Editorial – June 2025

Posted on June 29, 2025 by Gene Muchanski

What’s Important In Your Business?
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

Every business has a purpose.  The purpose of a business is what the business does or was started up to do.  Was it designed to teach diving, make diving equipment, sell diving equipment, or provide travel services to vacationing divers?  I can always tell if a business is being true to its original purpose.    I look at the business revenue streams and nine out of ten times, the highest source of revenue is why the business was started.  But not always.   Whatever the business was created to do, that should be the most important thing to the individuals who run the business.  So, what is important in your business?  If you can’t rattle off a quick one, two, or three things, It’s time to sit down and give it some thought.  Some very serious thought.

We can give you a few examples that help us define the original purpose and design of a few companies in the diving industry.  A Trade Association that is operating in its original design purpose should generate most of its revenue from members’ dues and subscriptions.  A Shows & Events Organization should make most of its money from exhibitor and attendee fees.  A Marketing Consulting Company should bring in mostly consulting fees and commissions.  Not all businesses in the diving industry receive their major revenue streams from only one or two sources.  A Retail Dive Store in our industry typically has numerous revenue streams and the percentages may vary from store to store and state to state.  Dive Stores have multiple profit centers including those from equipment, training, service, and travel sales.

Another good indication of whether a business is operating in its original design purpose or not is if their revenue percentages are in-line with their expenditure percentages.  When the percentages don’t line up or if there is an unbalanced expenditure of labor involved, you can suspect that something doesn’t meet the small test.  These are things that Industry Planners look at to see if a company is operating according to its publicly advertised purpose.

Considering there is a distinctive gap between what a company’s original design purpose is and what it currently is focusing on, an overwhelming need to reevaluate what is important in our business is certainly called for. The most important thing a business can do is be truthful to its purpose.  Have you created a mission that supports your purpose?  Do you have a plan to complete your mission?  What are the important components of your mission plan?  What activities must you initiate to accomplish each mission component?  Your strategy will be to develop an action plan that does the necessary things to achieve successful outcomes that will lead to the successful completion of your plan.

That all sounds like a lot of work, and it is.  But if something is important enough to your business, then it is worth the time and effort to plan, initiate, and review the achievable outcomes that lead to your company’s success.  The alternative would be to keep doing the things you have always been doing while not knowing if what you are doing has any real value or is producing any kind of progress toward the fulfillment of your company purpose.

Defining what is important in your business allows you to focus on what needs to be done to create the results you need to move the company forward.  In today’s face-moving business economy, it pays to focus on what is important in your business so you can achieve maximum results for the minimal investment in time, money, and manpower. Of course, anything that is important in your business needs to be researched, studied, strategized, planned for, included in your action plan, and analyzed for results afterwards.

Once you figure out what is important in your business, it’s up to your owners, directors, and key executives to decide if the company wants to stay the way they are right now or make a plan to grow.  This may sound strange to some of you, but you would be surprised by how many companies in the diving industry don’t actually have a plan to grow.  They just keep on doing what they are doing and are satisfied to accept all of the default outcomes, caused by their actions or lack of action. Sometimes it’s because their management doesn’t know how to run a business, but mostly in a small business scenario, it’s because the owner-operator is too busy doing what the business does, and they don’t have time to properly manage their own business.  Hopefully, this is a gap our trade magazine, The Dive Industry Professional, can fill in for them.  Our business articles can be very helpful to small business owners in the diving industry, showing them how to be more professional, proficient, and profitable in their business.  Being in business for yourself doesn’t mean you have to be in business by yourself!

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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Measuring What Matters

Posted on June 4, 2025 by Gene Muchanski

Measuring What Matters
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

There is an old saying, “What you watch, grows.”  And yet, any Chef will tell you that a watched pot never boils.  So, who are we to believe?  I believe we should take “old sayings” with a grain of salt.  In the business world, we need to do more than watch our business.  Much more.  We need to understand what our business was designed for, what its purpose is, what is does to achieve its goals and objectives, and measure how well it is performing its mission.  But it doesn’t end with just measuring our performance.  Good business management is about analyzing our performance and modifying our action plan to achieve the results we had originally planned for.

What a Business Does: Businesses sell programs, products, and services for compensation. I know that comes as a shock to all of you who hate business, but the truth is that; The art and science of business is an exchange of something of value between a buyer and a seller. Think about all the companies you know in the diving industry that create, provide, distribute, or resell programs, products, and services.  They are all sellers of their wares, looking for people who need, want, and can afford what they are selling.  Even non-profit organizations are considered businesses because they provide services in return for donations from donors.  In fact, the non-profit industry is BIG Business.  Same thing with Colleges and Universities.  They are in the business of educating our students and consulting our businesses.  So business is a good thing because it provides a valuable service to its customers while providing jobs for our population.  But even if a business is not totally focused on profit above all else, it needs to operate sensibly enough to stay in business in order to continue to perform its purpose and mission for its people.

Purpose & Mission of a Business: We know that businesses have a purpose, and they execute that purpose by performing their mission.  We can safely say that business owners define the purpose of their business, and they hire management to define and execute their mission.  A good owner needs to do the right things, and a good manager needs to do things right.  The company management hires employees to do the work that needs to be done in accordance with the purpose and mission of the company.

A Five-Point Strategy for Successful Business Management: Good businesses plan their operational strategy and execute their strategy as planned.  (Plan Your Dive – Dive Your Plan).  Sometimes it brings in the results that were anticipated, sometimes it does not.  Here is our recommended 5-point strategy for completing your company mission. 1) Be aware of your situation.  2) Educate your owners, directors, management, and employees.  3) Plan your strategy based on your available options. 4) Execute your plan using the best business tools and marketing technologies available.  5) Review and analyze your outcomes and revise as necessary.

Awareness: Dive Industry Professionals need to be aware of what they are doing from a business perspective as well as from a diving perspective.  First of all, you have to be aware of all diving related subjects that pertain to your specialty.  That could be manufacturing, retailing, instruction, travel, or non-profit management.  Second, on your list of awareness should be the diving industry and its niche market.  Last, but certainly not least, is your awareness of the art and science of business.  If you are going to be in business, selling what you love, you have to know how to run a business.  Allow me to drive this point home for you.  In the 50 years I have been studying the Retail Dive Store industry, I have compiled data on over 4,000 dive stores in the United States that have opened for business at one time or another.  Our current count of dive stores open for business in the U.S. is approximately 900 dive stores.

