local backpacker hostel to send you clients, or you can buy equity in the backpacker hostel (or start / buy your own?), and build your own dive and accommodation packages. Which do you think will get you more clients? Complimentary businesses that feed clients into both sides of what you are trying to do will ultimately bring you more success, as well as a diversified income stream. They are also financially safer, mainly because you are not reliant upon one source of income alone....
Lastly - look at what your competitive advantage is. In other words - what differentiates you from the dive shop next door? If you don't have a competitive advantage - get one! You need to focus on your differentiating factors to attract new clients - otherwise clients will simply go by who is cheapest, or has the best looking web site. If you don't tell people what makes you so special, then how will they know? Why would they come to you? What will draw them in? This is often the hardest question to answer, but if you get it right - you are bound to have success......
Good luck
