I think that, even now, most dive center owners/investors enter the industry with those exact sentiments.
However, the realities of the scuba industry are that it can be exceptionally tough to make a profit. Many scuba businesses go bankrupt - and with that goes people's life savings.
Funnily enough, none of their 'happy customers' appear to help them when that happens....
Scuba is not an industry for the potential 'Donald Trumps' of this world. It IS about making friends, loving your job...and waking up every morning and smiling. That said, any business needs to be run properly - as a commercial enterprise - if it is to survive.
Sadly, the dive centers that go broke quickest, are the ones with the most well-meaning owners :depressed:
Firstly, what person DOESN'T try and earn the maximum income from their job or business?
How does a dive shop owner explain to his wife or children why they can't afford this or that...because it isn't "in the spirit" of diving etc etc??
When non-diving pros go to their regular jobs on monday to friday....sitting in their offices, shops or factories.... are they ever overcome with such benevolence for their employers and customers that they offer to recieve less wages???
People work in diving because they LOVE diving. Trust me... it is HARD work and LONG hours. The pay/profit is insultingly low. There is NO WAY you would work in the scuba industry unless you had a deep and enduring PASSION for diving.
That said.... scuba pros need to eat and live. Some have families to support. They have to save money for retirement. They have to pay medical insurance, kit maintenance, agency fees, professional development courses etc etc. In short... they also need to earn decent money out of their jobs.
As I said in a previous post - some people believe that the scuba industry should be some sort of beatnik hippy commune where it is ethically wrong for money to change hands. Those people need to wake up and smell the coffee.