SailTime ranked in Entrepreneur’s 2017 Top Global Franchise 200

SailTime announced its inclusion on Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top Global Franchises for 2017. It is the fourth honor within the last year for SailTime, following its inclusion in the INC 500/5000 in August 2016, Entrepreneur’s recognition in 2017’s “10 Hottest Franchise Categories” in December 2016 and Entrepreneur’s “Franchise 500” in January, 2017.

“Great things are happening in the sharing economy, so we’re very excited to be expanding SailTime’s footprint on the global stage,” SailTime CEO Todd Hess said. “We’ve had a strong presence in Australia for years now, and are optimistic that SailTime bases will be coming to Europe soon.”

Entrepreneur compiled the Top Global Franchise ranking by taking its annual Franchise 500 formula and adjusting it to give extra weight to international size and growth. Other areas evaluated by the formula include costs and fees, franchisee support, brand strength and financial strength and stability. Only companies seeking new franchisees outside the U.S. that had a minimum of five units opened abroad as of July 2016 were considered.

SailTime features 29 bases in the United States and five bases in Australia. This year, the company has set its sights on expansion in Europe where it hopes to leverage its partnership with Beneteau. The partnership provides SailTime franchisees the opportunity to offer Beneteau boats for both the membership and boat ownership programs. For Beneteau dealerships, the SailTime program allows sailing enthusiasts to try its sailing yachts through fractional ownership without the cost and time commitment of full boat ownership.

Last month, SailTime announced a new strategic alliance with marine financing specialists LH-Finance. The partnership allows customers to finance their purchases of boats from SailTime dealers using consumer loans issued by LH-Finance.

“Partnerships with leaders in the marine industry like Beneteau and LH-Finance will help us open more SailTime bases around the world. We’re making it easier for people to purchase high-quality sailing yachts and make money on them through SailTime’s fractional membership program,” Hess said.