Report Card Time.

Well gang, based on my own world, it looks like we made it through the bailout nightmare that was 2009. When I first bought this place, mind you in the worst economy since the depression, many of my close friend believed I had finally lost my mind. They had good reason after all. I mean really, who would want to put all this fresh debt on their head during what was predicted as a US economy collapse?

I believed in my client base and the general mind set of our people as a nation to fight back for what we believe in when our backs are up against the wall. Case in point, we sold more boats in the last quarter of this year than we did the previous two years last quarters combined! The people basically said "nuts!" and kept fighting on. As I have always said, Boaters ... boat. In some form or fashion they are going to be on a boat. If that meant buying a 12'aluminum skiff or hard bottom dinghy rather than using their 25'Sea Ray, they were gonna be on the water.

People bought smarter and deals were a constant negotiation but in the end we kept the bill collector at bay and gained more customers. To me, that was a huge victory.

As I now plan for 2010, I am excited of the direction our place in going in.

We have stream lined the number of manufacturers represented to a few high quality companies that have the smarts to run their businesses in a way that put them on solid ground. We have also dropped several manufacturers who proved to me they simply don't know how to run a business. They simply didn't get it and were not right for my customers. There are a few more moves up my sleeve but that will be shown at another time.

We reopened our most popular sales division, Brokerage PWC. Our old location was not conducive to this even though this was always a popular sales division. In a months time it started right where it left off and given the economy, many of our customers were able to buy yet another toy in a more economical way. We have a full inventory of top quality machines and spring looks like it could be a big jump start.

The Insurance Agency has survived as well. We did a lot of policy value adjustments to give our customers a better rate based on true value of their boat, saving them premium dollars. Strange how claims were up significantly but that tells me more people actually used their boats despite not having the best weather this summer.

The Service and Parts department did very well this year with an increase in service business of almost 30%. Our customers spent the money to properly maintain their boats and kept their initial investment in top condition. Very few were penny foolish this season.

All in all I give us an A- for 2009. I know I am a tough grader but I always feel there is room for improvement. With a year under our belt at the new place, I feel we have made huge strides and with the help of a better economy and a top staff, we will emerge as a leader in our industry. One that our customers will be proud to do business with.

2010 will bring some new and exciting things. I really can't wait to get at it but for now, I am going to take some of my own advise and sit back. After a week of playing Clark Griswold, I will be back doing what I do. Before you know it, Spring will be upon us!

and that's my rant...Happy New Year!

Carpe Diem

I am sitting here this morning in my home unable to leave because my street is not plowed yet from the weekend's big snow storm. Since I am not at the shop, I have had some time the last few days just to hang around and do nothing. Those of you that really know me can find this unbelievable since usually if I am not at the shop I am traveling to some far off rink with my son Joey or running with Sherry to complete a portion of my honey do list or running Anthony around the yard. Bottom line is I simply can't just hang around.

Well, I was forced to this time. After all, you can only use the snow blower so much and my neighbors all have their own. What I did see though was how nice the house looked and how festive everything is. Sherry worked really hard to make the house look great and I was able to just sit back and see her handy work. Trust me Martha has nothing on my Sherry.

Where am I going with this...oh, what I am amazed to see is how hard we all work but really never just sit back and see what we have done. Its hard to appreciate the things we have worked for unless you sit back and look at it. I don't care what level of financial status you have and this is not about money. It is about taking the time to simply appreciate your life where you are now. Before I get to serious here, I say one thing...there is no reboot key. Seize the day. Appreciate whatever you have done already and if its not working for you, don't get depressed and give up, change what you are doing and take the past as a lesson.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all. My holiday wish to you all is to keep the faith. We all got through the bailouts. Now make it a point to get on the path we want...this time for real.

and thats my rant.

Discount Services?

Two weeks ago a customer came in and bought one of our $30 "do it yourself" outboard winterization kits. Although it comes with a DVD that shows you step by step what to do, this gent ended up cracking an inlet during the process of removal and that caused him to bring it into us for repair and replacement.

After all was said and done, his $30 "savings" cost him almost $300. Now I am all for the labor of love we all have for our boats but there are times that I really believe there are some things that are best left to the pros. If he had brought it into us to do the work for him, it would have only cost him $160 bucks.

Now this is no commercial, just a point that as pros we have the experience of doing hundreds of these motors and have all sorts of tricks to help expidite the work. When you don't do this everyday, something is bound to mess up. With the current economy, I agree we all should do our part to spend wiser but I say not foolishly.

Whatever you do, don't skimp on crital maintenance on anything you own. In the long run you save and have just one less thing on your mind to stress you out. Beware of the word "discount" when it comes to service. It usually is defined as "something is missing so the cost can be lowered".

and thats my rant...joe cap