“It’s just like prostitution!” a good friend said to me a while ago. I was having a conversation with an old friend about the diving industry. We started talking about why we dive. The conversation soon went south.
Have you ever asked yourself why you dive? Many people respond with a variety of answers. Some range from interacting with the aquatic world to the challenge of advanced level diving. All of this is fine, for the casual diver. However, many people really never get why diving is a great activity. There really is only a tiny percentage of divers who feel that the activity of diving has taken on a new meaning in our lives. Diving has given me some of the greatest experiences of my life, next to my family of course. These experiences have given me a larger meaning in my life. That is, I respect the sport of diving and strive to enhance the diving experience for others. That respect has changed how I view the sport, how I teach diving, how I interact with other divers and how I do business with dive stores and others in the industry.
The sad fact is that there are many, many people out there who view the activity of diving as a way to make money only. How do I know this? What data do I have to backup my claim? Well, I worked for a Fortune 500 company. One of my roles was in competitive intelligence. I had access to market research for a wide range of industries, including the scuba industry. I also analyzed the scuba industry for my final project when completing my MBA. So when I say that profits were placed as a top priority of dive industry members, there is significant data to back that up. These people have chosen to sell out to the industry rather than focus on what’s really important. The diving.
There’s nothing wrong with being in the diving business. Businesses, after all, are for profit organizations and should be allowed to make a profit. However, they should be doing it by placing a high emphasis on diving and not on maximizing profits. You see it all the time. Just look on the internet message boards. There are a bunch of dive shops on-line, that as soon as they get a new product in stock, they advertise it on the internet as the greatest thing ever. But they have not clue what the pros/cons are of that particular product. It’s all about sell, sell, sell and getting you to spend your hard earned money. The ironic thing is that 99% of dive store owners THINK they are business people, even though they have no formal training in business practices, and try to act as experts in business matters. If they were such shrewd businessmen, they would realize that they don’t need to maximize profits by increasing their revenues (i.e. sell, sell, sell). As a person who has worked in a variety of roles in a large business, it is funny to watch these people fumble around. I can even predict their next move/mistake because I have seen it in other failing businesses. Take any class in small business and you will learn that over 75% of all small businesses fail after 5 years. By 10 years, that number jumps to 90%. This is primarily due to management shortcomings. Most of the dive stores who have lasted quite a while, have done so mostly by luck and not because they formally designed it that way.
Everything comes down to the dive. Diving has become a part of me, just like my kids. I would never sell out my kids, so why would I sell out diving? Has diving taken a higher meaning in your life? Have you changed how interact with other divers? If you are an instructor, has it changed what you teach and why you teach it? When I was going through my IDC, integrated into the it were ways to sell merchandise, dive travel, and more training. During my instructor course, the course director said that I shouldn’t do anything for free. Granted, people should be paid for their time and knowledge they give. However, some of the greatest experiences I’ve had as a diving instructor was when I was just mentoring a new diver. No class, no money changed hands and I didn’t have to sell out. It was about great discussions and diving experiences. This mentoring has kept them diving and enjoying our sport. If I had charged them for my time, I doubt they would still be diving. It’s not about how much money one makes or doing anything for money. It’s simply about diving.
Do you get why we dive?
Dive Safe,
Duane
Precision Diving
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