Reach Broad Sailing Video - Transcript
Narrator: Some people dream of retiring. Buying a sailboat and sailing off into the sunset. Todd Williamson and Jim Miranda co-owners of 3rd Coast Cruising and Broad Reach Sailing, may be decades from retirement, But, they sail off into the sunset just about every day. Working in an office every day for the rest of their lives didn't appeal much to either of them. So, they decided to do something about it by starting their own business. Taking the entrepreneurial plunge turned their day job into their dream job. And in 5 short years, business took off. Todd Williamson: As I was getting ready to take my Captain's test, I actually met Jim while crewing on a 50 foot boat that he was sailing on. We had similar ideas about starting a small sailing company. Got to talking, went sailing a few times together and decided to go for it. Jim Miranda I had 2 kids at the time. For me, it was definitely, one of well ok, well... Let's see. How do we get away and actually justify having a boat? Well, this is how we're going to do it. Todd Williamson: I'm going to start a business. My partner, Captain Jim and I started a sailing school and charter company. We were building that for a few years and we got big enough that we decided that we wanted to get into the fractional sailing. And fractional sailing is a lease-share program similar to what you might do on a timeshare on a property, but, instead of a property, it's a yacht. Narrator: I n the United States we often associate entrepreneurs with small businesses, but did you know that many very big companies like DuPont, Avon, Wal-mart, Kodak, Proctor & Gamble, Ford Motor Company and Amazon.com were all started by entrepreneurs? They may have started out small, but their companies grew into giants, creating countless jobs and making a huge impact on our economy. Todd Williamson: Our first year in business, we started with 2 boats. My partner, Captain Jim and myself, essentially, we had no idea what we were doing.
We were picking people up off the shore and seeing if they might like to go for a boat ride for a few bucks. Jim Miranda Y ou start out with what is called delusions of grandeur as far as what you want to do. The Jimmy Buffett, Maragritaville summer sailing and how everything is going to be just wonderful. And realize that you're actually in a service industry and not everybody's going to share your same enthusiasm. You're dealing with the customer. And the customer, although always right, may not always be happy. And the old saying of you can't please all the people all the time is definitely true. Todd Williamson For us, it is about keeping things fun and fresh. A lot of the other companies want to convince you that sailing is difficult; it's something that's almost unattainable. We believe the exact opposite. Sailing is easy. And theres only one reason you would ever get on a sailboat, and that's to have fun. So, if you get on one of our boats, and you're not having fun, then you don't know how to sail and we haven't taught you how to sail correctly. Narrator: Entrepreneurship may not be for everyone, but those who decide to start their own business often feel the potential rewards far outweigh the risk. There are many reasons people become entrepreneurs including: the opportunity to live the American dream doing something they are passionate about, the potential reward of profit that their business may bring them, the independence of being their own boss and the challenge of turning an idea into reality. Todd Williamson: Nothing prepared me to own my own business. I had to work at it every day. It was a real learning process from the beginning till the end. I would say that doing something you love helps because then on the bad days you know, you can at least tell yourself that at least you're living the dream and doing what you love. When you own your own business, it's as big as you want it to be. You can make as much money as you're willing to put the work into doing. That's the up side. But, if you go into it and you're not ready to work, you're never going to make it. Narrator: So what does it take to be an entrepreneur? Would you make a successful entrepreneur? Entrepreneurs definitely have certain personality traits that aren't simply learned or
