Letter to a Wooden Boatbuilder

The Future

Let's not kid ourselves. The entire marine industry will probably never grow faster the population. It is a mature industry. The keys to prospering in the boating industry in the years ahead are quality and differentiation. Quality does not necessarily mean exotic, high priced yachts and differentiation is more a matter of developing a distinctive treatment that appeals to the customers you like to deal with than it is odd or unusual boats.

It is very easy for a good builder today to convince an experienced customer that a good wooden boat represents quality. As a larger percentage of the customers are more experienced or are being advised by the experienced, it will become easier and easier to sell the customer on a wooden boat. Wooden boats seem to be enjoying an increasing share of the total market.

The other element, now and forever, that determines whether a builder prospers is understanding the peculiar characteristics of the industry and how to manage and promote a boat building business.

Remember that you can be the best boat builder in the world but you don't make a dime until you sell the boat at a price that allows you to make money. This is what many really mean when they say you can't make money building boats. They mean they don't know how to sell the boats.

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