Education: Education and Experience go hand in hand.  The more education you start with, the more likely you are to avoid the pitfalls of experience.  Or so they say.  This should not be a difficult concept for scuba instructors to appreciate. Most of us learned to dive from a certified instructor before we started diving on our own.  Educating divers before allowing them to dive or purchase diving equipment has made our recreation as safe as it could be.  It should be that way for aspiring business owners too.

Planning: It’s foolish to romanticize winging it or flying by the seat of your pants when it comes to operating life support equipment in a potentially dangerous environment.  That goes double for starting a business.  Especially a business in a small niche market, with low or declining revenues and a declining client base!  Good planning is a wise thing to do if you want to increase your odds for success in this market.  I have always preached that it is better to plan your business start-up on paper before you invest your hard-earned time, money, and manpower in a business enterprise.  Good planning will make you aware of what you are getting into, and it will teach you what you need to know beforehand.  Not everything, but more than if you didn’t do any planning.  I’ve always said that it doesn’t cost anything to fail on paper, but a real-time business loss can be devastating.

Action: With a good written plan in front of you, blazing new trails is less intimidating and more inviting.   Especially if you have an experienced businessperson on your team that has been there and done that before.  More than once is even better.  A good Action Plan may help you hit the ground running in business and give you increased motivation and perhaps some degree of a competitive edge.  I know that some of my military peers would say that every battle plan goes out the window at the sign of first conflict, but we’ll leave that discussion for another day.  The whole reason for creating a good action plan is to increase your chances of success by contemplating as many likely scenarios as possible before actually going into business.

This is the point where most good managers stop.  Awareness-Education-Planning-Action.  Now, let me tell you about Step 5, where all the magic happens.  It reminds me of the “Missing Chapter” of the business planning book that only Great Managers read.  This step that brings all of your work out in the open, where you can see the cause and effect of your actions, and where you can see improvement and success happening at every turn.  It’s called:

Review, Analyze, & Revise: Step 5 is where the rubber meets the road.  It’s the step that transports you from theory to reality.  It’s the point where academia meets real business.  It’s the point where you will find great business leaders getting things done.  It’s the point where you need to be.

Begin to Collect Data: Step 5 is all about analyzing the outcomes that are created by what your business does.  Before we begin to analyze everything we do in business, we have to determine what is important to us.  Every industry is different and every business within an industry may have different things that are important to them.  Start with your business purpose.  What does your business do? What brings in your greatest source of revenue?  If you teach diving classes, start to collect data on the types of courses you teach and the number of students you enroll in each class.  I would label this “Sales in Units.”  Next, I would record the dollars brought in from teaching these courses.  Call this “Sales in Dollars.”    If there are direct costs involved in these courses, record the data as “Cost of Units Sold.”  Now you are in a position to plan your sales strategy, to increase or decrease activity.  Decide how you are going to accomplish your strategy, give it a time limit, and then analyze the results from your campaign.  You can do the same thing for tracking sales, dive trips, charter dives, club members, etc.  Whatever is important to you, and your business needs to be tracked, recorded, reviewed, analyzed, and revised as necessary.

I have been recording our daily sales for years.  We usually compare this year’s gross sales to those of last year.  At any point in time, I can tell you if we are up or down in sales and by what percentage.  We’ve outgrown the lazy response of better, the same, or worse than last year!  Our company has been tracking exhibitors at dive shows and trade expos for 20 years.  We can tell just by looking at our graphs, which shows are heading for extinction.  You don’t need a crystal ball to tell which shows & events are not analyzing their exhibitor data.

To stress the importance of recording your activity and using it to increase your awareness, education, planning, and action strategy, let’s look at a simple weight management exercise.  Rather than have a goal of “weight loss”, let’s make our goal “healthy weight management.”   Our awareness starts off by knowing that weight management is simply “calories in minus calories out.”  In other words, if you consume more calories than you use, you gain weight.  If you consume less calories than you burn, you lose weight.  We start off by increasing our awareness of food and activity.  That leads to our education about food and exercise, which helps in our planning a strategy of eating less calories than we burn, if we want to lose weight.  To be successful at this exercise we have to record everything we eat and record all of our physical activities.  (This is an over-simplification).  The magic happens as we enter Step 5 to record what is important to us.  We learn about calories, carbs, proteins, etc. and we learn about various forms of activity that burn the calories we consume.  The more we learn, and the better we get at planning our strategy, the more our actions will produce outcomes that result in weight loss and other benefits.  You can actually get to a point where you are simply “tweaking” variables and components to your action plan when you are in Step 5.  An additional positive outcome from a healthy weight management program is that you may realize additional benefits that correlate to a balanced blood chemistry level. (Again, an over simplification).

My whole point is that business activity has a cause and effect on outcomes that are produced by your strategy.  By measuring the results of your action plan and analyzing the data, you can fine tune your planned outcomes for maximum effectiveness.  If you are a good manager who wants to be a great manager, you’ll find what you desire in Step 5.

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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Editorial – May 2025

Posted on June 3, 2025 by Gene Muchanski

Understanding The Pieces
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

What makes your business a business?  It’s really easy to understand if you know the individual pieces that go into making it whole. Your business is a collection of components, sub-systems, and systems that are integrated into a functioning organizational whole.  Business Developers and Strategic Planners look at businesses from the bottom up and from the top down.  It is important to understand how individual business components affect the systems and sub-systems they are designed for.  Much like the individual organs of a human body or the systems and sub-systems of an automobile.

When you think of your diving business as a machine, you can begin to appreciate how it operates.   A business has internal and external components that affect how it operates.  The internal components are the ones you create to perform specific tasks.  The external components are elements outside of your organization that you may or may not have control over.  I like to look at the internal components of a business as pieces of a puzzle.  Business Consultants teach their clients how to understand each of the individual components and how they fit together to create the final image (result, outcome, or finished product).

I have been a Professional Marketing Advisor my entire life.  My number one specialty has always been the diving industry, although much of my education and experience has come from working outside of the confines of diving-only companies and organizations.  The reason being, is that business tools and marketing technologies are universal in nature and are used to create outcomes for problems and applications they were designed for.  Any business consultant, worth their salt, needs to understand the business tools and marketing technologies that solve problems, as well as the scientific method of problem solving.  For my fellow “dive industry consultants” who are known for putting simple band-aid solutions on deep, underlining problems, allow me to take the issue of problem solving to a whole new level for you.

