The year 2020 is a watershed year that has upended the way we view and conceive of our existences. Some businesses have taken advantage of it, others are paying the harsh consequences.
Wise or not, I decided at the end of the year to start my own kitesurfing school, Triderland, aware that I would have to face many difficulties, some of them extraordinary and not very predictable.
But, after years of working for several structures, I felt it was time to provide a service that suited me more.
After I enunciated in another article the 3 ambitions that pushed me to found Triderland, I decided to present also the less pleasant part of my work.
A kitesurfing school born in 2020, the 3 extraordinary difficulties I have and am facing:
1. Equipment supply
Like most activities, a kitesurfing school needs a significant stock of equipment.
The health crisis has upset the world economy, creating undeniable collateral damage. Raw materials are lacking, and transport is reduced, so the gear is delivered with great delays (to kite schools, shops, etc.) and at more expensive prices, even if all brands work hard to ensure an efficient service.
In my case, the damage is tremendous. The idea of starting during the winter months, while all the other schools were closed, to get my school known in the region, met with harsh reality. Lack of equipment, inability to provide the service.
The most frustrating and paradoxical moment occurred when I found myself sending the few clients who called me to my colleagues because of the lack of equipment. Indeed, since they were already running businesses, they had some stock from previous years.
It’s September and we’re not done yet. And the outlook for the coming years does not look rosy, so a new model will have to be thought through to figure out how to anticipate this change and be aware that, even more than before, we will have to be able to predict well in advance what we need for the years ahead.