Established Charter Business For Sale - $650,000 Charter Business For Sale

Well established Skippered Charter Business For Sale in Sydney harbor! Ready to step on and continue operations. The business includes an immaculate Beneteau Oceanis 40, as well as ongoing bookings for 2016-2017. Mooring, license, data, EVERYTHING is included.

The owner is retiring after 21 years and is passing on two decades worth of clientele building, valuable network (including rights to pick up at restricted locations in Sydney Harbor), a million industry tips and of course plenty of time offered to spend with you to make sure that you are comfortable and safe running the business on you own.

This story probably sounds extremely familiar... long lines of traffic every morning and every evening, possibly squinting against the sun each way (sadly a fact for hundreds of thousands living out west and working in the city), long hours under the pump with busy jobs, and careers that take over every hours of the day, but end up increasingly feeling like life is passing by nonsensically, kids  growing into adults whose wedding speech you are finding hard to write (well yes, you were not really there when they were growing up).

This may sound brutal, but this is exactly what this yacht owner's thought process was, as he drove each day on his way to and from an office and left his young family behind..until one day it simply became too much. He came home to tell his wife that he had quit his high powered job, and that he was buying a boat to take people sailing on the Harbor. This may sound like any wife's worst nightmare, but this was not a fickle or desperate plan. (As you may soon see for yourself, this boat owner is not at all the type who recklessly throws a regular income and career away without doing some serious and careful thoughts before hand). He had correctly recognized a need in the tourism market, a real 'niche' that was screaming to be addressed, and he was right. He had spent plenty of time doing the research, working out a budget to get things started, and of course approached key people in the tourism industry that could guarantee clients from day one as well as become a spring board for other bookings.

As it turned out, it did not take long for the owner to have his whole season booked ahead and not have to worry about keeping books open, turning people away when double booked, etc. As our owner did not wish to become once again a working horse and stop enjoying what he did, he concentrated on quality instead of quality, and on offering a unique product with a simple formula, that never failed to guaranty an amazing time for customers, while at the same time remaining stress free for himself.

Looking at 'Emma Mei' gliding off her mooring with a happy little group of guests and a smiling, confident skipper, one may admire the ease and work-ability of the enterprise, but anyone who has tried will tell you how hard it is to get a charter business going in the first place. Once it is running, it is fantastic, but getting there can mean sweat and tears. This is not because of a lack of demand, this in fact is the easy part. It is because of the difficulty of obtaining a commercial survey to enable you to take paying passengers on the water, even in relatively safe waters such as Sydney Harbor. With production boats, the job is a little easier, but it still means months of work, as well as of course a very expensive exercise. This is what makes 'Emma Mei' such an attractive proposition. The boat, the license and the clientele is included. The website, the menus, even the phone numbers, EVERYTHING is ready to change hands and give you a running start. Simply come to work with the owner/skipper for a little while and learn the rope if needed. In almost two decades working in this industry ourselves, we can certainly say that it is rare to find a business for sale in such turn-key condition.

Of course, thousands of little wrinkles had to be ironed, and logistics improved overt time. Little by little, this patient and charming charter host fine tuned the whole enterprise into a beautifully oiled mechanic, where a typical day's work is wandering down to his very exclusive mooring, row over to his boat, start the motor and cruise over to pick up his guests for the day, who have previously been dropped off by a chauffeur. Lunch is in the fridge, drinks on ice, and plump pillows ready for a small group of amazed tourist (never more than 8), who will spend the next few hours gliding peacefully around our Harbor's amazing landmarks.

Sitting in Emma Mei's beautifully maintained saloon, we leafed through hundreds of pages of happy and grateful notes from guests from all around the world. In fact, some of them, who visited over a decade ago while on honeymoon, back when 'Emma Mei' was a different boat, have since returned with their children.

While others still sit in stuffy offices for hours every day, this lovely skipper chats with relaxed visitors in the sun, and shares his passion for this beautiful city, of which he has learned so much during the past 21 years cruising around her multitude of nooks and crannies.

'Emma Mei' works a few hours a day during the summer and not at all during the winter, when her owner goes traveling, relaxes, and lets professional treat 'Emma Mei' to a beauty and maintenance program. Even with such an easy routine and lifestyle focusing on the owner's not falling back into the trappings of his previous busy life, the business effortlessly provides a generous income (in fact, enough to make you think twice about staying one minute longer in your current job.)

For someone with an industrious eye to business, there is plenty of growth opportunity too.

Now for the boat: 'Emma Mei, a Beneteau Oceanis 40, was chosen as 'the perfect boat for this business' in 2010, after two decades of taking people out on the water had honed to perfection what the owner wanted in a boat that would tick all the boxes for this type of use. Before 'Emma Mei' other boats had obviously been used, but each had some draw back. For example, a single wheel meant more difficult traffic in the cockpit, and less visibility (people move about on boats, and often forget that they are not transparent for the skipper who is forever trying to look past them), or the fridge capacity was too small, or the food preparation area too narrow. (On board 'Emma Mei', the food is delivered on platters and not cooked on board. Nevertheless there must be enough room in the galley to set them down safely or fine tune the presentation). On other boats, the toilet was too far forward, or the motor to noisy, or the cockpit too small, or the side deck access to scary for people who (as for many of them) had never been on a boat before. Another fantastic asset is the side deck access and deck height, which is perfect for picking up guests from the jetty, while the transom is perfectly designed for easy boarding from the dinghy or climbing back after a swim.

With her clean lines and immaculate decks and interior, this Beneteau Oceanis 40 feels 'big' without being too big (past 40 foot the skipper can no longer operate with a coxswain but must hold a Master 5 license), and feels luxurious without being ostentatious. No matter the background or nationality of the guests, everyone finds her unanimously beautiful and comfortable. As only small groups, and only daytime visitors come on board 'Emma Mei', and as she is always driven by the owner / skipper, she has always been respected and given the care she deserves. Unlike other charter boats, who unfortunately show their age quite quickly after starting operation, this beautiful yacht does not have a single blemish to testify of the number of happy guests she has entertained. Her beds have never been slept on, her beautiful varnished saloon table is not scratched or faded, and everywhere you look is basically in boat show condition. The boat has also just been antifouled and polished, as well as having had her full maintenance schedule done, so there is nothing to spend at all to keep her gracing the harbor all summer.

For more information or to arrange for an inspection, please contact at Anna at any time. It will be a pleasure to tell you more about this fantastic business and life changing opportunity!