Winnipesaukee Lake Tours - For Sale!

fasttech · 09-30-2005, 05:52 PM

Has anyone heard the Winnipesaukee Taxi is up for sale? What a great opportunity and job for the summer on the lake. He always looked like he had a full boat when I passed him. Any ideas or thoughts on this?

Old Hubbard Rd · 09-30-2005, 07:49 PM

If it was real successful I think it would not be for sale!!

Kamper · 10-02-2005, 06:47 AM

(IMO)

Not neccessarrily. People sometimes start a business that seems exciting but after a few years the long hours get to them and they want to recover their investment capital and move on. Sometimes they have a new adventure in mind and othertimes they retire.

In this case my impression is that the former water-taxi was not as profitable as expected since they started with (I think) 3 boats and I've heard they've downsized to just 1 or 2 for the tours business. It's possible though that the operators simply had trouble finding enough licensed captains for 3 boats for all the shifts they wanted to cover. They may also be anticipating that fuel costs will reduce their margins for next season and they are getting out of the market to avoid future risk.

If someone is buying an existing enterprise, it is a good idea to request the financial information first, expect to sign a confidentiality agreement. Sometimes it is better to buy the company's assets including the name and trademarks to make sure you dont get hit with liability for any debts or liabilities that havent't been filed prior to sale.

I expect there is a niche on the lake for this kind of business but probably not enough to provide a large "year 'round" income. If you have other seasonal enterprises the water business could be a valuable addition to your portfolio

Rattlesnake Gal · 10-24-2005, 10:34 AM

Winnipesaukee Lake Tours is up for sale!
See the Classified section under Business For Sale in The Weirs Times!

(The actual newspaper.)

Captain RG?

I wonder why they are selling?

ITD · 10-24-2005, 05:52 PM

I saw it in the Winnipesauke.com classifieds also. I wonder how much?

NHKathy · 10-24-2005, 06:48 PM

My husband and I just went on this fantastic tour in July for the first time! I was really a great ride! Learned a lot and got to see a lot more of the Lake! Hopefully who ever buys the business will continue to operate it as it was. Very "friendly pricing" as it says on their web site!
We never did go back for a sunset cruise - we were gonna do that next spring - I hope we still can!!

RLW · 10-24-2005, 07:20 PM

"I wonder why they are selling?

"

Probably for the same reason so many other business have started to go up for sale, "Cost for up keep, insurance, taxes and in this case the possibilty of fuel prices going higher"

jrc · 10-25-2005, 11:59 PM

Imagine the life-style issues, working dawn to dusk all summer and not working all winter. Imagine if you had a family to support. You still have bills to pay even in February. I hope he can find a buyer because it is a great tour. It might be good job for a school teacher, but how many have the cash to buy a business like that. Never mind the boating skills and captain's license.

Rattlesnake Gal · 10-26-2005, 08:13 AM

I would like to recognize that fasttech has originally started a thread about this successful business for sale.
There was no blonde moment or QIB here.
We have been so busy of late and I couldn't keep up with the new posts, so I missed it. Sorry about that!

(The Department of Redundancy alerted me of my duplicate thread.

)
In my defense, there was a search for Winnipesaukee Lake Tours before posting the new thread, which came up empty. Reason being that fastech used the former name of Winnipesaukee Taxi, well almost. It was actually called Winnipesaukee Water Taxi.
(Normally I would post in the thread providing the correct name and link for future searches.)
Could it be up for sale because it has grown too big to be a part time job?
If that's the case - Winnipesaukee Lake Tours, nice job on growing your business!

I hope they find a good buyer or should I say, I hope a good buyer finds them.
With luck Winnipesaukee Lake Tours has have many prosperous years ahead!
(I really did give this brief thought, but its just too big a project for me.)
Are there any forum members up for the job? It might be nice having half the year off. The other half is spent on the lake. How bad could that be?

09-30-2005, 05:52 PM	#1
fasttech Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Laconia NH Posts: 30 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Winnipesaukee Lake Tours - For Sale! Has anyone heard the Winnipesaukee Taxi is up for sale? What a great opportunity and job for the summer on the lake. He always looked like he had a full boat when I passed him. Any ideas or thoughts on this?

09-30-2005, 07:49 PM	#2
Old Hubbard Rd Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 462 Thanks: 141 Thanked 54 Times in 33 Posts	Winni Taxi If it was real successful I think it would not be for sale!!

