Focus on franchising for Boab Boat Hire

by Jeni Bone on 3 Mar 2009 With a winning franchising formula and its own fleet of custom-made boats, Boab Boat Hire is helping investors make a living out of a lifestyle.

Inspired by AVIS and Hertz, former rail employee (incident response worker), Anthony Gelfius took his own experiences trying to hire a boat and has made it a popular, profitable venture.

'I travelled Australia, always loved boats and fishing, but found there was no standard, uniform boat hire. There are all different operators with different boats – you couldn’t guarantee a standard boat.'

On his return to his Wollongong home, Gelfius decided to establish a boat hire company.
He carried out thorough market analysis via the Franchise Systems Group to determine the optimal approach for each territory, a business plan and market conditions.

Boab Boat Hire has a standard product for three uses: fishing, general boating and skiing. 'We have a Centre Cab at 6.5m; Bowrider at 5.5m and then the Estuary Fisher which comes in at 4.8m. The aim is that no matter where you go, you can rely on a standard boat.'

This system is convenient for people interested in short-term boat usage. 'You don’t have to tow your own boat, wash, clean or maintain them. We deliver boats to people within NSW and around Broome. They just turn up. All are equipped with GPS (we can track them from a laptop) and depth sounder, CD player, 27-meg radios, VHS radios, Garmin GPS/fishfinder and all use Honda four-stroke motors.'

So determined was Gelfius to offer a high quality product, Boab Boat Hire started its own boat manufacturing enterprise, Amara Boats, based at Wollongong, with plans drawn by a naval architect. 'They’ve been described as indestructible and over-engineered. They need to survive all conditions and they’re built to last a lifetime.'

Gelfius aims to have multiple operations in all states and increasingly, WA and Qld are expanding. 'In WA, some of the mines are closing and there are expected to be tough times ahead. Franchising is a great industry to get into.'

Times may be tough, but according to Gelfius, things are getting better in the franchising arena and Boab Boat Hire is enjoying increasing market share.

'People are putting buying a boat on hold, or they’re selling their boats and hiring. The Queensland market will be huge for us. We’re already on the Gold Coast and Hervey Bay, and then we have Cairns coming on in September-October. We expect Queensland to be one of the biggest markets for us.'

Gelfius says the company is 'targeting key areas now' and he predicts it will 'snowball' throughout 2009.

'We’ve had 180 franchise enquiries in the last couple of months and we’re working through them now. Things have never been better. We have strategic and aggressive business plan in place to help us survive and we have experienced the best figures in four years in recent months.'

Branding and innovative product offering are Boab Boat Hire’s points of difference. 'Our boats are trailerable so people can take them around the place. People aren’t limited to their own boats. When they travel to a place, they and hire one.'

The boats aren’t standard tinnies either. The most impressive is priced at $90,000 and comes equipped with the latest and greatest technology, including a 150hp engine, while the smallest is 4.5m, with a 40hp Honda engine.

The offer is poised to diversify too. As Gelfius explains: 'We are also moving in to accommodation packages, so people can book holiday around our locations.'

All this will be able to be booked via Boab Boat Hire’s website or 1300 central booking system. 'Each franchise has its own section on the website and can supply its own details – bait, tackle, accommodation packages.'

The benefits for franchisees are numerous, as Gelfius explains: 'It’s all about lifestyle and career change. It’s not a massive cost to get into and it’s the type of business that doesn’t consume all your time. It’s a great industry.'


Some of the franchisee benefits:

• Boats are high quality, custom made
• Franchisees benefit from proven systems
• All systems provided, business plan, finance available for boats
• National group advertising and brand building results in national customer base which benefits each franchise
• There are 3 different levels of franchise available, depending on how many boats you have determines how much you pay into advertising pool
• Company chips in about 80% of marketing at this stage
• Regular franchisee conferences
• Success of franchises is selling more, word of mouth and results
• Impressive growth
• Central booking system for national enquiries, online as well so franchisees can keep an eye on them too
• Help with licensing – each state is different
• Continual support at start up and then when franchisee needs it.


For information about franchise packages, visit www.boabboathire.com.au