How to Start a Canoe Livery Business

Startup

• 1

  Scope out the competition. Find a location without a lot of competitors close to water. A lake is good. A river with gently moving water is better. If you can find both, that's best of all. A beginning livery owner probably should stay away from the whitewater trade, so avoid fast rivers with dangerous rapids. Choose a river with 3 to 6 hour trips within reasonable drive-in range.

  Make sure you can access put-in and take-out points. Use public land if you can; if you cannot, then lease access or purchase land along the river for launching and picking up parties who rent your boats.

  Once you've selected a site for your business, it's time for the traditional business startup activities.

• 2

  Obtain paperwork from the county for starting a business. Set up bank accounts and merchant credit accounts for taking credit cards. Get a loan for purchasing land and constructing facilities and for three months' operating expenses (including your utilities, property payments and personal salary). The U.S. Small Business Administration is a good place to start looking for funding.

• 3

  Build or buy an office building. Erect sheds and canoe racks, equipment storage and a parking lot. Set up utilities and payment processing equipment in the office. Buy liability insurance for the business. Set up boat usage rules that will protect you against litigation. Get a lawyer to help you prepare a liability waiver form for renters to sign. This is part of a larger rental agreement that specifies rules for usage, renter responsibility for damage and the liability limits of the livery.

• 4

  Buy canoes. Canoers have different preferences, so a mixed fleet of used boats may be an asset. A homogeneous canoe fleet is easier and less expensive to maintain, but almost necessitates that you buy new boats. A mix of canoes and kayaks will satisfy groups with varying skill levels. Buy stable canoes, not racing canoes. Most of your customers will be relatively unskilled. Turning over in a river is not fun. Buy enough boats to equip an 8- to 10-person party-- four canoes and two one-person kayaks. Add more boats as demand grows or you find good deals on used boats.

• 5

  Buy four life jackets in adult and child sizes for every canoe and two for each single-seat kayak. This will help ensure you have proper sizes for whatever kind of group you rent to. Purchase four canoe paddles for every canoe in a range of sizes, and two double-bladed paddles for each single-seat kayak.

• 6

  Buy or build an eight-place canoe trailer. You'll eventually need several trailers as your fleet grows. You'll need trucks and four-wheel-drive vehicles to pull them. Add racks on top of the tow vehicles for extra boats.

• 7

  Figure out your rate structure. Depending on the area, rental rates run from $15 per day at a quiet lakeside rental to $55 per canoe per day or more with pickup services. Rental usually includes canoes and paddles. You may charge more for extra life jackets, if, for instance, two paddlers carry a passenger or two. Also check the nearest canoe liveries offering the same types of service you are.

• 8

  Advertise. Create a marketing plan that gets you exposure in recreational media, outdoor magazines, water sports trade shows and tourism agencies. Get brochures in local motels and hotels, chamber of commerce offices and travel agencies. Create vacation packages that include hotels and canoe trips. Haunt the Internet canoe websites. Create your own website and offer customers a way to pre-purchase canoe rental packages.

• 9

  Join the Paddlesports Industry Association, a professional association of people in paddlesports businesses. They can provide you a lot of help in setting up. Also join the American Canoe Association, which provides tons of paddlesports resources you can use in your business.