Worsening insurance crisis

[tursiops]

What do travel wholesalers see in an LLC that they wouldn't see if you were doing business under the same name without the "LLC" after it? Your business can be an equally legitimate business whether you operate it as an LLC or as a sole proprietorship. But maybe travel wholesalers don't know that.

Being an LLC makes it easy to show I'm a legitimate business and get a commission. Otherwise I'd have to prove I'm real and not just trying to scam the wholesalers and get a good deal for myself.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Being an LLC makes it easy to show I'm a legitimate business and get a commission. Otherwise I'd have to prove I'm real and not just trying to scam the wholesalers and get a good deal for myself.

That's ridiculous, though I can understand why it works for you. I guess this got my attention because it's similar to the fallacies about LLCs that have been mentioned in this thread. Anyone can set up an LLC in 10 minutes and run a legitimate business under that name or just flash the "LLC" when it suits them even though what they're doing isn't what the other party believes. If they want to assure themselves you're operating the business you say you are, they should seek whatever evidence they feel makes the business "legitimate" enough to get commissions, and they should look for the same evidence regardless of whether the name you're doing business under has "LLC" in it or not. A sole proprietorship is a completely legitimate business. From your perspective as a dive professional, sure, I can understand it might look persuasive to others. Those others should be cautious about what weight to give an "LLC" in a business name.

 

[tursiops]

That's ridiculous, though I can understand why it works for you. I guess this got my attention because it's similar to the fallacies about LLCs that have been mentioned in this thread. Anyone can set up an LLC in 10 minutes and run a legitimate business under that name or just flash the "LLC" when it suits them even though what they're doing isn't what the other party believes. If they want to assure themselves you're operating the business you say you are, they should seek whatever evidence they feel makes the business "legitimate" enough to get commissions, and they should look for the same evidence regardless of whether the name you're doing business under has "LLC" in it or not. A sole proprietorship is a completely legitimate business. From your perspective as a dive professional, sure, I can understand it might look persuasive to others. Those others should be cautious about what weight to give an "LLC" in a business name.

Thank you for your concern. It has been working fine for 17 years.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Thank you for your concern. It has been working fine for 17 years.

I understand. It works for you. And it has worked for the parties you were dealing with because you were in fact operating the business they believed you were. If there is any "concern" in my post, it's not for you, it's for those who deal with people who might be less scrupulous than you. Buyer beware.

 

[tridacna]

Thank you for your concern. It has been working fine for 17 years.

I too run dive groups. Four annual trips with 20+ divers each for 10 years now. Never had a wholesaler ask me whether I’m an LLC, sole prop or corporation. As long as I’m bringing divers, they could care less. I go to DEMA every year. They don’t ask about my financial structure either.

 

[tursiops]

I too run dive groups. Four annual trips with 20+ divers each for 10 years now. Never had a wholesaler ask me whether I’m an LLC, sole prop or corporation. As long as I’m bringing divers, they could care less. I go to DEMA every year. They don’t ask about my financial structure either.

Do you get a commission on each person?

 

[tridacna]

Do you get a commission on each person?

Usual stuff. One FOB for every X divers plus commissions. How do the resorts know what your financial structure is? I don’t advertise that.

And yes, I carry annual insurance too.They ask!

 

[tursiops]

Usual stuff. One FOB for every X divers plus commissions. How do the resorts know what your financial structure is? I don’t advertise that.

And yes, I carry annual insurance too.They ask!

I don't deal directly with resorts. I always deal through a wholesaler, almost always the same one. Good working relationship.

 

[Germie]

I saw that also the insurance in the Netherlands, Dan Silver Pro is getting expensive, now 215 euro for a year. The bronze pro is 175. Last year I paid 196 for the Silver pro.
But it is not so expensive as in the us.

 

[shoredivr]

Did anyone have an answer to this question?

What about the dive industry adopting the "insurance club" model similar to the large vessel shipping industry?

-Z