BUSINESS EDU
Three Questions that can Strengthen Any Dive Business by Lee Rand , Special Advisor, Avelo Labs, & Partner, Cottonwood Tech. Fund, NM
S PEND ENOUGH TIME in a dive shop, and you quickly see that it is far more than a retail business. It is a classroom, a gathering place, a travel desk, an equipment service center, and often the front door to a lifelong relationship with the underwater world. The people running it are balancing inventory, instruction, insurance, compressors, seasonality, and life-support equipment, usually with a small team and very little room for er- ror. That complexity is what drew me in. I am a diver, an outdoors person, and a special advisor to Avelo Labs. I have also spent more than two decades in venture capital, which simply means helping fund and advise young companies that are trying to grow. The useful part of that experience is not the financial jargon. It is learning to ask a few clear questions
before committing time, money, and energy to an idea. Dive professionals already understand disciplined decision- making. Before a dive, we assess conditions, equipment, ex-
perience, and the plan. A business deserves the same care. At DEMA Show in New Or- leans this November, I will work through three questions that can help a shop owner evaluate where to focus, what to build, and which opportunities truly fit. I am not coming to tell the dive industry how to run a dive
Dive professionals already understand disciplined decision- making. A business deserves the same care.
business. I am coming to share a framework, listen to the people who live this work every day, and solve a realistic shop challenge together. Question 1: Who would miss your shop if it disap- peared? It is tempting to say a dive shop is for everyone who dives.
36 | SCUBA DIVING INDUSTRY
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