A conversation with Joshua Kerrigan, founder and president, Yacht Management South Florida
A native Floridian, Kerrigan has been involved in the marine industry for most of his life. Starting out as a dockhand pumping fuel, he now owns and operates multiple businesses including a full-service boatyard at two locations in Fort Lauderdale.
What is unique about your company’s service or product?
We take care of every detail. The owner can simply hand us the keys. We offer everything the yacht owner could need in the mid-size yachting market (40-130 feet), from monthly maintenance plans and complete yacht management to delivering our clients vessels to the yard. We see many first-time owners start with a smaller boat and realize how easy yacht ownership can be under our program and progress into a larger vessel.
What sets your business model apart from the competition?
Being a “one-stop shop” is our clear competitive advantage. There is no place for “no” or “we can’t do that” in our business model. No other companies can link all the yacht owner’s needs together in one place with a single phone call like we can. Everything is streamlined for the owners. From our full-service boatyard to dockside care and complete yacht management, we do it all under one roof—with one line of communication for the vessel to handle maintenance records, invoices, trip planning, documentation, etc. By controlling all the vessel maintenance and operation in-house, we cut the cost of ownership by eliminating third-party vendors. Under our plan, no one can beat our capabilities or our rates.
What do you want our readers to know about your company’s approach to doing business?
We are easy to work with, and we make the overall yachting experience more enjoyable and less overwhelming. We’re available 24/7 365 and we know what it takes to keep clients happy. Yacht ownership can be confusing, especially at the start, and our team is skilled at handholding owners through the entire process.
How does your company relate to the passion of yachting enthusiasts?
We are all boaters. We pride ourselves in the fact that most of our clients are long-term, often owning several yachts while with us. Our yacht managers have worked every position on a vessel—we understand the needs and what it takes to keep clients happy.
What is your personal philosophy on customer service?
The customer is the business. Our job is to ensure satisfaction no matter what or how many people it takes. Things don’t always go right—it’s a fact in boating—but how you handle the things that don’t is what determines your level of service, which we believe is far superior to our competitors.
How does your company innovate?
What we do for clients has never been done to this level. Marinas have maintenance programs. Yards offer dockside care. But no one has packaged it all into one like we have.
We are constantly innovating. We invest in technology to make operations more efficient. By diversifying operations in the industry we can offer clients a wide range of services quickly and with the highest level of care. We manage and operate several marinas in South Florida, own a ship/boat yard facility, operate two on the water fuel docks and have great relationships with every channel in the marine industry, which allows us to grow and offer clients the best service.
What are your other passions in life?
Being born and raised boating, fishing and diving, I enjoy the yachting lifestyle, traveling and visiting new places. I love the Bahamas, where I try to spend as much time as I can.
For more information or to contact Yacht Management, visit their website at myyachtmanagement.com or CLICK HERE.
ABOUT POWER PLAYERS
Achieving sustained success in the yachting industry is a great accomplishment. These entrepreneurs and executives and the companies they represent have thrived in the face of great challenges. The ways they approach their businesses and their reflections on customers, innovation and service should inspire anyone seeking to be the best of the best in a highly competitive environment.