Obstacles, challenges, and problems are not as simple as you may think.  They are usually the summation of a number of components that have contributed to the problem.  I learned that from my VA Health Team.  Medical problems like obesity, high blood pressure, and even cancer are not caused by one thing.  To treat one thing and hope to cure the entire problem is foolish thinking.  Same thing in business.  Low sales are not an isolated event.  And it can’t be “cured” with a single campaign to “increase sales.”  You have to look deeper into why sales are down and you have to employ a number of business tools and marketing technologies that create outcomes which produce increased sales.   

To help you appreciate the scientific method of problem solving, let’s look at Weight Loss Programs as compared to integrated Health & Weight Management Programs.  A person can lose weight by going on “diets”, taking weight loss medication, or even electing to have surgery.  With all of these options, there can be serious complications or side effects and there is no guarantee that you will be healthier after reaching your weight loss goal.  With Health & Weight Management Programs you will learn more about food composition, food consumption & tracking, preparation, cooking, calorie intake, caloric targeting, meal & menu planning, portion control, exercise & tracking, physical activity and limits, health factors, limitations and risk factors, and blood chemistry analysis.  You will learn to maintain a healthy lifestyle and how to adjust your caloric intake to produce sufficient caloric output.  With such an effective weight management program, your goal may switch from “weight loss” to “creating a healthy lifestyle.”  Achieving a healthy lifestyle is more likely to produce positive outcomes such as weight loss, lower risk of heart attack, reduced blood pressure, lower cholesterol, lower A1C, balanced blood chemistry, and many other benefits.

Understanding the components that go into a business organization is the foundation of any good business plan.  When you create a business plan, you will learn what a business does and what business tools you will need to get those tasks accomplished.  Business tools not only perform specific tasks, they usually have the ability to record the work that has been done.  Part of your job as a business manager is to analyze the results of your performance.  That is the part of the problem-solving process that most managers fail to follow up on.  Too often, they will use a business tool or technology to solve a problem but fail to analyze the outcome to see if it was what they had planned for.  By not questioning the default outcome, you are assuming that you used the right tool for the job and that you used it correctly.  Both assumptions could be wrong if you don’t understand what business components do.

In future articles in The Dive Industry Professional, we will discuss a five-point process to solving problems.  1) Awareness. 2) Education. 3) Planning. 4) Action. 5) Review-Analyze-Adjust.

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 these websites and directories in advertising and marketing campaigns to refer business to our members.  By joining our network, you are getting more than a listing in a directory or website.  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 of the 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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Editorial – April 2025

Posted on April 20, 2025 by Gene Muchanski

Working the Business Network
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

Networks and networking are two very interesting topics that have significant relevance in the Global Diving Community.  Networks and networking can be professional, pathetic, or even sad.  In our industry, there are social networks and business networks.  In both cases there are networks that people join and there are networks that people naturally belong to because of common interests with other people.  That means that some networks are created by individuals and some networks come into existence naturally.  Most of us understand the composition and rationality behind some of the created networks, like societies and halls of fame organizations.  They are organized associations of selected inductees that share a common denominator or a specific level of achievement.  It is the informal networks in the recreational diving industry that we deal with when we discuss industry economic development, growth, and sustainability.  To understand the Business of Diving in the Global Diving Community, it is necessary to understand the existence and makeup of the many informal off-the-books business network groups that are very influential in their niche markets.

Understanding Business Network Niches: Business network niches start off as a loose affiliation of people who are in a common industry, producing similar products and services, and having a common desire, interest, business model, or agenda.  How’s that for a general description?  Because of the things they have in common, they frequently come in contact with each other and start informally networking together.  If there are many things they have in common, or if they are collectively faced with external challenges from outside of their group, they may form an official networking organization, with the sole purpose of working together for a common cause.  Sound familiar?  Of course, that’s how many trade shows are started.  Sellers band together and invite their buyers to meet them at an event for the purpose of writing orders, and anything else that is part of their Buyer-Seller relationship.  If it works, they make plans to do it again, and again, until it doesn’t work anymore.

Not All Business Network Niches Work: Our industry has seen informal groups come together, form official organizations, do some good, and then fail.  We have seen from our history that groups who band together to do something positive for themselves and the industry tend to do well and grow their network.  Groups that are formed to negate the forward progress of other organizations tend to disband for lack of a positive agenda.  But it is not only the bad networks that fail in the long run.  Look back on the 60-year history of the diving industry and you will see some great organizations and business networks who have failed after serving the industry well for many years.

Why Do Good Networks Go Bad?  If you have been a Dive Industry Professional for more than 20-50 years you will know exactly where I am going with this.  If you are new to the industry you may want to sit down and talk with one of your peers who has seen networks and organizations in the diving industry start, grow, succeed, and then fail.

Network to Network: I have a lot of respect for business networks that are formed to brainstorm strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats with their peers.  No man is an island, and neither are like-minded businesses and industries.  There is strength in numbers and businesses that try to go it alone are always the first to be picked off by their competitors.  Networks that are formed to acknowledge their similarities and work together have a higher propensity for success.  I call it the ability to complete the mission.

When networks come together to create something like a trade show, dive show, or event, they turn to each other for financial and technical input.  The secret to their success is that each one of the networking members has a stake in the game.  We all know that having “skin in the game” or a “dog in the fight” is a real motivator to work hard enough to win.  It is my opinion that as long as networking members are running their own event and all have something to win or lose, will they always take it seriously enough to succeed.

Network vs Network: Failure happens when there is network conflict.  When one network group is controlling an event that is contingent upon other networks to make it successful, their financial balance may come into question.  Financial balance is when both the buyers and sellers of a proposition benefit equally.  When a financial imbalance occurs, the side that is not receiving an equitable return may decline to support the program in the future.  If enough members from one network feel the same way (and they do talk to each other), then the end result is financial collapse.  We have all seen it before and we are seeing it again in real time.  Remember The Super Show?  That was a gigantic Sporting Goods Trade Show.  Where is it today?

A Good Match Needed For Success: If I may use the example of dive shows and trade shows, they succeed or fail based on how well matched the exhibitors and attendees are.  The perfect trade show for diving equipment and supplies would be having exhibitors that produce diving equipment, supplies, and apparel and attract attendees who are qualified retail buyers.  Obviously, at a consumer dive show, the exhibitors would be retail dive stores and the attendees would be qualified scuba divers looking to purchase their equipment.  If the venue was focused on dive travel, the exhibitors would be sellers of dive travel, and the attendees would be travel buyers.  Again, the venue could be set up as a trade show for wholesale sales or a consumer show for retail sales.  As long as the exhibitors and attendees were a match, the venue could be successful.