10-02-2005, 06:47 AM	#3
Kamper Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Thornton's Ferry Posts: 1,296 Thanks: 67 Thanked 166 Times in 126 Posts	(IMO) Not neccessarrily. People sometimes start a business that seems exciting but after a few years the long hours get to them and they want to recover their investment capital and move on. Sometimes they have a new adventure in mind and othertimes they retire. In this case my impression is that the former water-taxi was not as profitable as expected since they started with (I think) 3 boats and I've heard they've downsized to just 1 or 2 for the tours business. It's possible though that the operators simply had trouble finding enough licensed captains for 3 boats for all the shifts they wanted to cover. They may also be anticipating that fuel costs will reduce their margins for next season and they are getting out of the market to avoid future risk. If someone is buying an existing enterprise, it is a good idea to request the financial information first, expect to sign a confidentiality agreement. Sometimes it is better to buy the company's assets including the name and trademarks to make sure you dont get hit with liability for any debts or liabilities that havent't been filed prior to sale. I expect there is a niche on the lake for this kind of business but probably not enough to provide a large "year 'round" income. If you have other seasonal enterprises the water business could be a valuable addition to your portfolio Last edited by Kamper; 10-02-2005 at 07:04 AM.

10-24-2005, 10:34 AM	#4
Rattlesnake Gal Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Central NH Posts: 5,252 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 1,447 Thanked 1,349 Times in 475 Posts	Winnipesaukee Lake Tours - For Sale! Winnipesaukee Lake Tours is up for sale! See the Classified section under Business For Sale in The Weirs Times! (The actual newspaper.) Captain RG? I wonder why they are selling?

10-24-2005, 06:48 PM	#6
NHKathy Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Moultonborough when I can / RI Posts: 699 Thanks: 180 Thanked 38 Times in 22 Posts	How Sad ! My husband and I just went on this fantastic tour in July for the first time! I was really a great ride! Learned a lot and got to see a lot more of the Lake! Hopefully who ever buys the business will continue to operate it as it was. Very "friendly pricing" as it says on their web site! We never did go back for a sunset cruise - we were gonna do that next spring - I hope we still can!!

10-24-2005, 05:52 PM	#5
ITD Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Moultonboro, NH Posts: 2,860 Thanks: 461 Thanked 666 Times in 366 Posts	I saw it in the Winnipesauke.com classifieds also. I wonder how much?

10-24-2005, 07:20 PM	#7
RLW Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Alton Bay on the mountain by a lake Posts: 2,023 Thanks: 563 Thanked 444 Times in 311 Posts	Winnipesaukee Lake Tours "I wonder why they are selling? " Probably for the same reason so many other business have started to go up for sale, "Cost for up keep, insurance, taxes and in this case the possibilty of fuel prices going higher" __________________ There is nothing better than living on Alton Mountain & our grand kids visits.

10-25-2005, 11:59 PM	#8
jrc Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: NH Posts: 2,689 Thanks: 33 Thanked 439 Times in 249 Posts	Imagine the life-style issues, working dawn to dusk all summer and not working all winter. Imagine if you had a family to support. You still have bills to pay even in February. I hope he can find a buyer because it is a great tour. It might be good job for a school teacher, but how many have the cash to buy a business like that. Never mind the boating skills and captain's license.

10-26-2005, 08:13 AM	#9
Rattlesnake Gal Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Central NH Posts: 5,252 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 1,447 Thanked 1,349 Times in 475 Posts	Sorry Fastech! I would like to recognize that fasttech has originally started a thread about this *successful* business for sale. There was no blonde moment or QIB here. We have been so busy of late and I couldn't keep up with the new posts, so I missed it. Sorry about that! (The Department of Redundancy alerted me of my duplicate thread. ) In my defense, there was a search for Winnipesaukee Lake Tours before posting the new thread, which came up empty. Reason being that fastech used the former name of Winnipesaukee Taxi, well almost. It was actually called Winnipesaukee Water Taxi. (Normally I would post in the thread providing the correct name and link for future searches.) Could it be up for sale because it has grown too big to be a part time job? If that's the case - Winnipesaukee Lake Tours, nice job on growing your business! I hope they find a good buyer or should I say, I hope a good buyer finds them. With luck Winnipesaukee Lake Tours has have many prosperous years ahead! (I really did give this brief thought, but its just too big a project for me.) Are there any forum members up for the job? It might be nice having half the year off. The other half is spent on the lake. How bad could that be? Last edited by Rattlesnake Gal; 10-26-2005 at 08:26 AM.