charter business operating costs

Hi folks,

can somebody give me some of there costs on daily operation of a sport fishing boat? i.e. fuel, mainaintence, bait, equipment etc.
im trying to put together a business plan and trying to get opions on costs if you ran the boat about for full day charters 200 days a year. consider a 41' hatterus with 2 Volvo Penta Diesel Tamb 63, 375HP each. im trying to figure the overall hourly rate of runnning a boat minus any labor/insurance costs.

thanks

spencer

Re: charter business operating costs

Doubt you'll get much meaningful data here. You are asking questions on a forum that deals primarily with outboard powered rigs that are less than half the size of the rig you have in mind. There must be some forums that deal with commercial fishing. There are several forums that deal with larger boats such as those you are considering.

Re: charter business operating costs

Wow...thats a big boat. Spend plenty of time building an honest business plan as this would be a risky business.

My only 2 cents would be (if your honest business plan proves worth pursuing) would be to set yourself apart from your competition. This includes a slick web-based marketing strategy which many charter captain fail to do. I would recommend hiring a good web designer (check dice.com) and then hosting your site on a thrifty hosting service (I like doteasy). Work on getting your site to show up when key search terms are typed in popular search engines...Marketing is difficult and can burn cash rapidly. Take advantage of "hitting the streets" and handing out coupons tickets at tackle shops, conventions, etc...This is cheap advertising and you can track your hits/ad campaign using a good hosting service like doteasy to find what works. I know of one charter service who advertised on the knot wedding site and business boomed 500% for bachelor parties...While guys don't check this out often, their finances were giving them this info as a suggestion.

Re: charter business operating costs

If you haven't worked at and/or run a boat/fishing charter service, you are setting yourself up for a huge fall.

If you had worked at a charter business, and learned anything about it, you wouldn't be asking such basic questions.

Do you have a captains license?
Or will you be hiring someone that does?
Will you perform your own maintenance?
What distances will be traveled?
What about dockage fees?
Permits?
Licenses and fees?
Major repairs?
Replacement costs?
Obviously, you won't be the guide, or you would know the answer to the bait and equipment questions.
So who are you gonna hire to do all the work?
Equipment, bait, refreshments, food, insurance, etc, all depend on your location and type of fishing being done.

Work the plan backwards.
What does your competition charge?
Can you do it for half of that? Thats what you have to do.


Whatever you do, don't plan on making a profit or drawing a wage for at least a year.

Re: charter business operating costs

Around here there getting KILLED right now with the fuel cost and fishing restrictions

Boats that have been makeing money for 20 years are just getting buy


Tommays

Re: charter business operating costs

tommays said:

Around here there getting KILLED right now with the fuel cost and fishing restrictions

Boats that have been makeing money for 20 years are just getting buy


Tommays

Click to expand...

yep, Tommays is right on,
I have owned and operated a charter boat for a long long time, and can tell you anything you need to know,
to much for here though, if you really need/want info, PM me, I will be glad to tell you cost per day, needs, income, requirements, etc. etc.

Re: charter business operating costs

Same here...Lake Michigan. Not just the fuel for the boat, but people from the larger cities are not returning the way they used to...2.50-3.50 a gallon this summer? And then 450.00-500 for a half day of fishing.????