Fix Your Financials
No matter what your financial performance is so far this year, chances are it didn’t quite match your budget. There may have been lackluster sales in areas you expected to be stable or even growth where you anticipated decline. Regardless of your unique situation, it’s time to assess how to adapt your approach to maximize your outcomes throughout the rest of the year and prepare for 2025. Gain new information and tools to assess your business and your market, adjust to what’s changing, and align your team and cash flow plan to meet customer and industry demands.
MRAA DATA
Survey: Fix Your Financials
Learn about some of critical strategies your dealership peers are implementing to improve their financial well being. Marine retailers recently participated in the MRAA/Baird/Soundings Trade Only Pulse Report survey, sharing what’s working, what’s not and their thoughts on key focus areas for improvement heading into the end of 2024, as well actions they’ve taken to steady themselves.
Members Only:
Not a Member? Learn more about MRAA Membership!
BLOG
How Your Dealership Can Stop Competing on Price
Times are tough. It’s tempting to compete on price so your team can move as many boats as possible, but it’s not the best strategy. You need a better message than “buy from our dealership because we’re cheaper than the other guys.” Even if you are cheaper than the other guys! Dealer Week 2024 educator Danny Decker shares tips to help your team outperform the competition.
BLOG
7 Steps to Take to Conserve Cash
Maintaining sufficient cash on hand during an economic slump is crucial for a healthy dealership. Leading dealerships balance revenue growth with cash conservation methods when revenue falls short. Implementing these strategies can stabilize and sustain your business.
BLOG
Drive Up Your Service Revenue (Now & In the Coming Year)
Taking initiative and making strategic moves can improve your service department today and in the coming months and can help increase revenue, helping to enhance your business as a whole. Bernie DeGraw, MRAA Senior Education Developer, shares a two-part blog with best practices and advice for greater success.
BLOG
Year-Round Strategies for Marine Dealership Financial Planning
To help build resilience in the face of unpredictability, marine dealership owners can consider adopting adaptive forecasting and flexible planning. A blog by Victor Rivera, Chief Sales Officer, Huntington Distribution Finance (an MRAA Education Champion) offers strategies to enhance financial planning.
COLUMN
It’s Time to Adjust the Value Proposition
“Down cycles in the boat market aren’t just about being financially responsible. They’re also about thinking creatively about how to deliver value to customers. When you can meet the customers where they’re at, your ability to stay strong in an underwhelming marketplace greatly increases.”
Matt Gruhn, MRAA President, shares some proven ways to stabilize and strengthen your dealership in a down market in his recent Soundings Trade Only column.
“There is power in knowing where you stand financially, because only then can you map your financial future.” — Jim Rohn, “5 Money Principles You Need to Know.”
A Guide to ABC Scenario Planning
Running a marine dealership in a soft market and indecisive consumers is challenging. Just when you feel dialed in, you’re faced with market changes and more uncertainty ahead. So how do you confidently forge ahead?
Forecasting and scenario planning can significantly impact your dealership’s success, helping you adjust to future changes. Preparing your team for various scenarios based on your objectives can reduce doubt and boost confidence. The MRAA, in partnership with The Rawls Group and Kendall Rawls, has created a scenario planning guide to help you adapt to the changing environment.
Members ONLY:
Not a Member? Learn more about MRAA Membership!
Time for a Mid-Season Checkup
It’s better to be proactive in your approach rather than reactive. How confident are you about the rest of this year? How about 2025?
We understand that in the middle of a busy season, the last thing you want to do is sit in your office analyzing business plans and adjusting to current market conditions. However, experienced dealers know the value of taking time to review key business metrics during peak season. That’s because the commitment you make now will benefit you now and into 2025!
By being proactive now, you can avoid being reactive in December. Mid-season inspections of your key operations and profit centers are essential for assessing your business, inventory and future planning.
Members ONLY:
Not a Member? Learn more about MRAA Membership!
GUIDE
The Guide to Navigating 2024
Chapter 3 (Knowing Your Numbers), Chapter 4 (Managing Inventory) and Chapter 5 (Making Sense of Your Dollars) can help your dealership gain better financial traction. These topics include tips and best practices for managing inventory, boosting sales, reducing costs, managing cash flow and understanding the KPIs of a profitable dealership.
To help guide your dealership through the contents of the MRAA Guide to Navigating 2024, a resource designed to help you successfully navigate this year and beyond, we’ve built a dedicated web portal. MRAA Members have direct access to the entire guide to capture strategies and best practices that will help them become more financially sound.
Members ONLY:
Not a Member? Get a preview of the Guide to Navigating 2024, here.
“Many dealers take a very aggressive approach to getting rid of non-current inventory by pricing their non-currents right up front at cost or near cost amount. The approach of leading with price turns your boat into a commodity where price is the primary point of consideration. This approach also costs the dealer too much money, in my opinion.” — excerpt from an interview with David Parker, Parker Business Planning.