acquired. Some of those traits include: being self-directed or self-disciplined enough to be your own boss, self-nurturing enough to believe in your idea when many others won't, actionoriented to see your idea through to fruition, a high energy level to work long and hard and a tolerance of uncertainty for the many times when the future may not seem so clear. Jim Miranda One of the challenges of being an entrepreneur has to do with tenacity and it also has to do with a passion. If you are trying to do something that you don't absolutely love to do, you are hard-pressed to be successful in that business. Being an entrepreneur literally has to do with making sacrifices as well. This is not a 9-5 job. Weekends are no longer weekends. Week days and weekends blend together. Todd Williamson: When you have a job like this, you come out and you take people sailing. One of my favorite lines is, I had a guy ask me, so what do you do for vacation? Go sit in an office for 2 weeks? I looked at him, and I said, No, I sat in an office for 8 hours before I came out here and took you sailing. The only way you're going to make it is putting in 14 hour days, 16 hour days. Never taking a day off - That's how you win. Narrator: For those looking to be their own boss, There are many different types of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial teams are formed by 2 or more people who join together to start a new business, much like Todd and Jim did when they started 3rd Coast Cruising. Micropreneurs start businesses with the goal of a balanced lifestyle and staying small. Most Micropreneurs are home-based businesses. But, 3rd Coast Cruising and Broad Reach Sailing are rapidly growing companies with no real office and whose owners work out of their homes. Web-based businesses have the appeal of reaching broad markets with much smaller overhead and start-up costs, and lastly many large companies create opportunities for intrepreneurs to work freely and creatively as entrepreneurs within corporations. Todd Williamson: Essentially, how I started this 5 years ago. My partner, Captain Jim and I started a sailing school and charter company. We're building that for a few years. We got big enough that we decided we wanted to get into the fractional sailing end of things as well. So, 3rd Coast Cruising, our sailing company, decided to open Broad Reach Sailing. And in order to do that, we took on a third partner, who was the Dufour dealer for the Great Lakes. And that allowed us to then offer a much nicer yacht, at a much cheaper price than any of our competition.
Narrator: So, let's take a moment to talk about the importance of small businesses. You probably didn't know that there are over 20 million small businesses in the United States. 750 thousand new ones are started every year. These small businesses create 75% of all new jobs and account for over 50% of our country's GDP. Plus, 80% of all Americans find their first job in small business. Doesn't seem so small after all does it? Todd Williamson: We have relationships with every hotel in the city, almost every health club in the city, every social networking site in the city. We've worked with colleges, we've worked with GE. We've worked with huge corporations doing corporate outings. Jim Miranda The growth rate has definitely grown to the point where we are actually reaching capacities and having to expand to be able to fulfill what those capacities are requiring Narrator: I f you're ready to take the entrepreneurial plunge, there are some things you can do to prepare yourself that can greatly help your of chances success. Learning about entrepreneurship from others through books, classes or internet resources is a must. If you can, get at least three years experience working for another small business preferably one that is comparable to the business you want to start. Another option is to work for another small business with the intent of eventually sharing profit or taking over ownership from the current owner. Todd Williamson: For me, when I started this business, I knew, you know pretty much all I needed to know about sailing, to start this business. What I didn't know was how to file quarterly's. What I didn't know what how to set up a tax id number. How to incorporate Jim Miranda It does help to actually have some level of expertise in the field that you want to get into. Whether it's a hobby, whether it's something that your father, your mother taught you, something that the family has brought you up into - something that you know that you are a resident expert on. Todd Williamson: It's really that you need to know 2 things, you need to know how to run a small business, and then you have to know how to run your small business. Narrator: The Small Business Administration reports that 90% of small business failures are a result of poor management.
