Be The Center of Your Universe
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

I used to say, “It’s your world, I just live in it.”  Not anymore.  After being a student of the recreational diving industry for fifty years, I’ve come to believe that there are two parts of the industry that every Dive Industry Professional needs to understand, so they could properly make plans to strategically conduct their business as it benefits them the most.

Number One: The Global Diving Community is what it is.  We study it. We understand how it works.  We know who the players are.  Big, small, and wannabe.  We know who has been, is now, and may in the future be successful.  And we have a pretty good understanding as to the reasons why.  It may be “their world” but it’s our sandbox.  The same sandbox we all play in.  To beat the odds, and remain competitively significant, we developed a strong Global Diving Business Network to help us gain and retain significant market penetration, which leads to sizable market share and a strong competitive edge.   It’s like traveling the Atlantic in a convoy instead of a solo crossing.  The larger our network grows, the more business we bring to each other.  There is safety and growth in numbers.

As students of the industry, we understand the annual seasonal flow of goods and services through the industry’s channels of distribution, and what economic criteria are responsible for its ebb and flow.  We have studied and analyzed variances in global seasonality curves.  We are aware of the significant events that shape the focus and priority of industry economic development activities.  And mostly, we understand how this industry world-view affects us.

Number Two: You Got To Know Yourself: Every boat is responsible for its own crossing.   A good ship has a Captain who knows the way and a crew that is all rowing in the same direction.  Each vessel (business) should have a purpose, a mission, a plan, and a strategy.  Everyone onboard should support their mission with 100% company-wide enthusiasm.  They have to believe in themselves and that, together as a team, will lead their company to a successful and sustainable future.

A wise business owner builds their business from the inside and plans strategically outward.  Start by establishing your purpose for being in business.  What are you trying to achieve?  Create a mission that can be completed by well-designed goals and objectives.  Employ actionable items that are known for producing results.  Learn to measure your actionable items and their results.  Always employ the right people to work with you.  Build your own universe and always try to be the center of that universe.

As a Dive Industry Professional, you must realize that your company is not the only company in the industry.  If you are a scuba retailer in the United States, there are 900 other dive stores in the market with you.  Manufacturers know what it is like to call on the same small group of qualified retail buyers, within a short, pre-selected time frame. And Dive Resorts have their own challenges, differentiating themselves from a thousand other competitors in the dive and adventure travel industry.   But the wise seek counsel and we are glad you are here.

To become a great company in the diving industry, you need more than to have a good product made by a good company.  After you become the center of your own universe, remind yourself that you are still only half the way there.  You’ll never make it out of your inner circle of influence if you continue to beat your chest and shout, we are the best, we are the best!  You have to look outward and convince potential buyers that you are better than your competitors.  You have to give them a reason to believe in and buy from you.  You have to get them to beat their chest and shout that you are the best!

Selling to the market is what the art and science of marketing are all about.  Your Marketing Team needs to understand the market.  The market is made up of buyers and sellers.  It’s also made up of places where business is transacted.  They are called marketplaces.  You have to know who the buyers are and who the other sellers are in these markets.  There are many roads (channels of distribution) to many markets, carrying an abundance of marketing vehicles, usually with similar, if not the same, marketing messages.   Your job is to recognize the best marketing routes that lead to the most productive markets.  A major mistake made by many vendors in our industry is that they default to using the most commonly trafficked roads to an exhausted, declining, and unproductive market.

As a Trade Association, our mission is to bring Buyers & Sellers together.  We spend a lot of our resources (time, money, manpower) building a unified Global Diving Business Network.  One of our primary research programs is to identify potential buyers of diving equipment, training, travel, and lifestyle products.  Understanding consumer behavior is more than just knowing about the demographics, geographics, gender-graphics, and psychographics of potential buyers.  It’s about finding fresh, new markets and building new bridges, roads, and channels of distribution that connect Buyers with Sellers.   

Becoming the center of your universe doesn’t end inside the confines of your business.  It extends into the market where you develop alliances and partnerships with your vendors, business associates, and customers.  It’s analyzing the way your internal operations and corporate culture function in the industry.  Are the established marketing channels of distribution working for you?  Are the predominant seasonality curves in line with your buying and selling activities?  Are the current industry shows and events bringing you a satisfactory return on investment?  Does their annual and geographical scheduling still work for you?

Being the center of your universe is about being in control of the industry variables that you can control and working productively with the elements you have no control over.  It’s also about changing or fine tunning how you do things inside your company walls and outside in the marketplace.  It’s knowing how to work in and around the industry at maximum performance.

Become a Member of our Global Diving Business Network: Annual Membership in the Dive Industry Association is $125 and includes placement in a number of Trade Directories and websites.  Our organization uses websites and directories in advertising and marketing campaigns to refer business to our members.  By joining our network, you are becoming part of a network that works actively on your behalf to bring buyers and sellers together for the benefit and growth of the Global Diving Community.  Download a Membership Application today.

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

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