RESOURCE
One-Page Budget Spreadsheet
Sometimes it seems you don’t have enough time in the day to focus on a creating a structured budgeting process or go beyond only your top-line expenses. To improve financial management, use the Sample Budget Worksheet from Parker Business Planning (David Parker) to analyze department-level finances and enhance business management.
RESOURCE
Net Cash Condition Worksheet
During slower periods, you want maintain your net profitability, but cash flow is crucial for your business. Use the Sample Net Cash Condition worksheet from Parker Business Planning’s David Parker has provided this Sample Net Cash Condition worksheet to help you track your cash flow status.
EDUCATION & TRAINING
Dealer Week 2024 – Outperform!
With marine retail sales down and business costs up, many dealers have a pessimistic view of the future. But not you! As an industry leader, you face the economic headwinds with confidence because you see opportunities in a soft market. By right-sizing your business, refining processes and making strategic investments, you can grow market share and strengthen your dealership.
Key Dealer Week 2024 Courses to help you reposition your efforts, focus and finances:
- Leadership Pathway: “Is It the Market or Me? Sort Fact from Fiction in a Tough Environment” with Pat Kennedy
- Leadership Pathway: “The Name of the Game is Revenue Diversification” with Max Materne & Sam Dantzler
- Leadership Pathway: “Lead Your Team by Uniting Them Around a Common Goal” with Jordon Schoolmeester
- Leadership Pathway: “Protect Your Dealership from the Growing Cyber Security Threat” with Robert Siciliano
- Leadership Pathway: “Create Great Culture in Tough Times” with Dave Newell
- Service & Parts Pathway: “Grow Your Bottom Line by Mastering Offseason Scheduling” with Max Materne
- Sales & F&I Pathway: Drive Up Profits by Benchmarking Your F&I Performance with Dom Zappia
- Marketing Pathway: “Fix the Leaky Bucket: 3 Systems to Stop Missing Marketing Opportunities” with Danny Decker
Don’t miss your chance to OUTPERFORM the market, your competition and your expectations! Experience the wonder of Dealer Week 2024 firsthand, get in-person education Dec. 8-11 in Orlando, Fla.
“Cash flow needs should also be an important aspect of financial planning. With recent shifts in consumer spending and price increases it has become equally important to ensure budgets account for maintaining operations when busy seasons are slower than normal.” — excerpt from Blog by Huntington Distribution Finance, an MRAA Education Champion
EDUCATION:
(New!) Finance Course Package
Maximize your outcomes: Cash flow planning & financials
You face unique challenges with unpredictable market shifts affecting your dealership’s financial performance. Now is the time to reassess strategies to optimize outcomes for the rest of the year and prepare for 2025. Focus on diversifying your income streams by strengthening alternative revenue centers. Equip yourself with insights and tools to analyze market trends, adapt to changes and align your team and cash flow to meet the demands of your customers and the industry.
This new training package includes at least five courses and numerous resources to help you fix your financials.
Silver & Gold Members ONLY:
MRAA Bronze members can upgrade to gain access to courses? Email Director of Membership Sherri Cuvala.
Not an MRAA Member? Sign Up Here.
EDUCATION:
MRAA Ask the Expert: Find Hidden Cash
with Paula Crosbie
Revisit this MRAA Ask the Expert Webinar with educator Paula Crosbie of PCLM Business Solutions, that focuses on areas of your business that can get missed when times are good. She discusses overlooked metrics you should be tracking and how to get the most out of sales, parts, warranty claims, rebates, loyalty programs and more.
Silver & Gold Members ONLY:
Not a Silver Member? Learn more about Silver Membership!
EDUCATION:
MRAA Ask the Expert: How to Manage Cash Flow in a Crisis
with John Spader
As a business owner, it’s imperative that you proactively monitor your financials to understand if you’re profitable, have positive cash flow and enough cash on hand to adapt to the market. This webinar with subject matter expert John Spader of Spader Business Management contains evergreen best practices and real-world examples to help you understand profitability, cash flow and enhance your financial wellbeing.
Silver & Gold Members ONLY:
Not a Silver Member? Learn more about Silver Membership!
EDUCATION:
MRAATraining.com: Upselling in Service Course Package
with Industry Educators
The current market conditions are challenging, and your team is facing another seasonal change. To stay profitable, look beyond boat sales and include additional revenue streams like services, repairs, accessories and storage/winterization. This approach will boost customer satisfaction, create loyalty and increase your revenue.
This course bundle includes:
- Increase the Profit of What’s Already On Your Lift Package
- Guerrilla Marketing for Service
- Master the Write-Up
- Guide to Building a Service Menu
Silver & Gold Members ONLY:
Not a Silver Member? Learn more about Silver Membership!
