7A- Testing the Hypothesis part 1
Boat Cleaning Service
While Marinas and
Shipyards provide boat owners with storage for their vessels, they fail to
offer an adequate cleaning service for their customers.
The Who: Boatyards and
the people who store their vessels there.
The What: Many Marinas
fail to offer a cleaning service for the vessels that they store.
The Why: Their employees
are only paid to stow away the boats, leaving the boat owners to clean the
boats themselves.
I believe that boatyards
should be all inclusive. When somebody is paying a premium to store their boat,
they should not have to worry about hiring their own cleaning crew or cleaning
their boat themselves. The marina can partner with my third-party service and
incorporate the cleaning fee into their price to store the boat at their yard. It
would also help marinas who offer this service stand out from the ones that do
not.
I
interviewed four boat owners and one college student and explained to them my
business pitch and why I believe that this opportunity exists. Two of the
interviewees store their boats in marinas, both of which do not have any
existing service like the one that I created. The other two boat owners store
their boats at their houses. Out of the five interviews, the responses given by
two that keep their boat’s in a ship yard were the most useful.
One
notable suggestion that one interviewee gave me was to include boat waxing and
maintenance, such as vacuuming and general cleanup for large yachts when they return
from long trips. I was originally thinking of just basic cleanup on small
fishing vessels, as that is what I am familiar with. The college student that I
interviewed thought I had a good business plan and believed that it could be
profitable as long as I employed a staff that has previous knowledge of boats. One
of the boat owners that stores his boat in his backyard also said that he liked
my idea, but was skeptical if people would pay extra for such a service if
given the option when storing their boat at a marina. He confirmed my original
idea that it would be intelligent to include the price of the service with the
price that it costs to store your boat at a marina.
The
other boat owner that stores his boat at home gave me a more negative response.
He told me that a lot of people, including himself are very particular about
their boats. He said that he would rather just take the time to clean the boat
himself to ensure no corners are cut than have a third party clean his boat and
not do an adequate job. He also suggested that it would be essential to hire
people who have lots of experience with boating, as he would not want “the
average joe” to take care of his boat.
I
believe that for my next interviews, it would be beneficial to call marina’s
and speak with the managers. I would give them my business idea and see how
they felt about incorporating cleaning into their list of services. Additionally,
I would like to do more research to see if any marinas currently offer a
cleaning service and see how much they charge for that service in order to come
up with a base price for my service. One of my interviewees suggested that many
of the workers offer to clean his boat but they do not really do a sufficient
job. Overall, I am satisfied with the responses to my interview questions and
believe that I was granted multiple perspectives on my business opportunity.
ReplyDeleteThis opportunity really hits home for me because I have a boat I store in a dry dock marina and they do not supply cleaning service that is acceptable. They also charge a fee for an outside company to come clean your boat in their marina. I think this is a huge opportunity to combine the two and have a cleaning service that is included in the price even if it is a bit more expensive than a regular marina. I think you could have broken down your interviews a little more to make this more structured but it is very good still.
I thought this was a very interesting opportunity you presented. I believe this boat cleaning service will greatly increase individual's satisfaction when they store their boat in the marina. Moreover, your interviewees being boat owners helped me see the pros and cons of your proposal. In my opinion, I would think people would pay an extra fee so that they could enjoy the services your company would provide.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea since the marina's already have all the boats in their vicinity it wouldn't be a difficult addition to their business but would certainly bring in a lot of revenue. I see that some people would rather clean their own boat but this service could simply be an additional price you pay in your marina space rent and not all of the people would need it. This is a really good idea since it's very practical and could easily be marketed!
ReplyDeleteI like your idea it would make sense for marinas to add this service. I like that you found people to interview who fit the "the who", it makes their opinions have more weight. I also liked how your interviews had varied responses, showing that the idea is not for everyone. Overall great job explaining how your opportunity can benefit both marinas and boat owners.
ReplyDeleteI found your idea to be very clever and unique, and particularly interesting as a Floridian. During my summers, I clean dry dock boats. I can attest to what you've noted about their poor services despite high prices. Really, you pay to have your boat taken care of. The dry dock services will do the bare minimum, always. I believe the idea of a cleaning service within the dry docks is a great idea and that you've done this assignment really well.
ReplyDelete