Buying a charter or tour company in Florida

These companies carry people for hire, on the water and on land, and the two are quite different businesses. On the water: fishing charters, sightseeing and dolphin tours, dinner and sunset cruises, airboat rides and water taxis. On land: limousines and chauffeured sedans, airport and hotel shuttles, charter buses and motorcoach tours, and contract work such as school, employee and medical appointment transportation.

Leisure customers include tourists and locals, plus companies, wedding parties, hotels, cruise passengers and event planners. They pay per seat, per trip or per hour, often booking through online listings, hotel desks or tour sellers that take a commission. Contract work for schools, employers or health plans pays on a schedule and steadies income.

You'd be buying the boats or vehicles, a dock, slip or yard, a booking system and website, and the reviews and listings that bring in customers. The team is licensed captains and deckhands, or chauffeurs and drivers, plus booking staff. Leisure work rises and falls with the seasons and the weather: busy with winter and spring visitors, slower in summer, and exposed to hurricane season.

• Strong reviews and listings that bring direct bookings without heavy commissions.
• A dock or base with a long lease in a busy visitor area, since good slips and dock space are hard to find.
• Boats or vehicles in good condition, with maintenance logs and inspection records.
• Licensed captains or drivers besides the owner, who come back season after season.
• Repeat business from companies, hotels or cruise passengers that fills slow periods.
• A clean safety record and insurance at a reasonable cost.
• Revenue spread across the year, or costs that shrink in the slow season.
• A booking system that takes deposits and handles weather cancellations clearly, so refunds don't become disputes.

On the water, the Coast Guard regulates boats that carry paying passengers. A boat under 100 gross tons that carries more than six passengers, at least one of them paying, must be an inspected small passenger vessel with a Certificate of Inspection (46 CFR 175.110). Charters with six or fewer passengers ("six-pack" boats) can run without inspection, but the captain needs an Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels credential. Credentialed captains and safety crew must be randomly drug tested; an owner who captains can do this through a testing consortium (46 CFR part 16). Taking customers saltwater fishing needs a license from the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, either for each vessel or held by the captain to cover any boat they run (section 379.354). Airboats carrying paying passengers need an operator who has completed an approved airboat course and has CPR and first aid training (section 327.391).

On land, for-hire carriers that take passengers across state lines need operating authority from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). They also need insurance of at least $1.5 million for vehicles seating 15 or fewer, or $5 million for 16 or more, counting the driver (49 CFR 387.33T). Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties license for-hire vehicles and drivers, and some cities add their own rules.

Credentials belong to the people who hold them, and inspection certificates belong to the vessels.

• For each boat or vehicle: its age, marine survey or inspection, maintenance logs and what's still owed on it.
• The dock or base lease: term, renewal, and any rules from the marina, city or park.
• Bookings by month for several years, and by source (direct, booking sites, hotels), with the commissions paid.
• Insurance cost and claims, including passenger injuries, and a quote for you as the new owner.
• Captain and driver credentials, drug testing records, and who will stay after the sale.
• Hurricane plans: where the boats or vehicles go, and how many days are lost to weather each year.
• For contract routes, the term, who can cancel, and whether the contract can be assigned to you.
• Permits or agreements to operate in parks, preserves or city waterfronts, and whether they transfer.

• Who captains or drives each trip, and will they stay?
• How do customers find you, and what do the booking sites charge?
• What were your best and worst months last year?
• How old are the boats or vehicles, and what major repairs are coming up?
• Has anyone been hurt on a trip, and how did you handle it?
• How long is the dock or yard lease, and can it be transferred to me?
• How does hurricane season affect the business?