Let's talk about some of the aspects of managing a small business such as planning, getting funds, knowing your customers, managing employees, keeping records and looking for help. Jim Miranda I 've gotten pretty good at multitasking. One of the things I pride myself on is to be extremely efficient with my time, I still notice that putting in 12, 14, 16, 18 hour days. I look back and realize, well, yeah, I caught up to what was going on last week, but I still need to worry about what's going on tomorrow. Todd Williamson I guess the big difference between owning your own business and that 9-5 gig is that in the 9-5, at 5:00 or when you leave work most of the time you can put things to bed and be done with it. When you own your own business, you're never done. Jim Miranda Without a doubt, actually taking something that I have been very passionate about and something that I've loved all my life and to actually be able to make money, is mind boggling. Todd Williamson It is a real sense of pride as you're watching yourself build something. Not only that, but this business is very rewarding because we get to teach people to do things that they never thought they could do. But when you get someone out on a boat, who has never been out before, and you get them behind the helm, and you get them to actually understand. And the teaching aspect of it is incredibly rewarding. Narrator: It's often said if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Writing a business plan before you start your business may not always predict how everything's going to happen, but it's an exercise that makes you think through every aspect of your business and truly increases the chances of your success. Todd Williamson Our first business plan that we put together by this point, is completely out of the window. Some of the stuff there is still pertinent. 90% of the stuff at this point, the business has grown and evolved. That essentially with our business plan - we have to constantly update it and change it. Jim Miranda In doing a business plan now, what I realize is that building in a certain amount of flexibility into a business plan is certainly the key to success. Todd Williamson Any time you add a new aspect to the business, any time you start a new program with the business, you essentially have to rewrite a new business plan. Narrator: G etting money to fund your business is essential. Without proper funds, your business won't even get off the ground.
Entrepreneurs get money to start their businesses from sources such as their own personal savings, borrowing from friends or relatives, bank loans, venture capitalists or government agencies such as the SBA. Jim Miranda The interesting part about the financing of this business was that we were profitable from year number 1 and received absolutely no financing whatsoever. Basically, what we did, we took the raw materials that we already had, we took the capital investments that we had already had, our boats, the sails and our ingenuity and we put that to work. Todd Williamson Another avenue we've taken to get new yachts is actually having owners buy the yacht and then put it into our fractional sail program. So, they get their expenses paid for, their boat payment paid for, mooring fees, docking fees, maintenance, paid for on their yacht. But, essentially we are using their credit to add a yacht to our fleet. So, they don't have to worry about paying for sailing. We don't have to worry about buying a new yacht. Narrator: Knowing your customers and your market is also critical to your success. When Broad Reach Sailing was created, many people never heard of the term fractional sailing. But, Todd and Jim knew their market. They knew that giving customers the benefit of owning their own yacht without all the hassles and expenses would be a big hit - and they were dead on. Todd Williamson So, most companies will use a scheduling system which essentially, you request the dates you might like to sail but the owner of the company then has to figure out a way and assigns you dates that you can sail. With us you are never assigned a day. Essentially with us it is a point-based bidding system. Every month our owners get their share of points that they can use to then bid on the days they want. Jim Miranda Sailing presents itself as a very exclusive sport, one for only the very rich. What we decided was that sailing should be for everyone. It was for me and for my partners; we did not feel like we were part of that grandiose, eco-economic level there. So, we wanted to be able to share that with everyone else as well. Narrator: Starting your own business often means working long hours and handling every aspect of running the business. But, as your business grows, the need for hiring employees and outside consultants to help with operations, accounting and the legal aspects of the business quickly becomes evident. Jim Miranda Eventually, we've grown to Chicago's largest sailing school, had over 650 students last year. This year, and we've only been at it now for 20 days, we're at 350 students.
So, the growth rate is almost to the point of being exponential. Now, keeping up with that growth and manage that growth, I find myself being less and less of a sailor and more and more of an IT manager, accounting manager, scheduling manager, phone manager, a jack of all trades. Having to literally let go of some of that responsibility and delegate, without a doubt, is one of the more difficult transitions that any entrepreneur has to come up with Todd Williamson B ecause of the setting of our business, and because of the extra education people get when they work for us, they can be logging hours towards their Captain's license. Gaining valuable experience It's actually very easy for us to get employees just based on the fact that they want to be out here. When times are tight, our whole philosophy is that when times are tight, you don't pay people to do somethings you can do yourself unless you absolutely have to. Narrator: The American Dream is based on entrepreneurship. Whether your goal is to get filthy rich, go sailing every day or simply work from home in your pajamas, starting your own business is one of the best ways to achieve that goal. The question is... do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Todd Williamson R eally, the sky's the limit with where you can take this. And that is one of the beautiful things about this country, is that I can come out here and play around on sailboats all day long and make a handsome living. Very few places in the world where you can actually pull that off