RETAILING The Giant Stride, Part 2: How We Took the Plunge into Dive Shop Ownership – by Michael Connors & Rachael Scott, Owners, American Dive Zone, Grand Rapids, MI
In 2024, we (Rachael and Michael) bought American Dive Zone in Grand Rapids, MI. Not inherited. Not franchised. Bought it.
dive gear: if you don’t look closely at every strap, buckle, and hose, you’ll miss the one thing that’s going to fail at 60 feet. A few notes for would-be buyers: If the seller can’t produce clean financials, that’s a red ▪ flag. If the vendor relationships are tied to the owner’s per- ▪ sonal handshake, you’ll need to introduce yourself quickly. If Google Reviews are ugly, you can fix it – but know ▪ it’s going to cost time and marketing muscle. The First 90 Days: Trial by Fire: We closed the deal right at the start of Michigan’s busy dive season. Rookie mis- take? Maybe. But in hindsight, it was the perfect stress test. The previous owner agreed to stay on for six months, which was a gift. He handed us decades of operational
It didn’t start with a broker or a “business for sale” website. It started with a cold email. We found the shop while researching local dive businesses, wrote to the owner, and asked “Are you ready to retire and pass the torch?” Starting a business from scratch is risky. You need to build a brand, find customers, earn supplier relationships, and train staff. All before you turn a profit. By buying a business, you get the whole operating machine from day one: the name, the goodwill, the instructors and service techs, the customer list, and the inventory. That’s a head start worth paying for.
knowledge – all of it stored in his head, none of it documented. We became ex- perts in “drinking from a firehose” while also trying to codify everything into systems. Here’s the thing: the former owner is still with us today as one of our top in- structors. He gets to do the fun part – teaching, without the headaches of run- ning a shop. That continuity is a win-
The Deal: We structured the acqui- sition as an asset purchase. Translation: we bought the stuff, not the company itself. That meant equipment, inven- tory, brand rights, and goodwill. The fi- nancing came together as a blend of a SBA loan, seller financing, and personal savings. If you’ve never applied for an SBA loan, imagine getting a scuba certifica-
win in any acquisition. The First Big Change: We left the name “American Dive Zone” intact – brand equity matters. But we did update the logo. It was a small change with a big psychological impact: it signaled to the community that something new was hap- pening without erasing the legacy. The Hardest Part: This is the curse of many owner-op- erated small businesses: nothing is written down. Every sup- plier order, every maintenance quirk, every seasonal promotion was in the old owner’s head. That works fine when you’re a one-person show. It’s chaos when you’re tak- ing over. The fix? Document everything. If you want to scale, or just take a vacation, you need an operations manual. The Best Part: Hands down, the community. The old owner built a loyal following of divers who
tion from a government agency where the checkout dive takes place in a mountain of paperwork. It’s not fun. But it’s often the most realistic path for acquiring a small business without exhausting all your personal savings. This gives you more flexibility to use your personal savings for store reno- vations and a cushion as you get your feet under you. Due Diligence: The Unsexy but Essential Part This is where most deals die – and where they should die if the numbers don’t work. We started with cash flow. A dive shop isn’t a Silicon Valley startup – you can’t run it at a loss and hope to “scale.” You have rent, payroll, insurance, and a constant need for inven- tory. We tore through tax returns, profit and loss statements, vendor relationships, customer reviews, and inventory counts. Doing due diligence on a dive shop is like inspecting your
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