As I mentioned in the home page of this website, a lot of people are under the impression that CV Yachting is the Uber or Airbnb service for yachts. When people say this, we are flattered. It really is quite a compliment because Airbnb and Uber are not exactly cheap, run-of-the-mill services that people run out of their garages. These are multibillion-dollar organizations that straddle the whole globe. That's how pervasive Uber and Airbnb have become.
With that said, does it make sense to apply that same shared-economy model to a range of vehicles as well as living spaces? Well, the answer that first comes to mind is a solid maybe.
You have to understand that a business model must take into consideration the logistical peculiarities of the premises or the assets it is sharing. It also has to recognize the different sets of traditions as well as assumptions and expectations surrounding that particular item; otherwise, it’s just going to fall flat on its face.
Take the case of helicopter rentals. Did you know that there is an app that you can load onto your mobile device and use it to hail a helicopter? No joke. In fact, if you heard of Uber’s helicopter service, this is actually a late-breaking development. This is a recent addition to the wide range of services Uber offers.
Other specialized companies have beat Uber to the punch.
Sadly, you don't hear about them because of the peculiarities, traditions and customs that I have mentioned above. There is only really a narrow range of vehicles or assets that Uber or Airbnb model can work with.
It would be nice to think that this model can pretty much apply across the board, but we’re basically just fooling ourselves into thinking that. You still have to pay attention to people's expectations. You still have to take stock of the fact that people have grown accustomed to a series of assumptions and expectations regarding what you can and cannot do with your property.
This might seem pretty arbitrary. This might even seem backward but it is still a key part of business reality.
This is why it's still kind of up in the air whether our application of the shared-economy framework to yachts is an outright success. Still, as far as the things that we have seen and the deals that we have concluded, we are feeling optimistic.
Why?
Well, we cater to a supply pool of people who know how markets work. Let’s put it this way, if you know enough about business or income generation to put together over 1 million bucks to buy a yacht you probably know a thing or two about asset maintenance. As mentioned above, maintaining a yacht can be costly. However, if you rent out your asset, it will end up paying for its own maintenance and maybe even more. That’s how the truly rich play the game. Let’s get one thing clear-they definitely don’t play the game to lose. That much is for sure. Given the fact that there are so many of these individuals throughout the world, we are optimistic about our business model.