Despite the havoc events in the last couple of years have caused in the travel industry, there have still been winners. Companies in the yachts and boats for hire industry, such as Borrow a Boat, have been getting ready for a boom in popularity as people look to get out into the open air and enjoy the space and freedom the sea provides. Below is a look at Borrow a Boat, what they do, their acquisition of peer-to-peer boating marketplace Barqo and the advantages this brings Borrow a Boat and its customers.
A little more about Borrow a Boat
If you’re not familiar with Borrow a Boat, the company is a boat rental and yacht chartering marketing place. The company has more than 35,000 listings across more than 65 countries around the world. It has built a reputation for itself as the Airbnb of boats, a reputation the company is proud to foster.
Borrow a Boat’s mission is to make yachting and boating more accessible to everyone. They are doing this by providing a marketplace that increases participation in boating and encourages growth in the industry. You can find at more about them on their website at www.borrowaboat.com.
Recent performance
To say the company has been doing well is an understatement. Revenue of £136,526 in July and August 2021 alone, which outperforms the £110,380 of 2019, is just one display of the way Borrow a Boat is going from strength to strength.
One of the big contributions to growth has been the power to attract investment. Crowdfunding has played a major role in generating investment into the business. The company has raised £3.7 million since 2017, much of this coming from crowdfunding.
There has been excitement in the business as it looks to go onto the stock exchange. It has already been discussions with Aquis Exchange to explore the option.
Acquisition of Barqo
In 2021, Borrow a Boat launched into the US, Canadian, New Zealand and Australian markets. Now it has expanded even further and launched into the European market by acquiring Dutch peer-to-peer marketplace Barqo.
This exciting development brings Borrow a Boat to a whole new market. Barqo connects watersports enthusiasts with boat owners and with yacht chartering companies across the world. Barqo’s own goals align with Borrow a Boat’s own goal of making yachting and boating more accessible, so this purchase has been a good one for the company.
Now, even more people can get out onto the water in a vessel. Borrow a Boat is reported to have added a further 5,000 boats to its market through the acquisition. That increases the number to more than 40,000 in at least 65 countries. These boats range from sailboats and catamarans to riverboats and yachts.
The expansion of its fleet through the acquisition of Barqo hasn’t been the only piece of good news for Borrow a Boat. The deal brings a 100,000+ strong customer base to its marketplace, allowing the company to make considerable progress in its business mission.
The benefits for customers
One of the key benefits for customers is even greater flexibility when it comes to choosing where they wish to travel and explore by boat. Not only in where they wish to travel, though, but also in the type of boat they wish to hire.
Perhaps the best news of all is that hiring a boat or chartering a yacht could be about to become even cheaper. Hiring a boat or yacht has long been seen as something that only more affluent people could do, but companies such as Borrow a Boat are helping to turn this
perception around. You don’t have to earn a six- or seven-figure income now to experience the joys of boating.
Of course, this acquisition also gives any water sports enthusiasts among Borrow a Boat’s existing client base the opportunity to indulge in their passion and also expand their horizons with some travel by boat. They can get their adrenalin rush with sports such as water skiing and then revel in some more relaxed enjoyment of the waves. It’s no longer one or the other.
Boosting the company’s competitive advantage
Borrow a Boat is already a leading company in the boat hire and yacht chartering marketplace, if not the leader. However, the acquisition gives the company an even firmer foothold and a chance to earn a larger market share.
Now that the company has acquired Barqo, the company has, in the process, earned itself extra potential for growth. The company has been highly skilful at raising investment, but the acquisition will ease some of the pressure when doing this. Whereas small business owners have to use more of their own money to grow, larger ones have more access to capital, giving them the freedom to follow through their plans for business growth easier.
Of course, it’s not just capital the business acquires. Borrow a Boat now enjoys access to skills, knowledge and other resources it might not have had. There’s also the potential for fresh ideas and, because of this, innovation.
Borrow a Boat is a business that’s thriving even though the travel sector has struggled the last couple of years. Brighter days are ahead for the travel sector, but for the boat hire industry they already seem to be arriving. All eyes will be on Borrow a Boat now as it sets its sights on growth and floatation on the stock exchange.
