At the 2010 Marine Dealer Conference & Expo, we launched into the Powering Profits Track of educational content with a topic we called “Lessons from the Recession.” The topic itself, of course, offered great insights into what we, as an industry, had learned from the downturn that took such a drastic toll on our industry. But the downturn did more ...

Calendar year 2009 brought very little positive news regarding the economy and particularly the discretionary income-driven boating market. The fragile economy suffered through one disaster after another — the obliteration of the housing market, the collapse of numerous banks, the tightening of available lending, and more. And with it all went any consumer confidence that may have fought its way ...

I’ve always been impressed by the way that Legendary Marine does business. Founded in 2001, Legendary, based in Destin, Fla., is a relatively young company, and its managing partner, Fred Pace, brings some interesting insights to its operations from his experience in the auto industry. I think I’ve become even more impressed over the last two years as Legendary has ...

Futurists may be able to predict trends that our society will experience, but rarely can they predict the attitudes or performance of the people affected by those trends. I remember thinking this as I listened to a so-called futurist speak about technology and how it would eventually affect the marine industry. “Technological change will accelerate,” Dan Burrus, a noted “futurist” ...

Everyone loves good marketing. Just think about how our society responds. We oooh and ahhh over Super Bowl ads. We find ourselves humming ad jingles at odd times of the day. And there are marketing messages that are cemented into our memory whether we like it or not. One particular ad that immediately caught me — no pun intended — ...

An anonymous author once wrote that, “Anyone who isn’t confused here doesn’t really understand what’s going on.” For a number of reasons, that statement applies here as well, so let me first identify and then do my best to eliminate what confusion I can. First of all, for those of you who are confused as to why my ugly mug ...

In December of 2008, interest in boating was perhaps at an all-time low on Lake Lanier’s famed Holiday Road. Not only was the area — and the whole country for that matter — just a couple months removed from the collapse of the credit market, but this well-known row of boat dealerships had been devastated by a horrific drought that ...

Three months ago, Boating Industry created a cover story package that focused on creating an “A-Team” of employees. While Singleton Marine Group launched a series of key initiatives that helped create the success its had over the last year and a half, little if any of it would have been possible without the company piecing together the best team of ...

“The best magazines are made by people who are free to indulge their curiosity and embrace their passions, who refuse to be bound by convention, who are encouraged, even urged, to hang it out there on the raggedy edge of risk.” That quote has graced the bulletin board next to my desk for the better part of the past 13 ...

As our industry looks to return to growth, there seems to be one main question on the minds of everyone throughout the industry: What’s left of the dealer universe? Ever since the downturn began, there has been chatter about dealer attrition. The reasons for their demise are many, including the lack of funding, the lack of customers, the lack of ...