Why Do They Fail?  Shows & Events succeed if the sellers are meeting the needs of the buyers.  When that stops happening, the whole system collapses.   It’s no mystery.  When the water supply dries up, the herd moves on.  That may be easy for an outside to see, not so with the people on the inside.  Einstein said that you can never solve a problem with the same mindset that created the problem.    The trouble with the diving industry is that as networks grow old, so do their people.  And I don’t just mean in years on the planet.  It usually is the same crowd, doing the same thing, the same way they have always done it, all the while failing to analyze their annual progress or lack of it.  They don’t bring in new people (outsiders) and they don’t try new ideas (other people’s ideas) and they don’t update their purpose or their current mission.   For many years after their peak, some networks and organizations slow down, become less effective, and financially hemorrhage until a Diving Doctor is brought in to call the time of death.  Is there a doctor in the house?

Is There Any Hope?  Of course there is!  Networks, organizations, and events are dynamic entities.  They have a purpose and should always have a current mission.  They are created to do something positive for their network and their industry.  Networks should always be focused on moving forward, with a purpose.  They need to be flexible, innovative, adaptable, and inclusive.  When their mission is complete, it’s time to tackle another mission. Or move on.

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 these websites and directories in advertising and marketing campaigns to refer business to our members.  By joining our network, you are getting more than a listing in a directory or website.  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 of the 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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The Business of Diving

Posted on April 8, 2025 by Gene Muchanski

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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Customer Types in the Diving Industry

Posted on March 15, 2025 by Gene Muchanski

Customer Types In The Diving Industry
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

Last month in our industry networking article we defined the working components of the Diving Industry.  As you may recall, we categorized active divers as members of the Global Diving Community.  We defined the Global Diving Business Network as businesses who were actively producing and selling their products in the global diving niche market.  We further explained that individuals who work in the Global Diving Business Network are labeled as Dive Industry Professionals.   We classify these working components in the Global Diving Community to help Dive Industry Professionals better understand the diving business market.  It is important to understand who the buyers and sellers are in our niche market.  That has never been done before in our industry and that has led to a lot of confusion and quite frankly, a high degree of stagnation and fragmentation in our business performance.

The purpose of this article is to give you an honest professional perspective on who the industry’s buyers and sellers are.  We’ll even take it one step further and explain who our customers are, and which ones are part of the professional trade.  Our goal is to make the buying and selling process easy to understand and easy to work with.

Three Degrees of Customers: First of all, customers, or consumers, buy the stuff we sell.  Divers in the Global Diving Community buy the diving and diving related programs, products, and services that the Global Diving Business Network produces and sells.  To simplify the process, we classify customers as current customers, former customers, and future customers.  Current customers are the people buying from you now.  Your former customers have bought from you before but have not made a purchase from you in the last 12 months.  Future customers are the individuals who have not purchased from you yet.

Types of Customers: Divers in the Global Diving Community are the people who purchase our products.  Collectively, they are our niche market.  Acknowledging that all divers are consumers makes it easy to understand the global niche market.  That’s why it makes me laugh when people say that our annual trade show is not a consumer show.  Of course it is.  We are all consumers.  But this is where the confusion and misinformation about diving consumers begins.  Granted, all divers may be or have been consumers of diving and diving related products at one time, but the question is what type of consumer are they?

Retail Consumer: Retail consumers in our industry are divers who buy their products at a retail price point.  Most of them purchase their products from retail dive centers and from online merchants.  Not many surveys have been conducted to determine the annual sales breakdown of each category.  I am sure that a small percentage of retail customers purchase their products directly from the manufacturers or from their scuba diving instructors and other trade professionals, but that is not the point here.  The importance of the retail customer is that they are the backbone of the economic fabric of the global diving industry.  That makes the Open Water Scuba Instructor and the entry-level Open Water Scuba Diver the two most important groups in the entire Global Diving Community.  My reasoning behind this statement is that Open Water Scuba Instructors teach new divers who become the consumers of the diving niche market. Nothing is more important to the growth and development of our Global Diving Industry than creating the demand for our niche products.

Wholesale Customers: Wholesale customers are the qualified retail buyers who purchase products at the wholesale level.  They usually are allowed to purchase at the wholesale level because they are purchasing inventory for resale in their retail outlets.  Because they stock their outlets with merchandise for resale, they normally purchase in large quantities.  They should also be purchasing their inventory at select buying periods or at calculated reordering points, but that is not always the case.

The wholesale buyers, as a group, have broken away from standard professional retail ordering protocols.  They have gotten away from creating purchase orders on a seasonal basis.  They have also significantly reduced their annual trade show purchase ordering.  They have even gotten away from ordering in large quantities and are frequently buying in single quantities to fill existing orders.  Breaking away from standard retail industry practices puts a strain on vendor-retail relationships.  It disrupts original equipment manufacturing production runs and raw materials inventories.   If a wholesale buyer is not going to be ordering in a timely, seasonal manner or in a profitable economic order quantity, are they really wholesale buyers?

Trade Consumers: You may never have heard of the term Trade Consumers.  I’ve been using this term in the last few years to describe a strange abnormality in the buying and selling practices of diving equipment in our industry.  The practice is not unique to the diving industry, and it has been going on since the invention of the Aqua-Lung.  I call it the grey zone that lies between the black and white lines of retail pricing and the wholesale pricing.

Trade pricing for diving equipment was established long ago by diving equipment manufacturers who wanted to have their brands used by Dive Industry Professionals.  You may know the practice as Key Man Pricing.  In the days before scuba instructors were called influencers, they were referred to as opinion leaders.  Knowing that scuba students were more likely to purchase the same type of equipment that was used by their instructors, creating a keyman program was a smart thing to do.  There are two problems associated with the industry’s trade consumers.  Active Instructors have to replace their gear more often and full time Instructors frequently cannot afford their own equipment.  Especially the more expensive brands.  Part time scuba instructors who have “real jobs” outside of the diving industry have no problem paying for the more expensive brands.  Being a part time instructor has its perks.

