Entrepreneur Ideas
How to Start a Swimming Pool Dealers Business
We've collected some good advice that is perfect for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to open a swimming pool dealers business. Read this before you open up shop.
Thinking about opening a swimming pool dealers business? We tell you what you need to know to get started.
Product & Service Categories for Swimming Pool Dealerships
Swimming pool dealers occupy a unique niche at the intersection of the home improvement and leisure industries. Although swimming pools are primarily a luxury purchase, many homeowners treat them as necessities and are willing to transfer their loyalty to dealers that are willing to provide them with a full range of home leisure products and services.
It goes without saying that swimming pool dealers have to offer multiple models of name brand, above ground ("on ground" in industry jargon) and in-ground pools. However, the marketplace also expects swimming pool dealers to sell home spas, pool decks and other related products.
Even more, swimming pool dealers are required to be swimming pool installers. That means your startup will need to be equipped with delivery and installation equipment, and to maintain relationships with contractors for excavation and landscaping requirements.
Advertising Tips for Swimming Pool Dealer Startups
Unless your dealership is located in a year-round beach climate, your startup will be seasonal. Your entire year could come down to your ability to adequately promote your business during peak seasons. With that in mind, here are a few advertising tips you'll want to consider:
- Media Planning. The seasonal nature of a pool dealership makes the development of a media planning a critically important business activity. Start your planning process early and monitor it religiously to make sure your products and services receive the right amount of exposure in the right types of media at the right time of year.
- Social Media Advertising. Social media is a cost-effective to way to reach a large number of consumers in a short period of time. Better yet, advertising on Facebook and other sites allows you to target your advertising to specific geographic areas and types of consumers, theoretically delivering a higher ROI than many traditional forms of advertising.
- Industry Trends. Pool dealerships sometime make the mistake of ignoring industry trends when they design their advertising. Trade associations like the Association of Pool & Spa Professionals (APSP) keep their members informed about industry trends and developments - and you can bet your competitors will be featuring the latest products and trends in theirs ads this season.
How to Write a Top Quality Swimming Pool Dealers Company Business Plan
A business plan is the skeletal framework for your swimming pool dealers business's mission, goals and strategic vision.
In contemporary business culture, business plans are also litmus tests used by external interests to assess real world viability and marketability.
Early in the process, it's worth your time to learn how to write the market analysis section of a business plan. As you prepare the market analysis section, be careful to rely on substantiated market research rather than your hopes for your swimming pool dealers business.
Review Competitors
Well in advance of opening a swimming pool dealers business within your community, it's essential to find out how many competitors you have. We've provided the link below to help you get a list of local competitors in your city. After clicking on the link, type in your city, state and zip code to get a list of swimming pool dealers businesses near you.
Prior to opening your doors for business, be sure you fully understand the competitive landscape and where your new business will fit in.
Turning Competitors Into Collaborators
Once you've finished assessing the competion, it's a smart move to learn as much as you can from somebody who is already in the business. If you think your local competitors will give you advice, you're being overoptimistic. What's in it for them?
Thankfully, an owner of a a swimming pool dealers business outside of your community may be more than happy to give you a few tips, as long as they don't view you as a competitive threat. In fact, they are often very willing to share startup advice with you. If you are persistent, you can find a business mentor who is willing to help you out.
The key question new becomes: how to find a swimming pool dealers business founder in another city who you can speak with?
It's easy. Here's a link you can use to find a mentor outside of your area.
Getting Started in Swimming Pool Dealers Business Ownership
Would-be swimming pool dealers business business owners can either launch a new business or acquire an existing operation.
Startup swimming pool dealers businesses can be attractive because they allow the entrepreneur to have more control and greater influence. From a funding perspective, however, you may have a hard time finding lenders who are willing to take a chance on your swimming pool dealers business concept.
Acquired swimming pool dealers businesses are known quantities - and are less risky for lenders. On the whole, buying a business minimizes uncertainty as well as many of the objections lenders use to disqualify startup entrepreneurs from financing.
Is Franchising the Right Option?
If you want to minimize your chances of failing, you should evaluate going the franchising route.
As part of your process in starting a swimming pool dealers business, you would be wise to assess whether purchasing a franchise might be the right move for you.
The link below gives you access to our franchise directory so you can see if there's a franchise opportunity for you. You might even find something that points you in a completely different direction.
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