Houseboat Rentals

Startup Costs: $2,000 - $10,000
Home Based: Can be operated from home.
Part Time: Can be operated part-time.
Franchises Available? Yes
Online Operation? No

There are numerous options available to you in terms of starting a houseboat rental service. The first option is to purchase the houseboats ($20,000 to $30,000 each secondhand). The second, and more viable option is to locate houseboat owners and see if they are prepared to enter their boats into a rental pool that is managed and operated by your service. Houseboat rental rates are in the range of $750 to $1,000 per week and the person who is renting the boat must pay for additional operating costs such as gas and insurance. In exchange for the boat owner allowing their houseboat to be used in the rental pool, they would receive 50 percent of the rental revenue and pay no moorage or maintenance fees for their boats. You would keep 50 percent of the rental fee and maintain the houseboat for the owner. Including operating overheads, boat maintenance, and moorage, a pretax net of 20 percent of the total rental fees per year should be the profit. Providing you have at least ten houseboats in the rental pool that were rented for an average of 25 weeks each per year, this example would leave you a profit of $50,000. The business can be started for less than $10,000 providing you are not intending to purchase the houseboats.