Keyman programs in the past were created by the dive equipment vendors but left up to the dive stores to manage.  The equipment manufacturers set the pricing and the number of keyman instructors the store could qualify.  The dive stores picked the instructors who were most active in instructing and allowed them to participate in the program.  In theory, the instructors who were teaching the most students were allowed to purchase their equipment at a reduced rate.  The equipment vendors gained more influencers who were wearing their gear, and they made more wholesale sales to the dealers.  Dive stores made more sales to their retail customers in the long run, by giving up the profits from keyman sales.

Keyman programs have become more complicated in the past few years as the number of trade customers in the diving industry has grown.  Keyman programs may have been more manageable 30 years ago when the industry had 2,400 dive stores in the United States and perhaps 2 or 3 Instructors on staff at each store.   Selling diving equipment to a few instructors at a keyman rate was economically beneficial in exchange for the increase in retail customers the instructors were creating.  However, the retail store population has declined to approximately 947 stores in the U.S. and the number of Divemaster and Instructor staff per store has skyrocketed.  We frequently see the teaching staff at dive stores easily exceeding 20-30 instructors and divemasters.  Increasing your store’s teaching staff from 2 to 20 would be a tremendous boom to the diving industry if these new instructors were certifying a proportional level of open water divers who became retail customers, but that has not been the case.  For many years now, Instructor and Divemaster numbers are significantly up and open water certifications are significantly down.  I don’t have to tell you what it means when the percentage of retail customers declines, and the percentage of trade customers increases.

To complicate industry economic issues even further, keyman programs as we know them, may be in jeopardy.  Dive stores cannot afford to offer trade discounts to 20-30 of their best customers because they happen to become a divemaster of Instructor.   Especially if their new staff members are not creating significantly more retail customers for them.  Some dive equipment manufacturers have been experimenting with their own keyman programs or ambassador programs by offering deep discounts to qualified trade customers.  Their criterium for qualifying for their program may vary and include Instructors, Divemasters, Veterans, Public Safety Divers, Dive Store Employees, and Social Media Influencers.  I cannot say if they are working in conjunction with their Dealers or not.  I hope they are.

It’s time for a unified Industry Study to create a program that rewards Dive Industry Professionals for being active trade customers and creating a significant increase of retail customers for the diving industry.  The entire supply chain in the Global Diving Business Network would benefit from such a program.  Sales and growth are important aspects of the Global Diving Industry, but only controlled growth and strategically planned sales are sustainable solutions to the economic growth and development of the Global Diving Community.

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

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Pro Dive International – New Resorts in Cozumel

Posted on March 4, 2025 by Gene Muchanski

Pro Dive International Announces New Openings in Southern Cozumel Marina Park, at Sunscape Sabor Cozumel and Dreams Cozumel Cape Resort & Spa

Cozumel, Mexico – 10th FEB 2025 

Pro Dive International, a leading name in the diving industry and a multi-award-winning PADI Five Star Dive Center, is thrilled to announce its new facilities at two of Cozumel’s premier resorts: Sunscape Sabor Cozumel and Dreams Cozumel Cape Resort & Spa. This expansion marks another milestone in Pro Dive International’s mission to deliver world-class diving experiences in the Caribbean.

Unparalleled Diving Experiences in Cozumel

Cozumel is renowned for its crystal-clear waters, vibrant coral reefs, and abundant marine life, making it a top destination for divers worldwide. With the addition of these new concessions, Pro Dive International will offer guests at Sunscape Sabor Cozumel and Dreams Cozumel Cape Resort & Spa exclusive access to:

  • Guided reef dives at world-famous sites like Palancar Reef and Santa Rosa Wall.
  • PADI certification courses for beginners and advanced divers alike.
  • Specialty dives, including night dives, drift dives, and underwater photography excursions.
  • Eco-friendly diving practices aligned with Pro Dive International’s commitment to marine conservation.

A Legacy of Excellence

Founded in 2003, Pro Dive International has grown from a small dive center in Puerto Aventuras to a Caribbean diving powerhouse with 16 locations across Mexico and the Dominican Republic. The company’s dedication to safety, quality, and environmental stewardship has earned it numerous accolades, including the PADI Green Star Award, (former) National Geographic awards, and recognition from Scuba Diving Magazine as best overall dive center in the Caribbean and Atlantic, among others.

“We are excited to bring our expertise and passion for diving to the guests of Sunscape Sabor Cozumel and Dreams Cozumel Cape Resort & Spa,” said Markus Fleischmann, President and Founder of Pro Dive International. “Cozumel is a diver’s paradise, and we look forward to sharing its underwater wonders with even more adventurers.”

About Sunscape Sabor Cozumel and Dreams Cozumel Cape Resort & Spa

  • Sunscape Sabor Cozumel: A family-friendly, all-inclusive resort located on the pristine shores of Cozumel, offering a blend of relaxation and adventure.
  • Dreams Cozumel Cape Resort & Spa: A luxurious, adults-only retreat known for its stunning ocean views, world-class amenities, and serene atmosphere.

Both resorts now feature Pro Dive International’s services directly on site, ensuring guests have seamless access to unforgettable underwater experiences.

Commitment to Sustainability

Pro Dive International continues to lead the way in sustainable diving practices. The company actively participates in reef conservation initiatives, marine life protection programs, and eco-friendly diving operations. Guests diving with Pro Dive International can feel confident that their adventures are contributing to the preservation of Cozumel’s marine ecosystems.

Book Your Dive Today

Diving enthusiasts and first-time explorers are invited to book their underwater adventures, including hotel accommodation, with Pro Dive International at Sunscape Sabor Cozumel and Dreams Cozumel Cape Resort & Spa. For more information, visit www.prodiveinternational.com, email info@prodiveinternational.com, through whatsapp +52 984 745 0763, or contact the dive centers directly at the resorts.

About Pro Dive International:

Pro Dive International is a PADI Five Star Dive Center operating in Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Founded in 2003, the company is known for its commitment to quality, safety, and environmental conservation, with currently 16 locations at coveted 4-5* RESORTS along the RIVIERA MAYA & COZUMEL/ MEXICO, and in the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.  With it´s team of multilingual professionals, Pro Dive International offers unforgettable diving experiences for adventurers of all levels, such as CENOTES diving, diving with BULL SHARKS, diving wrecks and famous walls at COZUMEL, as well as Snorkeling Safaris with WHALE SHARKS & SAILFISH.

Pro Dive International has a multilingual team available to take reservations for diving, hotel accommodation, transfers and cultural tours, provides services to international travel agencies, an equipment maintenance department, excursions team and own competitive transportation system available to provide airport and hotel shuttles.

