By Uche Usim
AS the Federal Government battles to solve the unemployment imbroglio, maritime experts have said thousands of Nigerian youths can be gainfully employed in boat building industry by seeking ways to establish a boat building company.
Ship building is a very lucrative business because water transport is becoming more popular in Nigeria, thus raising demand for boats. More so, oil servicing companies are the traditional users of boats. They are also used by fishermen.
Below are the tips to start the business:
Choice of boats to manufacture
There are ships, speed boats, yatch, liner boats and many other types of boats; you have to make a choice of which you wish to specialize in. Also, you need to make a choice of the materials you will need for your productions. For instance, you can choose to major on two sitter boats and wood as the major material for production.
Source of capital
Starting a boat manufacturing business requires a lot of capital investment to get it up and started. You can get other partners to pool in capital to start the company. But be sure to state a clear memorandum of each partner’s contribution towards the growth of the business, and financial investment, and percentage of profit each partner is entitled to.
Take a business course
If you haven’t started and successfully grown a company before now, then you need to take major business courses before you start your company. Some basic business related courses you can take include; project management, sustainability in business, business management and many others.
Ascertain the cost and profitability of the business
This is one major reason many boat manufacturing companies went under because they didn’t take the time to calculate the cost and profitability of the business before they got started. So, draw up a rough plan of how much it will take you to build a boat, and an estimate of the selling price.
Develop your business plan
After you calculate your profitability and cost of production, it is time to draw a business plan. The business plan should contain the plan you have for your business for the next few years and steps you need to take to make it happen.
Register your company as a legal entity
You can’t run your business without getting it registered since you are planning to start productions in commercial quantity. Find out the basic requirements for incorporating a business in your state and get your business registered. Also, you may also need to get some license to permit you operate your boat business in your location.
Build your first boat and check
You have to build a sample of the boat your company is to manufacture; and through out the process, have a journal where you record every single cost and expenditure you made during the building stage. After you are done check the selling price or how much customers are willing to offer for the boat; subtract it from the cost investment you made for production, then you will get the amount that will be your potential profit. If at the end, your selling price is lower than your cost price of your production, then something is really wrong somewhere and you have to figure out a solution for it even before you make your next production. It is either you find a place to source for raw materials at a cheaper price or you have to find buyers that will be willing to pay for the boat at your stipulated selling prize. Build another batch for sale; it can be ten or twenty, to introduce your product into the market. The sales and profit you made from this first batch and the subsequent demand for the product will determine the number of how many more you will manufacture as your next batch. You can also expand your boat manufacturing company into taking custom boat building contracts from private individuals and companies; this is how most boat making companies make the bulk of their profits.
Advertisement
Your company is ready, your first batch of boats are ready; so it is time to get buyers to start placing their orders. You know that buying a boat is not for the average income earners, so you have to find a way to locate these top companies and high income earners who you know have what it takes to order for a boat and are willing to do so. Two ways to advertise your boat manufacturing company is to have an online presence. This is one of the best places to locate the right buyers. Most rich people prefer to search on search engines like Google to find high quality boat manufacturing companies anytime they have the need to order for a boat. Your best shot in getting their attention is to create a website that will contain an online catalogue of the boats you have in stock, with a payment system and instruction on how customers can order for a custom made boat if possible. If you can add a sub forum with threads for boat owners and users, I think you will catch a lot of attention for your boat manufacturing company.
- Source: Mytopbusinessideas