What are the pros and cons of being a DM associated with a shop vs being Independent. I just finished DM and in a dilemma of associating with a shop or going independent.
thanks
thanks
Independent vs associated Divemaster
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what's the diving like where you are? Do you want to stay in one spot or travel?
OP
I'm not exactly sure what i want to do with it yet. There is a shop that i was looking to associate with, but my instructor from the local quarry wants me to help out. If i help him i'll be independent but i help the local shop i'll associate. I was just looking at the pro and cons of doing both.
Well, one of the biggest ones is insurance. A shop may be willing to cover part or all of your cost, and almost certainly will have a better price on insurance than you will be able to get on your own.
A second reason, if you like to help with classes, is that shops generally run classes on a regular basis, and being a shop DM will get you in on them. If you're working with an independent instructor, you may not get as many opportunities to assist.
A third reason is that some shops give "key man" discounts on equipment bought through the shop, if you are doing a minimum amount of DMing for them. They may also offer free or reduced cost fills.
On the other hand, shops can have annoying rules, like prescribing certain gear to be used, or requiring a certain number of classes that you do per year to remain associated with them.
Do be aware that, if you become a shop DM and get your insurance through them, it may not cover you for any activities you do outside of the shop's instructor corps.
A second reason, if you like to help with classes, is that shops generally run classes on a regular basis, and being a shop DM will get you in on them. If you're working with an independent instructor, you may not get as many opportunities to assist.
A third reason is that some shops give "key man" discounts on equipment bought through the shop, if you are doing a minimum amount of DMing for them. They may also offer free or reduced cost fills.
On the other hand, shops can have annoying rules, like prescribing certain gear to be used, or requiring a certain number of classes that you do per year to remain associated with them.
Do be aware that, if you become a shop DM and get your insurance through them, it may not cover you for any activities you do outside of the shop's instructor corps.
TSandM pretty much covered it all, so I'll just point and nod...
Personally, I decided to be quasi-independent. I decided that I wanted my own insurance for various reasons, independence being one. On the other hand, when I'm in town, there's really only one shop that I am comfortable working with, so I'm de facto associated, at least locally. I work their classes and trips as often as I can, so I have much more opportunity than I would purely independent. It's enough of an association to the shop that I get the "key man" discounts and other benefits, but it's also independent enough that I'm not an indentured servant being paid in insurance and gear discounts. I *do* find it terribly convenient that they handle all the paperwork and logistics for me.
In order for it to work, we did have to (quite easily) come to an understanding about things like gear. I dive a jacket BC in the pool and spring-day on the checkouts, and then I dive my backplate on the saltwater days of the checkout. They don't sell the fins I wear, but they make it up in spring straps and beanie caps sold. To them, I match enough to not hinder instruction in the early stages, and they get to show me off on the boat as an example of other gear or other areas of diving. I get to dive my preferred gear in the water that matters, and the pool water only attacks my class gear. :biggrin:
If the shop were more like some of the hard-line shops I've read about, it might be more difficult to have a loose but mutually beneficial quasi-association. I'm not sure I'd want to associate with a shop that *doesn't* allow loose affiliations, on the other hand, so that would likely make the decision even easier (just like not-purchased-here syndrome makes it trivial for a customer to walk away from a shop with bad feelings).
I'm now an Instructor, still operating the same way I did when I made Divemaster, and it seems to work just as well now. Well, better, as mb finished her Divemaster, so we're a quasi-independent dynamic scuba duo. :biggrin:
Personally, I decided to be quasi-independent. I decided that I wanted my own insurance for various reasons, independence being one. On the other hand, when I'm in town, there's really only one shop that I am comfortable working with, so I'm de facto associated, at least locally. I work their classes and trips as often as I can, so I have much more opportunity than I would purely independent. It's enough of an association to the shop that I get the "key man" discounts and other benefits, but it's also independent enough that I'm not an indentured servant being paid in insurance and gear discounts. I *do* find it terribly convenient that they handle all the paperwork and logistics for me.
In order for it to work, we did have to (quite easily) come to an understanding about things like gear. I dive a jacket BC in the pool and spring-day on the checkouts, and then I dive my backplate on the saltwater days of the checkout. They don't sell the fins I wear, but they make it up in spring straps and beanie caps sold. To them, I match enough to not hinder instruction in the early stages, and they get to show me off on the boat as an example of other gear or other areas of diving. I get to dive my preferred gear in the water that matters, and the pool water only attacks my class gear. :biggrin:
If the shop were more like some of the hard-line shops I've read about, it might be more difficult to have a loose but mutually beneficial quasi-association. I'm not sure I'd want to associate with a shop that *doesn't* allow loose affiliations, on the other hand, so that would likely make the decision even easier (just like not-purchased-here syndrome makes it trivial for a customer to walk away from a shop with bad feelings).
I'm now an Instructor, still operating the same way I did when I made Divemaster, and it seems to work just as well now. Well, better, as mb finished her Divemaster, so we're a quasi-independent dynamic scuba duo. :biggrin:
TSandM did an excellent job of summing it all up for you.
OP
Thanks thats pretty much what i was looking for, though clayjar would pretty much be the ideal situation for me!
thanks everyone
thanks everyone
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