Also, Pro Dive offers FREE NITROX at all of its locations (based on availability).

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Editorial – March 2025

Posted on March 3, 2025 by Gene Muchanski

Dive Industry Networking
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

Networking is a very broad term.  It can be used to describe the art of social interacting with other people to gain popularity and influence.  It can be used to describe what people do in a business setting to establish or maintain business contacts for future purposes.  If you are a tech-savvy person you might think of networking as it applies to computers and how they are linked to each other for data capture and transfer.   Although I agree with all of these definitions and applications, I think that networking, especially business networking, goes much deeper than that.  Social networking is more of a fluid form of interaction.  Business networking takes more planning and creativity to successfully facilitate.

In the diving industry we have a great deal of social networking that goes on within the Global Diving Community. Social networking is a very important and enjoyable aspect of the diving community.  Divers are by nature, very outgoing and social individuals.  Some of the social networking revolves around common interests such as underwater photography, wreck diving, cave diving, and tech diving.  Other social networking opportunities are centered around events, organizations, and societies.  Frequently we see social networking opportunities overlap between social networking groups at common meetings, shows, and events.  As Industry Planners we should not underestimate the power of social networking within our industry.  I have seen its influence on the regional, national, and international level.  But influence is difficult to measure, and it has its limitations.

The Real Need For Business Networking: Business networking is a horse of a different color. Some people think of business networking as social networking within a business setting, conducted for personal gain.  It is not.  Business networking is professional interaction for mutual benefit.  Business Professionals need input, advice, and counsel from other business professionals who have knowledge and expertise that they themselves do not have.  There are so many things that business professionals need in their line of work, there is no way they can be expected to know everything about every subject matter.  Hence the need for Business Networking.  It’s a mutual benefit thing to engage in business networking.  Our society is based on the division of labor, skills, and ideas.  It goes back to cave man days when we had hunters and gathers specializing in what they do best. Today’s entrepreneurs are known and respected for being willing to do everything that is necessary to run their business successfully.  The strength of an entrepreneur is that they are willing to do everything themselves.  The downfall of an entrepreneur is that they try to do everything themselves. 

There is no question that businesspeople, owners and employees alike, need to reach out to other business professionals that have skills and talents they do not have.  It’s the wisdom of seeking good counsel.  The other problem is that it is time consuming to seek and acquire qualified counsel, regardless of the specialty.  That is why it is so important to not only develop a habit of continually networking, but to be a part of a network that does most of the research and maintenance for you. 

Defining the Diving Business Network:  It does not make sense for 8,000 business owners in the diving industry to re-invent the wheel over and over again.  As an Industry Marketing and Trade Association, the Dive Industry Association is in the business of bringing buyers and sellers together, and consequently has as its mission to build a Global Diving Business Network that operates for the mutual benefit of all the businesses and business professionals that specialize in selling diving and diving related programs, products, and services to the Global Diving Market

Not only have we defined the Global Diving Business Network, but it is also our mission and responsibility to build, maintain, and refer the participating network members to buyers in the global diving community.  We pride ourselves on being marketing professionals that understand our market better than most.  We are familiar with the products being sold, the producers who create them, the application they are intended for, and the market that purchases them.  It is our business to create and maintain the Marketing Bridge that connects Buyers and Sellers.

Building a Global Diving Business Network: Everyone in the world is a consumer.   We all buy things.  Consumers of diving products in the global diving community buy what they need from businesses in the global diving business network.  Commerce in the diving industry goes up and down the supply and demand chains, through various channels of distribution every day.  Our job is to make it easy for buyers to find what they need and for sellers to be found.  To accomplish that, our association creates marketing vehicles to carry educational, marketing, promotional, advertising, and sales messages from suppliers, across the Marketing Bridge to consumers.

Our Association uses websites, directories, blogs, press releases, email campaigns, social media, face-to-face marketing at dive shows and events, and personal referrals to connect buyers and sellers.  We produce the only Trade Directory to linked suppliers, and it is updated every month.  Download  Directory 01-25

Through our website at DIVE LOCAL we created the industry’s only published list of dive stores in the United States.  We list the stores by Territory and by State and include a hot-linked url to their websites.  Our plans are to include Dive Boats, Dive Clubs, and Dive Instructors for all states, sometime in the near future.  As part of our marketing and consultancy services we have created the same kind of private directory locators for diving businesses in the manufacturing, training, travel, and non-profit industries.

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 these websites and directories in advertising and marketing campaigns to refer business to our members.  By joining our network, you are getting more than a listing in a directory or website.  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 DIA Member Application 2025 today.

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

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Editorial – February 2025

Posted on February 23, 2025 by Gene Muchanski

What Business Are You In?
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

I had a phone call with an Industry Leader this month who was searching for some clarification about marketing concepts he thought he needed to make his company more relevant to potential customers.  He was convinced that his company had the best product on the market, but he was not sure how to get that message across to potential buyers.  As the conversation continued, he mentioned that even with all of the marketing tools his staff was using, like websites, tik-tok, and social media programs, his company was not getting the market penetration they needed.  I asked him if his company had a Strategic Plan, a Business Plan, or a Marketing Plan and as I imagined, they didn’t.   My best option at this point was to stop talking about possible solutions to problems we were not aware of.  I did not want to be the doctor who agrees to perform surgery on a patient he hasn’t examined yet.  There are smarter and more professional ways to deal with business problems and challenges. 

What I took away from this conversation is how common business problems are in the recreational diving industry.  To make matters worse, most of the problems are addressed with a marketing solution by non-marketing people.  To add insult to injury, many times the solutions are suggested by the same people who created the problem.   Albert Einstein once said that a problem could not be solved by the same reasoning that created the problem.  And yet here we are, many years later, trying to prove him wrong.  As a Dive Industry Marketing Professional, I believe that in order to grow your business successfully, you must first know where you are and secondly know where you want to go.  A Marketing Audit is the first step to putting your company on the road to growth and recovery.

As a Marketing Professional working in the Global Diving Business Network, I can see how the art and science of marketing is grossly misunderstood.  The partial and incomplete understanding of modern-day marketing tools and technologies can actually do more damage to a company’s bottom line than good.  Trying to solve problems with business tools that you do not fully understand and have not mastered, can have a devastating negative impact to your time, money, and manpower assets.  Suggesting the use of a particular marketing tool before properly diagnosing a problem is an example of a bottom-up strategy.  A top-down strategy requires that you start with defining the problem and end with using the proper tool to solve it.

