The Business of Diving
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

Managing your dive business takes a lot of time, talent, and tools.  It also takes a fair amount of business education and a commitment to periodic professional development in the business disciplines.  Granted, running a business can be tedious, complicated, and not the most exciting thing we do with our time.  Maybe that is why so many entrepreneurs in the diving industry don’t spend a lot of time managing their business.   Many Dive Industry Professionals would rather be out diving than sitting behind a desk, doing what diving business professionals do.

Addressing the Business of Diving issues has always been the foundational mission of the Dive Industry Association.  Our association was founded twenty-five years ago to fill a gap in the way the diving industry was conducting professional development for its Dive Industry Professionals.  We felt that business training and continuing education in the business disciplines were lacking.  We saw that the majority of professional development programs in the diving industry was geared to topics centered around diving and dive training.  The certification agencies created programs for divers and their diving instructors who taught them.  To keep their instructors current with scuba diving instructional techniques on an ongoing basis, they instituted professional development programs that could be conducted regionally and nationally.  Most of the regional professional development programs were conducted by the training agencies at regional dive shows.  The industry’s largest Professional Development Conference is held annually.  Professional development training for dive training professionals is conducted by each training agency for their own members.  There is no integrated national organization that conducts professional development training for all training professionals regardless of affiliation.

The Recreational Diving Industry: Scuba diving is a popular recreational activity.  The majority of Dive Industry Professionals had their start in the diving industry by becoming a certified scuba diver.  When they got certified they become a part of the Global Diving Community.  The recreational diving community has many levels of scuba diving certification, offered by approximately 35 training agencies in the United States.  If a diver is interested in pursuing their passion as a scuba diver, there are many levels of instruction to participate in.  It is highly recommended that divers participate in continuing educational programs to become more proficient in diving.   If they choose to share their experience with other people, they can enroll in dive leadership training and become a Dive Industry Training Professional.

The Dive Industry Training Professional: I’m speaking in general terms, because there are many different training agencies globally, and each may have their own specific leadership programs and leadership levels.  On average, divers become training professionals when they reach the level of Divemaster, and can continue on to become an Instructor, Instructor Trainer, Instructor Course Director, and so on.  Their annual professional development may be accomplished at regional and national dive shows and events, and rightly so, should be focused on Dive Leadership Training.

The Dive Industry Business Professional: Not all training professionals get into the business side of diving.  A great number of dive instructors work in academia and non-profit organizations.  Our focus is on the individuals who choose to get into the diving business by selling their services in the market.  Unfortunately, many times a well intentioned and well qualified Dive Training Professional starts their own business thinking it is going to be all about diving.  We all know from experience, that is only half true.  Being in your own diving business is 50% about diving and 50% about business.  Hence the need for training and professional development in the Business of Diving issues.  Again, there was no unified training agency that conducted professional development programs for Dive Industry Business Professionals, until the Dive Industry Association was formed.

The Diving Business: Dive Industry Professionals who are engaged in the business of diving are a part of what we call the Global Diving Business Network.  The business network produces the programs, products, and services that divers purchase.  Most dive business owners and key employees I know in the network are enthusiastic divers themselves.  That’s why they got into the diving business in the first place.  But knowing how to dive and being able to understand the consuming diving public is not enough.  They have to understand how to run a business.  Members of the network are trained in business subjects in order to properly and effectively serve the diving niche market.  They start off by learning about how to run a business either through formal education or by hands on experience.  Their continuing education and annual professional development is normally focused on business subjects like marketing, management, accounting, law, graphic arts, economics, consumer behavior, computer science, and the like.  It may seem like a lot to a non-businessperson, but there are simple ways to break down the specialized training and continuing education that Dive Industry Business Professionals need to know.  Working with a trade association professional at the Dive Industry Association is a good way to start.

We look at business training programs in a number of ways to include the differences in the types of businesses in the Global Diving Business Network.  There are basic business principles that apply to all businesses.  There are global, national, and regional differences in business norms and practices.  There are laws and legal differences in business practices from state to state, and of course, country to country.  All of these differences show you the vastness of the extent that business has on the influence of the global recreational diving community.  If we continue to ignore teaching the art and science of business subjects to Dive Industry Professionals, it will limit our industry’s future economic development and long-term sustainability.

The Business of Diving: What is the Business of diving?  How do you know if you are in the diving business?  How do you know if you need training in business subjects?  How can you get business training and annual professional development?  These are all questions we answer in our monthly trade magazine, The Dive Industry Professional.  Our superpower is taking business topics on a grand scale and breaking them down into easy-to-understand concepts.  Subscribe to our monthly magazine or go online to view our archived back issues.  Trade Magazine. 

For more information about the Global Diving Business Network, contact Gene Muchanski, Executive Director of the Dive Industry Association, 2294 Botanica Circle, West Melbourne, FL 32904.  Phone: 321-914-3778.  Email: gene@diveindustry.net  Web: www.diveindustry.net   Ask about our Dive Industry Marketing & Consulting Services.

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