Friday, April 19, 2013

Meet or associates - Fanautic Club.


Fanautic Club is a Mallorca based navigation club with franchises in Valencia and Burriana. Diego Orallo, the Managing Director of Fanautic talks to us about his career as an entrepreneur and about the success of the company.

What can you tell us about your professional trajectory and the history of Fanautic Club?

My nautical career started 7 years ago as a manager of the Palma branch of a navigation club based in Barcelona. Previous to that I had worked as a pharmaceutical representative as well as in a family company specialized in event organization and conferences. 7 years ago an opportunity came up to start a navigation club, until then an unknown concept in Spain. I found the idea professionally attractive and got involved from the very beginning, which gave me a chance to learn the basics of the business very well.
Thats how we got started, but later on the club ceased it´s activity in Barcelona for various reasons, amongst other because it was complicated in Barcelona and the people running it were not putting their best efforts into it. But here in Palma things were going well, that´s why I decided together with a partner to continue with the business model. Compared to the original model we improved the concept considerably. We created a new brand as well as a new technological operating system and work allocation which are giving us very good results. To the point that we have opened franchises in Valencia and Burriana.
How does Fanautic function? 

We have both motor and sailing boats, and our members only need to enjoy them. We look after the moorings and the maintenance, while the members only need to get onboard and go. I could give you the example of a fitness studio - you go to one because it would be very expensive to buy and maintain all those machines compared to how much you use them. So, what do you do? You go to a place where they are maintained, looked after and always in impeccable condition. We have the same idea with the boats. It is not necessary to own an expensive boat when you can´t use it as much as you would like to. Instead of having all those expenses and making life complicated, why not let me look after all that and you only need to navigate! You have a certain amount of days every month, managed with a very advanced booking system that you can access autonomously from any device with a connection to internet. There are certain rules to avoid abuse and a maximum number of members for each boat. Our members enjoy the boat as if it was 100% theirs. And besides they form a part of a community of likeminded people, having regattas, chats, wine tastings, sharing paellas... any activities one does in a club. And on top of that there are business and traveling discounts. The idea is very good and thats why it works. As soon as the crisis eases out we expect an avalanche of membership applications. People like to navigate - it speaks volumes that every year about 20.000 titles for recreational boat captains are approved, while only 300 new boats are registered.

What are your plans for the future? 

Further expansion in Spain, to start with. At the local level we have an established base in El Arenal. We are thinking of opening a base in Palma and are sounding out the possibilities in the north of the island, although to start with we don´t expect to have more than El Arenal and Palma. 

What is the profile of an average member?

They tend to be open-minded professionals with very little free time, but keen to enjoy the time they have. We have all types of people with different purchasing power. People who were going to buy a boat but decide not to, and became a member of Fanautic instead. People who can afford to own a boat, but when they add up the outgoings for 10 years, including the mooring, maintenance, insurance etc, and deduct the price they may get when selling the boat after all those years, they realize that if they go out approximately 30 times a year, every trip might cost them 800 € in a similar boat to ours. They see that it is more economical to become a member of Fanautic.

Fanautic Club is a member of AENB since 3 years. What convinced you to associate and what do you most appreciate being a member?

I joined AENB at the direct recommendation by Esteban Horvath from Escuela de Mar, with whom I have a very close relationship. It is very important to form a lobby, and I believe the most useful aspect for me is economical. To start with the discount I get participating in the Palma Boat Show. Also because I enjoy it. We have a very important sector financially at the Balearic level capable of using pressure. I believe in this kind of activism, and thats why I am part of the Board of Directors of AENB since the last elections. I want to participate actively because I believe the association contributes a lot and can provide even more for its members.

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