If we were discussing the topic of strategy, I could go on and on about the necessity of strategic planning in the diving industry and how successful strategies are planned from the top-down and not from the bottom-up.  But this editorial is really about a simpler concept than that.  It’s about defining the business you are in and building your company around that concept. 

When you are successful at correctly defining the business that you are in, it gives your existence its purpose.  Your company organization and strategy are then built around accomplishing your mission in the most constructive and economically expedient manner.  Your strategic plan, business plan, and marketing plan will reflect all the key components that make it possible for you to complete your mission.  When you know what business you are in and communicate that to your prospective customers, the mission you are accomplishing and the mission your customers are funding will be one and the same.

 Convention and Trade Show Organizers (NAICS 56): I have worked with many different businesses in different industry sectors over the past 40 years.  The Shows and Events Industry and the Meetings Industry are favorites of mine.  There are Trade Shows, Consumer Shows, and Professional Development Conferences.  Each one has its own components that help make it successful.  Event planners have to consider the needs of Exhibitors, Sponsors, Seminar Speakers, Attendees, and Advertisers when designing the mission of an event and how the event is going to pay for itself.  It gets very interesting when your planned mission, or unadvertised purpose of the event cannot be executed economically because your prospective benefactors do not have the resources to fund your event alone. 

The Manufacturing Industry (NAICS 33) is currently going through some growing pains since the end of the covid pandemic.  Economic recovery is happening in our industry, albeit at a slow pace.  For equipment and apparel manufacturers specializing in the diving and diving related market, many of the industry’s suppliers are contemplating whether they should be participating in the retail, wholesale, or trade markets.  Each one has its own channel of distribution and how they market and advertise to their prospective customers.  As a consequence of this conundrum, trade and consumer dive shows have lost substantial support and exhibitor participation.  The silver lining in this dark cloud of uncertainty is that businesses who correctly focus on their core business are successfully working through this dilemma.

The Retail Industry (NAICS 45) has lost more than ½ of the recreational sporting goods stores that specialize in scuba diving.  In the 1980’s there were about 2,400 retail dive stores in operation.  Today, according to DIVE LOCAL there are about 947 dive stores in the United States.  While there are many reasons for the recreational diving industry market decline, a significant factor is the unbalanced focus on the equipment, training, and travel components of the industry.  If you are currently in the dive store business, it may be a good exercise to ask yourself if you are in the dive equipment business, the diving instruction business, the travel business, or the retail business?  We know that a good dive store is in all of these businesses, but the question is, “Which business do you perceive is your PRIMARY business?”  Which one is your primary purpose for being in business?  Once you have decided, your strategic planning process will be immensely simplified. 

The Travel Industry (NAICS 56): Dive travel may be the number one activity that motivates people to become certified scuba divers.  It wasn’t always that way, but it certainly may be now.  Knowing what business you are in is very relevant to the dive travel market.  I would ask the dive travel wholesalers in our industry if they considered themselves Travel Professionals or Dive Travel Professionals?  With the increasing competition in our industry with Ocean Cruising, River Cruises, African Safaris, and International all-inclusive Resorts, is the diving niche market still your main focus?  Your answer may determine which type of trade or consumer shows you attend or exhibit at.

Choosing your level of priority in the dive travel business is an important consideration to make for Dive Travel Specialists in the Retail Industry.  Promoting group dive travel could be very lucrative.  We encourage retailers to have an extensive dive travel program for many reasons.  My question for you is, “Is dive travel your priority as a revenue stream or is it a means to increase dive training certifications and diving equipment sales?”  Selecting your priority and focus will determine the direction of your strategic planning and the extent of your marketing and advertising expenditures.

Sports and Recreation Instruction (NAICS 61): Our Industry would not be what it is today without scuba diving instructors.  Whether you realize it or not, there are so many options available to Dive Industry Professionals these days it is almost overwhelming.  The question of What Business Are You In?  is very important to consider.  You have the option to instruct independently or as an employee for a diving business.  You can use your training as part of your job as a collateral duty or as the main purpose of what you were hired for.  You can teach diving part-time or full-time.  You can specialize in entry level open water students or Instructor training programs.  Whatever floats your boat.

As a Professional Educator for over 50 years (20 years as an active Instructor) I could see where the question of What Business Are You In? may be left up to the Training Agencies or the diving businesses that hire scuba instructors.  There are many levels of certification available to scuba instructors.  The Global Diving Community grows when the industry certifies new entry level open water divers.  The Global Diving Business Network benefits when people get certified because they become part of the niche market that purchases diving equipment and supplies, training, travel, and diving lifestyle products.  So, diving equipment manufacturers, dive retailers, training agencies, and dive travel business all benefit by having more certified divers.

The Dive Travel Resorts and Dive Operators need a constant stream of Divemasters and Dive Instructors to fill their employment vacancies.  They are interested in supporting Training Agencies that can provide them with qualified employees.   That opens more opportunities for Training Agencies to have a sufficient number of Instructor Trainers on hand to train and certify more Instructors.  The final conundrum is whether to prioritize the Global Diving Community’s need for certified divers or ensure the sustainability of the Global Diving Business Network with certified and licensed Divemasters and Instructors.  Regardless, it’s all a matter of establishing what business you want to be in.

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  

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What Is The Diving Industry?

Posted on January 26, 2025 by Gene Muchanski

What Is The Diving Industry?
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

As we move into the new year, The Dive Industry Professional will be doubling down on being the industry voice of the business of diving issues in the Global Diving Community.  Many of the articles we produce this year will be based on how we view the diving industry world view.  We will be asking and answering foundational questions that may or may not have been discussed before or clarified in the past, pertaining to diving as a recreation, a sport, or a profession.  By focusing on “Business of Diving” issues, research and published articles, The Dive Industry Professional will continue to be the Industry voice for the Global Diving Business Network. As Dive Industry Professionals working in the trade, when we speak about the “Diving Industry” we are actually referring to diving and diving related businesses within the Global Diving Business Network.  Individuals who work in this global network are referred to as Dive Industry Professionals.

