The marine industry despises change but Marine Management Software comes to the rescue.
Written by Stephen Bullard, PierVantage Director
It’s time to talk about marine industry.
If you’re an avid boater and member of the marine community, your face will brighten at any boat talk, including boat shows, boating, and fishing. Conversely, if you’re a boat person with a boat business, chances are good that your face will fall at the word change.
You may have already collapsed at this point of the article and need to be revived with an off-shore fishing expedition. Marine management software will also revive you and your marine business.
The Most Successful Boatyards are Those Who Embrace Change
I’ve worked with and for many marine businesses in my 40+ years in the marine industry and have found that the boat yards and individuals that are passionate about adapting to the ever-changing world around us are hands down the most successful. This wisdom can be applied to the boating community or any industry that’s out there.
Change is difficult for boat people, myself included. For some in the marine industry, it’s because of pure laziness. But for others, we don’t like the lack of control or uncertainty of worse outcomes, bruised egos, embarrassment or failing. Boat people also seem to hate losing more than they love winning.
Marine management software helps your business win.
Marine Management Software Brings About Good Change by Making Your Business More Profitable
In the marine business, if you don’t learn to embrace change and if you don’t move forward, you’ll be left behind bobbing in the water.
Whether it’s changing the focus of your marine business, having to invest and learn new marine technology, or replacing a prized employee who’s dragging others down, you need to know how to deal with change. Marine management software helps your boat business change for the better.
A few reasons why change in the boat industry is good:
- Change occurs in every aspect of life
- Leaving your comfort zone will lead to growth and positive change
- Change breaks stagnation
- Change brings adventure to life
- It takes far more energy and effort to resist change than it does to accept and embrace change
- Change is learning, learning is growing and growing is living!
- Change is opportunity
- Change breaks boring and harmful status quo
- Change is exciting and forces one to move forward
- Change in your boating business is profitable
- Change attracts new marine customers and tells existing customers you care about them
Some suggestions on how to embrace change in your shipyard, boat yard, or boat building business:
1. Learn to be successful in failure
Most of us were never taught to fail. Think about our school system for instance, it’s set up so that success is given a gold star and failure is mocked. Of course, you need to learn from your failures so that you don’t repeat them down the road in your boat business.
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” – Robert F. Kennedy.
2. Know that you are not alone in feeling doubt or fear
Everyone has fears and insecurities that stop us from making a change. These doubts and insecurities are normal and you can overcome them by learning to embrace them. There will rarely be a time when we’re completely absent of these thoughts and emotions, so you’ll simply have to learn to move forward in your boat business, regardless.
Implementing a marine accounting solution for boatyards helps with this.
3. Change encourages development
Because we resist change, we sometimes go through life without realizing our full potential. Change is going to happen and no matter how happy we are with things at any given time. We know this and understand that our environment today cannot stay the same forever. We’re forever growing, expanding, aging and changing.
Embracing change in a boat business is the key to success and overall happiness.
4. Do not wait for change to happen
It’s better to initiate change in a boat business ourselves before change happens and takes us down a negative path or affects us in a negative way. When you’re in control of change in your boat business it becomes far easier. Seek out the possibilities available to your boatyard, shipyard or boat building operation and find new opportunities.
Boat management software puts you in the captain’s chair.
5. Break down change into small actions
When you look at any change in its entirety, it can be completely overwhelming. When you get your mind wrapped around the concept of embracing change, start by breaking it down into small steps. Just recognize one small thing that you can do to get to the end game.
These small steps will make change in your boat business easier to accomplish.
Get a Marine Management Software for your business Working for You Now
Change is an inevitable part of life. Some shy away from the challenge to change, while other lean into the opportunity. Marine management software can be the missing piece of the puzzle when it comes to navigating change, especially in the marine industry.
Inviting and encouraging change can inspire growth both personally and professionally, and the sooner that idea is accepted, the sooner the change can begin in your marine business.
Need marine management software for your boat business? PierVantage is the best accounting solution for boatyards, shipyards, and boatbuilding companies.
Contact us about PierVantage, the marine solution you are looking for.
About the Author:
Stephen Bullard, Senior Sales Director, PierVantage
Stephen Bullard is Senior Sales Director for PierVantage™. Stephen brings to bear his considerable marine industry experience to provide insights on new features and functionality to our development team. He is also actively engaged in providing advisory services to our boatyard customers.
Stephen has over thirty years of marine industry experience, with over twenty years directly related to the management of well-known marine service facilities in New England and the Pacific Northwest.
Prior to joining PierVantage, Stephen spent six years providing professional services and promoting marine operational software to boat yards, boat builders, dealerships and marinas throughout North America.
These positions have led Stephen to a high level of understanding in the marine services arena in the following areas: project management, yard operations, business process & procedures, service management, customer account management, financial analysis, forensic accounting, inventory set up and inventory management.
Stephen completed a 12 month course in boat design at the Landing School in Maine and has spent his entire life on the water logging more than 15,000 miles sailing in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. He also enjoys offshore fishing and is licensed to handle power and sailing vessels up to 100 tons.