Skip to main content

It’s a given that the more services offered by a marina or marine business, the harder it is to manage. And the higher the taskbar is set to handle a wide range of services, it stands to reason that the need for a more automated system to manage these operations becomes necessary in order to increase efficiency.

Perhaps that’s why some smaller mom and pop establishments that have maybe one or two revenue streams like rentals and a small concession stand on the premises have no need to modernize their operations. The business is so basic that many find a spreadsheet is enough to do the task.

Marine businesses and marinas with a more complicated infrastructure would likely find that staying on top of rentals, concessions, service, parts , storage facilities and other amenities that draw a larger customer base would require a far greater juggling act. And while most of them would have a decent handle on how well their marina does seasonally, an increasingly unpredictable economy that throws off-kilter everything from fuels costs to changing consumer habits makes projections a wonky activity at best.

This is where the need to introduce marine industry specific management software solutions comes into play. This can eliminate all the hassles of using paper, spreadsheets or going between multiple software products. Avoid going back and forth between every revenue and cost center, making the entire business manageable from one primary window of a PC. That saves considerable time in chasing down missing forms or missing information to fill in forms, meaning it leaves more time for you to concentrate on the rudiments of running the marina.

Programs designed to simplify tasks 

While using marine management software and the upgrades that come with it to stay competitive in the marina industry might sound complicated and intimidating, one aspect of this state-of-the-art innovation is that the programs are easy to use. Imagine having a support and training team available to help when problems arise.

All that time-saving results in greater efficiency. And that extra time is literally money in the bank as it frees up a manager to work on how to increase sales, bolster services and generate more revenue. In short, more prudent use of that extra time to improve a marina’s bottom line underscores the return on investment on a comprehensive management software system.

Marinas with the latest upgrades in their marina software programs can keep pace with changing conditions in the market and cover almost every function that exists in such an operation. From automatically creating financial statements on every operation based on transactions already entered into the system to calculating those utility overhead costs. Avoiding an unnecessary paper chase to stay on top of the business is one of many ways to justify an investment in a topnotch system that will not only recover its costs, but will almost guarantee many happy returns down the road.

DockMaster Software is an industry leading management system for marinas, boatyards, and boat dealerships. DockMaster includes Unit Sales, Prospecting and F&I with fully integrated financial management and numerous integrations with CRM applications, dealer websites and text/messaging services. The Service module includes estimating, labor tracking, and complete parts management with ordering/receiving, subcontractor fulfillment and invoicing. DockMaster Mobile allows technicians to clock on/off jobs from any mobile device. Visual Marina™ management includes storage & billing, occupancy tracking, reservations and dry stack management, including integrations to leading consumer applications for boat rentals, online reservations, concierge/launch scheduling and our new Fuel Integration with FuelCloud. DockMaster also includes Point of Sale, Order Entry with eCommerce and a complete accounting system.  Learn more at www.DockMaster.com and follow DockMaster on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Or email info@dockmaster.com

Leave a Reply