When we discuss matters that pertain to the diving Industry, we are talking about diving, the business of diving, and the people that work in those businesses.  Most of the primary research that is taking place in our industry today is being performed by a handful of marketing researchers who are spending the necessary time, money, and manpower to define the industry as it exists today, and to build a foundational template that can be used for the industry’s expansion, growth, maintenance, and success.  There are very few Professional Dive Industry Planners in our Industry at this time.  Mainly because industry planning is not a revenue generating career path.  Most of the self-appointed Dive Industry Planners that I know have other vested interests in the Global Diving Community, the Global Diving Business Network, or the Diving Industry.  Over the past 70 years, the industry has become what it is today, mainly by trial and error.  There has been no Master Plan for its creation, growth, maintenance, and success.  I am aware that a select few companies have their own agendas for their companies and not necessarily for the benefit of the entire industry.   If they do have an industry-wide plan, they certainly are not sharing it with anyone.

When we talk about diving, do we just mean SCUBA diving, or does it include different types of underwater exploration?  Is diving a means to an end or is it an end unto itself?  Is it a recreation, hobby, sport, or profession?    Is scuba diving a skill, duty, job, career, or profession?  Can you find employment as a scuba diver, or do you have to get “a real job” to be able to afford it?  How much does it pay and are there opportunities for advancement?   Is scuba diving an industry or is it a specialty niche market? If you work in a scuba diving business, does that make you a Dive Industry Professional?  What qualifies a person to be a Dive Industry Professional?  In the scuba diving market, who are the buyers and who are the sellers?  Who are Trade Professionals and who are consumers?  Who runs the diving industry?

If you are looking for answers to any of these questions, you’ve come to the right place.  No, this is not a Pandora’s Box or a Trojan Horse trick, although it may seem like that to some.  It may in fact be a clear pathway to a growing and harmonious industry.  If our industry is going to attract the best and the brightest people to fill our employment vacancies, we need to spell out the opportunities, benefits, and compensation potential for choosing the diving industry as a career path.

What Diving Is: As we said in this month’s editorial, diving is an underwater activity.  It is performed with or without diving equipment.  It includes snorkeling, free diving, scuba diving (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus), and surface supplied diving.  It also includes diving-related underwater activities like mermaid diving.  All types of diving can be used as an end in itself to just to go underwater and explore, but most of the time it is used as a means to do something underwater.  It has taken the recreational diving community 70 years to figure out that diving is merely a means to an end.  That’s why you can’t have a career in diving.  You can have a career as a diver or a career in the diving industry, but you first have to specialize in an end use activity or profession first.

How Diving Is Organized: Diving can be different things to different people.  In fact, many specialty groups and niche markets have been created based on the different applications and uses of diving equipment, training, travel, and lifestyle products.  Diving starts out as an activity or an experience, then proceeds to a recreation, hobby, or lifestyle.  For many, it can turn into a job, collateral duty, profession, or career.  Dive Industry Planners have come to an agreement that the term “Divers” can be classified into two distinct categories: Recreational Divers and Trade Professionals.

Diving as a Recreation: Snorkeling, Freediving, and Scuba Diving are great in a recreational setting.  It’s a social activity that can be done in lakes, rivers, quarries, and the oceans all across the planet.  When coupled with other activities like underwater photography, marine and oceanographic research, cave diving, wreck diving, environmental studies, spearfishing, mermaid diving, and dive travel, it can turn into a life-long hobby.  All certified divers and diving-related participants make up a large portion of what we call the Global Diving Community.

Diving as a Trade Profession: Divers who use their diving skills to earn money are considered Dive Industry Trade Professionals.  We made this category all-inclusive because we treat all divers who are engaged in business as Trade Professionals.  Once a person starts making money from their hobby, they have to declare their income to the federal government (in the United States).  If they work for a business that specializes in diving and they own their own business that involves the sale of diving programs, products, or services, we can classify them as Dive Industry Professionals who are working in the Global Diving Business Network.

The Global Diving Business Network is a term we coined to categorize businesses that produce or sell diving and diving related programs, products, and services.  The businesses in the Network come from many different industries, listed in the United States NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) Codes Manual.  We study the businesses within these industries that produce diving equipment, diving services, dive training, dive travel, and diving lifestyle products and sell them in our niche market.  The Global Diving Business Network is the center of what we call the Diving Industry.

The Diving Industry: Businesses in the Global Diving Business Network produce the programs, products, and services that are sold to divers in the Global Diving Community.  It is our mission as a Trade Association to know who the buyers and sellers of diving equipment, training, travel, and lifestyle products are, so that we could facilitate trade between them.  Hence, the definition and purpose of a Trade Association.

The Bridge Connecting Buyers and Sellers: Identifying buyers and sellers of specific programs, products, and services is paramount to being financially successful in the marketplace, but there is so much more to it than that.  The marketing profession was created for two main purposes to facilitate commerce between buyers and sellers.  To bring buyers and sellers together, you must first build a marketplace.  A marketplace is where buyers and sellers come together to transact business.  There are many examples of marketplaces, especially in the 21st century.  A marketplace could be a brick-and-mortar store, a mall, a field, a trade show, a mail order catalog, or an online website.  A marketplace is wherever products can be bought and sold.

Once a marketplace has been established, it is marketing’s responsibility to inform potential customers about the products being sold and how to go about acquiring them.  If you think of Marketing as a bridge that connects buyers and sellers, you can visualize numerous marketing vehicles crossing that bridge to carry messages about the products that producers build to the intended buyers that purchase them.  All of the foundational effort that goes into building a marketplace and servicing a market is what makes up the Diving Industry.  This is the critical role that Marketing Professionals play in the industry.  The ongoing buying and selling process of diving and diving related products is more than a four-day event.  It is a year-round activity, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day.  It is global in nature and utilizes multiple seasonal curves.  It is an ongoing annual process orchestrated from a playbook that Professional Dive Industry Planners have created for their clients.  Do you see the importance of researching, analyzing, and creating a master plan for the creation, growth, and management of a unified diving industry now?  That bridge we built to connect buyers and sellers cannot only be open four days a year.  It has to be functional and operational at optimal performance all year round.

An Industry Master Marketing Plan: The Dive Industry Foundation has a Vision and a Master Marketing Plan for the Diving Industry.  If you follow our blogs and business articles on DIVE LOCAL you will see what we have been putting together for the past eight years.  The Dive Industry Association is the industry marketing consulting company that uses this master plan to bring buyers and sellers together, all year round.  They work with their members to increase exposure, establish brand recognition, and increase sales to more potential buyers. They help them increase their market penetration by using modern marketing tools and techniques, which is a prerequisite to increasing market share.  Every legitimate diving industry business should be an active member of the Global Diving Business Network.

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

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