How to make a board school profitable.

A buddy of mine and I have started planning to open a wakeboarding school on our local river. The river is great, always calm and there is definitely a scene that is developing in the area. At first we were thinking it would be a great way to get riding more often and a way to pay for gas.
Now, I'm thinking that it will be alot of work and I'd like to actually make some money doing it too. Don't get me wrong, the number one reason why I want to start this is to have fun and spread the wakeboarding bug.

So how do I to make $ running a wakeboard school?
Do you have any tips for running a smooth operation?

Flatland
School of Wake

Be good, be damn good...

How to be profitable...Make more than you spend.


The hardest part would be advertising, go to all your local board shops and boat dealers and ask if you can put up fliers.

contact the owner of a camp that you would not be competing with and see if they will talk to you about how to get it started. I would say the first step is to try to get a couple of free boats.

how about changing your boat from gas to lpg. is about 1/3 of the cost.

I imagine with the costs of insurance and set-up fees, you will NOT make money for the first 2-3 years...you'll just be paying off bills. If you want to do this and make money now, you have to have a mentor who recently went through the process and can point out pitfalls and make suggestions on how to maximize your incoming $$$ while minimizing the outgoing $$$. I still would guess that turning a profit quickly is being overly optimistic (but then, I'm a realist)

JMO, but if you have to come onto a wakeboarding forum to ask that question, then you probably shouldn't be opening a business. There are endless things to consider when opening and running a business that you're going to need to get someone with experience involved, whether as a consultant or part owner. Regardless, good luck!

(Message edited by mhayes on June 24, 2007)

I'm sure I'll be able to run the school just fine. And I'm sure it will absorb alot of my time. Basically, I was looking for other ways, other than providing pulls to make money. Such as t-shirt sales, etc.
I unfortunatelly haven't had the opportunity of going to a wakeboard school and don't have experience with this specifically. I have however been riding nearly 10 years and am a certified teacher. There are very few wake schools here and the market is pretty much wide open.

We'll be using my boat (1985 Nautique(for this year) - there are few inboards here - and we're catering to beginner/intermediate riders), and we have a board sponsor.

I've posted this on the forum to see what you like in a school/dislike in a school...knowing your clientel is important.

I just recently went to the Boarding School for a week and can give you a little insight into that school. The biggest draw there is obvious, you have a world class driver/skier/teacher in Travis Moye and a world class wakeboarder/teacher in Shuan Murray. Kyle Rattray was also there teaching and was great as well. Tha aside, they had the some of the best boarding boats you can buy (Nautique and Master Craft), a complete line of boards and bindings to try, a great house to stay in for the week, shuttle service from the airport, all the food you can eat, etc. It is full service and they take care of everything. One of the big keys to their school is that they limit the number of people that can be there at once (5), make it a fun experience (it isn't about constant teaching and drilling, they truely want you to have fun), let you ride as much or as little as you want, and make you feel comfortable, whether you are a beginner or advanced.

You're in a lot different situation than Travis and Shaun (given there status in the industry and sponsorship), so it really comes down to providing a great experience and being in an area that has the potential for a lot of people wanting to learn. Word of mouth is going to be your biggest asset, so you have to make these people want to come back or tell their friends.

Thanks MHayes,
That's totally how I want it. I' ll make sure people have a blast!