This post aims to provide some key success factors for a small boat wrapping company, i.e. the question we’re trying to answer is – what does the company’s success hinge on?

First, let’s try and see the type of business we’re dealing with. A boat wrapping company, such as, www.midcoast-customs.com , essentially, would be a small, fragmented, service business. Fragmented because companies such as this, would usually serve a particular region, and there could be multiple such businesses in a region. A certain business may or may not be able to dominate. And needless to say, the business provides a service, which is wrapping a boat.

Before going further, it’s worth taking a minute to understand the simple concept of business strategy, as proposed by Michael Porter, a renowned management author. He claimed that any business has 3 routes to success. The first is Cost Leadership, which is basically cutting down costs and providing a no-frills, simple commodity like product/service at a high volume. The second, and the one of key interest to us, is Differentiation, which means that you differentiate your product/service on the basis of exceptional quality, branding, customer service, etc. The third would be Focus, where you focus specifically on a target market.

We argue that for the given situation, we should go with Differentiation, and compete on Quality and Customer Service. Why, you ask?

Quality – The customers for the boat wrapping company will no doubt want the wrap to remain on for several years, or at least for the next several months (maybe if they’re into advertising something). They would also want to ensure that their boat will be handled by professionals, and it won’t get damaged in the process of applying or removing the wrap. Also, the designs and colors they want should be doable. In other words, this process is a one-time investment, and not a commodity where a shoddy job will do. Therefore, the entire process of dealing with the customer and applying the vinyl wrap, removing it, providing any assistance needed, is really important.

Customer Service – Good customer service, along with quality, of course, is one of the things which can ensure repeat business. This means that the customer should have a seamless and speedy experience throughout the entire process. The customer should be kept informed about the potential costs and risks and should be given assistance in the form of auxiliary services (e.g. repairs). Essentially, you want to provide the customer a lot of convenience.

Speed – Although this is not at all something the business should compete on, it is just that as a part of customer service, the turnaround time should be kept as short as possible, but never to the point where it compromises on quality.

Notice that we do not think about Costs as a big factor here. This is because when one is making an investment of sorts, the costs can easily be overlooked provided the quality and service levels are high.

Now that we have a fair idea of the key success factors, let’s briefly look at what they translate into for the company.

Value Added Services – A customer is usually interested in a solution, as opposed to just the product/service that a business delivers. For e.g., in our case, a customer wants their boat wrapped regardless of how dirty or damaged their boat’s surface is in the first place, which affects the quality of the wrap as well. So, as an example, the boat wrap company could provide basic cleaning and repair services to the boat which will help in wrapping too.

People & Tools – Naturally, top notch quality and customer service is a direct function of the people and tools used to do the job. Which means that our company will have to invest in hiring the right people, and in putting the right technology and tools in place for the job. For example, if there is high quality software available which makes the designing the wraps easier, the company should seriously consider using it.

Business Processes – The idea should be to standardize the macro processes as much as possible, so as to ensure a smooth and quick service delivery.

So in essence, to succeed, the boat wrapping company should ensure they exceed, or at least meet, quality and customer service expectations.