Captain's Blog

How to start a boat rental business with Docklyne!

10 months ago


How to start a boat rental business with Docklyne?

You want to spend your time by the water, spreading the joy of boating with as many people as possible but you are unsure where to begin? If this is your dream as a business owner, you are in the right place! Docklyne has a tailored solution for you regardless of your fleet size.

I have owned a boat rental business for many years. Running it involves managing logistics, maintenance, and communication every day. You have multiple daily renters who share particular needs that need to be met by a fleet of operational vessels daily.

It pushes you, and you must have a "let's do it again tomorrow" mentality. It sounds easy on paper, but it's a lot of work.

That shouldn’t stop you — I’m here to show you why if your dream is to start a boat rental business, we can help you make it a reality! Your business plan only needs two words: “Contact Docklyne.”

Our team at Docklyne has a combined 40 years of boat rental experience. We have worked on software for boat rental operators for years. We removed any obstacles to a successful boat rental company launch. Docklyne is an adaptable SaaS boat booking ecosystem built by boat rental operators, for boat rental operators. Whether you want to start a boat rental business in Florida, or Wisconsin. We are here for you.

We are striving to be leaders in the boat rental industry. All you need is to contact Docklyne and we can help you get from the starting line to profitable in no time flat!

We streamlined the Docklyne ecosystem for boat rental businesses, fishing charter businesses, and charter boat businesses. We can even help ferry businesses!

If it floats and rents, we are your solution.

Let's start with your checklist. You need:

Let's look at how Docklyne can help you with each of these:

Location: 

While we know you have an idea where you want to start a boat rental operation, we can tell you where renters are looking. We can share location-based internet traffic information utilizing our leading-edge SEO tools. Provide a list of locations, and we will share Google search analyses for each location. This will let you know the best location where the renters can most easily find your business quickly. 

We want to help you start a boat rental business in the best spot!

Website:

Docklyne does business with preferred vendors that can help you build the website of your dreams. For a lower cost, we can provide you with a templated website to get you live as fast as possible. We will set your website up with the Docklyne booking engine to power your reservations. 

Our team also offers SEO guidance to determine the best content for each page to improve your Google ranking. Keywords on a website matter for getting organic customers! We will provide the best words! We can even design you a logo!

We help with all website needs for new boat rental businesses.

Your Fleet:

Docklyne partnered with a major boat rental manufacturer to provide rental pontoons and financing options for boat rental operations. We worked with the manufacturer to design a vessel with all the rugged details to make a perfect boat rental vessel. We will get you a great deal on the perfect vessel to handle the day-to-day wear and tear of a rental boat.

We want to help you get boats to run your business.

Add-Ons:

Your business should offer more than just boat rentals. You can easily create another revenue stream by renting coolers with ice, or a tube for watersports. We can let you know what add-ons your competition offers and at what price.

We will help you expand your revenue streams!

Insurance:

In 2024, every business idea requires insurance. Depending on your state of operation, it might be mandatory. Docklyne partnered with an industry-leading boat rental insurance company to provide per-rental insurance for your business. Every time your potential renter checks out, they will have the option to choose rental insurance.

That protects you and the renter! Your vessels can be insured every time they go out on the water!

We will help you to be protected!

Pricing:

Dockllyne utilizes leading-edge AI technology to create a pricing tool. The tool investigates local boat rental markets to provide you with competitive pricing. To ensure you launch with competitive pricing to fit into any segment of the local market!

We want your business to be competitive!

Booking Software:

This is our bread and butter.

We have finished suffering with the existing booking software. That's why we made our own to make boat rental operations easier.

We’ve already mentioned that we can power your website but we go further. We have a color-coded calendar that can organize the reservations of a fleet as large as you can imagine! Our messaging platform means you can meet the customer service needs of all your potential customers.

Docklyne software includes a security deposit feature. We charge the renter a set amount the day before the rental begins. You can then use the money to charge the renter for items such as gas, cleaning fees, or for damage to the vessel. We want to protect your pockets.

We want you to easily manage as many bookings as possible!

Payment Processing:

Docklyne utilizes Stripe, a best-in-class payment processor, to process all our payments.

Payments are never late. Stripe AI protects your business from potentially fraudulent customers. Easily manage dispute resolution. Stripe also issues 1099's to make your tax season easy.

Your customers will receive an optimized checkout process. All parts of a successful payment ecosystem.

We want you to be effectively paid in a timely fashion.

Mobile App:

Many Docklye competitors do not have a mobile app. As boat rental operators, we know we run our business from the dock on the go. We do not always have access to computers. We built all the features and functionality of our platform into a mobile app.

The boat rental business requires mobility, we give you that. We have a mobile app on iOS and Android so you can run your business from anywhere in the world. Our app also includes a Check-In and Check-Out feature that allows you to take before and after photos of every rental. The Docklyne app documents everything to ensure your renters pay for damage and to protect yourself from disputes.

We want you to run your business on the go!

Waivers:

Our waiver ensures your renters agree to your liability conditions and uphold your business licenses. Every time a customer pays to rent a vessel from your boat rental operation, Docklyne automatically sends them your waiver to be signed. You can monitor whether the renter has signed the waiver on our web app, or the mobile app. We are constantly ensuring that you fleet is safe every time you put a vessel out!

We want to protect you from liability!

GPS to track vessels:

Our mobile app includes the only built in GPS monitoring.

Marketing:

It may sound difficult to develop a marketing strategy to launch a business with boat rental services. Docklyne includes a suite of marketing and advertising tools to ensure you are never short of customers. Provide us with a local target and we can put advertising for your brand across all channels of the web.

We want you to hit your target audience, and reach as many customers as you want!

Mentorship:

As we said, Docklyne is built by boat rental operators, for boat rental operators. We have over 40 years of experience renting boats across our team. We would be happy to walk you through the ins and outs of running a profitable business.

We want to teach you how to succeed.

Marketplace:

Docklyne is the first company to build a marketplace for professional boat rental businesses. Customers are used to one-stop shopping for price comparison and availability. We bring that experience to boat rental operations. This provides the added benefit of increasing your visibility as your business is live on our marketplace as well as your website.

We want to make your business part of the boat rental revolution!

Testimonial

Gone2Sea - St Augustine, Florida - Founded in 2023 and Launched Utilizing Docklyne Software

Docklyne: