April 2017 | Business View Magazine

54 55 White lake marine As the company began to focus more on its web business, it found that its customers were often requesting out-of-date replacement parts. So White Lake Marine started to source, and then even manufacture, decals, hardware, and the like, so that owners of older boats could keep them well-maintained and looking good on the water. In one extreme instance, deAn- drade says he spent two years, first searching for, and then finally contracting for, the man- ufacture of the iconic wooden shift knob that Correct Craft had made for its boats for decades. “It was this long, drawn-out process for a wood- en knob that just costs about $24,” de Andrade remembers. “But it’s sort of how fanatical we are about supporting our customers. The reason is: we love the boats, we really do.We love their history. I grew up in it. It’s very close and dear to our hearts.” After weathering the lean years,DeAndrade says that 2016 has turned out to be one of the best years the companyhas had since the Great Recession.“We just came fromour largest boat showof the year and it was the best we’ve ever had,”he exults.“We got pending sales on nine units.We haven’t seen a heyday like that since the booming ‘90s.That’s just phenomenal for us to get nine ski boat sales in a weekend. It was just a great year overall–boat sales, parts sales, everything.” DeAndrade gives some credit for the uptick in business to the generally improving economy, but also to the fact that there have been recent inno- vations made by the manufacturers of the boats that it sells.“’16 and ’17brought out new advance- ments, so that gets consumers energized about upgrades in their current boat,”he explains. Another facet of the company’s success has been the result of its further penetration into As the company began to focus more on its web business, it found that its customers were often requesting out-of-date replacement parts. SoWhite Lake Marine started to source, and then even manufacture, decals, hardware, and the like, so that owners of older boats could keep themwell-maintained and looking good on the water. cyberspace, including the cre- ation of a brand new parts web- site - www.nautiqueparts.com. “We launched a whole new web presence with new photogra- phy of almost every single item on the site,” deAndrade says. “You’ve got to keep up with the times, so we upgraded plat- forms and back ends, so that we could continue to grow the site, deliver content, and make it more optimized for people on