How to Start a Surfing School

Running a surf school and teaching surfing classes is a lifestyle with a dedication to the ocean water. It has the requirement to live on the coast of a country. The best places in America are the west coast of California and the islands of Hawaii. You may also find some decent surfing in other parts of the world such as Australia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and even in exotic places like Fiji and the beach areas of Sanya, China. No matter where you decide is best, you need to love the ocean water, work in a nice surfing spot, and want to teach people how to surf.

Learn how to start your own Surfing School and whether it is the right fit for you.

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Start a surfing school by following these 10 steps:

  1. Plan your Surfing School
  2. Form your Surfing School into a Legal Entity
  3. Register your Surfing School for Taxes
  4. Open a Business Bank Account & Credit Card
  5. Set up Accounting for your Surfing School
  6. Get the Necessary Permits & Licenses for your Surfing School
  7. Get Surfing School Insurance
  8. Define your Surfing School Brand
  9. Create your Surfing School Website
  10. Set up your Business Phone System

We have put together this simple guide to starting your surfing school. These steps will ensure that your new business is well planned out, registered properly and legally compliant.

Exploring your options? Check out other small business ideas.

STEP 1: Plan your business

A clear plan is essential for success as an entrepreneur. It will help you map out the specifics of your business and discover some unknowns. A few important topics to consider are:

Luckily we have done a lot of this research for you.

What will you name your business?

Choosing the right name is important and challenging. If you don’t already have a name in mind, visit our How to Name a Business guide or get help brainstorming a name with our Surfing School Name Generator

If you operate a sole proprietorship, you might want to operate under a business name other than your own name. Visit our DBA guide to learn more.

When registering a business name, we recommend researching your business name by checking:

  • Your state's business records
  • Federal and state trademark records
  • Social media platforms
  • Web domain availability.

It's very important to secure your domain name before someone else does.

Want some help naming your surfing school?

Business Name Generator

What are the costs involved in opening a surfing school?

This business operates with one or more instructors who teach surfing to students of varying levels of experience. This business is possible with or without the physical business presence of a surf shop. Instructors and surfing schools that want to be ISA-certified need to pay the ISA fees.

For those operating on a budget, it is possible to start without a physical business presence by simply establishing and scheduling classes held at a public beach. Management of scheduling happens over the phone or on the Internet with marketing by word-of-mouth and online efforts.

As revenue increases, renting a physical location for a surf shop creates the opportunity for more business. It does not have to be a big place, it just needs to be near the areas where the great surfing occurs.

Equipment Needs

The amount of equipment needed depends on the number of students for each surfing class and whether there will be more than one class happening at the same time. The total equipment cost starts at around $2,000 and goes up based on the number and type of students expected to participate.

  • Areas flags or markers (unless prohibited by local authorities) $100 per set
  • First aid kit(s) $150 each
  • Rescue board(s) $450 each
  • Soft-core surfboards for beginners in various sizes with tethers $250 each
  • Professional surfboards in various sizes/styles for advanced students $350+ each
  • Safety flotation vests for participants $75 each
  • Safety helmets (on request) $50 each
  • Water resistant sunscreen $20 per bottle (economy size)
  • Waterproof mobile phone(s) $200 each
  • Wetsuits $150 each
  • Whistles (floating type) $10 each
  • Board maintenance equipment, spare parts, and supplies $200

ISA membership fees (currently $500 to $1,500 per year depending on membership level and activities) are necessary to become ISA-certified.

Specialized insurance to cover students and instructors is a requirement for both an online business and for a surf shop with a physical location. The insurance cost is $1,500 to $10,000 per year depending on the number of students expected to attend and location of the school. Even if students sign a liability waiver agreement, it is best to have surfing school insurance.

Additional costs for an online surfing school business:

  • Website creation – Free (if you can create a website yourself) to about $2,000 if you have a website created by others. This can be a simple website on free systems like Wix.com or a more complex website that has significant content to attract web visitors.
  • Website marketing (optional) – $500 per month. A significant pay-per-click (PPC) campaign using Google Adwords, Yahoo, and Bing is one way to get the business started right away. Typical PPC campaigns are $500 to start and then recur monthly at levels perhaps even higher in order to generate enough customers. Without website marketing, a business, with only an online presence, may be very slow to get going unless you already have a well-established reputation as a local surfer in the area you choose and customers learn about you by word-of-mouth.

For a surf shop business with a physical location, add $5,000 to $60,000 to cover these expenses:

  • Business license - $250 to $800 depending on location
  • Rent Deposit – First and last month’s rent plus security deposit. If the monthly rent is $1,000, this would require $3,000 for the startup.
  • Signage $1,500
  • Cash Register $350
  • Display Racks $1,500
  • Property and Casualty (P&C) Insurance $2,500 per year - This is in addition to the specialized surfing school insurance. P&C insurance protects the store and its contents.
  • Inventory – If retail customers are able to purchase items from the store, allow $50,000 for the initial inventory of surfboards and accessories for sale.

What are the ongoing expenses for a surfing school?

The instructors receive pay per hour of classes. The revenues from the surf lessons exceed the cost of the staff. For physical locations, the rent of the small surf shop is the main expense, plus the store clerk(s) needed at minimum wage for the times you cannot run the store. There will be some monthly utilities to pay. You will need to replace damaged rental equipment used for the surfing lessons and replace sold inventory if you have a surf shop.

Who is the target market?

Tourists are great and they are the mainstay of this business. The first hour is a lesson on the beach and teaches the first-time learners how to balance on a surfboard. College students are good customers as well.

Most surf schools have lessons for beginners as well as lessons for advanced students. Retail customers for surfing-related items such as beachwear, can be almost anyone. You do not have to be able to surf to enjoy watching it from the beach.

How does a surfing school make money?

Every surfing student pays per hour for lessons. A good surfing instructor has about four to six students for each hour-long lesson and no more. The instructor gets paid per hour, so if the class has the maximum size of six students, the revenue for the school is six times hourly school rate minus the pay for the instructor. If the instructor also brings the students by his or her efforts, some schools have a 50/50 revenue-sharing program.

If the instructor is a world-class champion, the rates are much higher for the individual training sessions. These advanced courses are for good surfers who desire to become professional surfers. If the school has a shop, additional revenues comes from making sales to in-person retail customers and online retail customers.

How much can you charge customers?

The average per hour rate for a surfing school is $15 per hour per student. You also get the opportunity to sell the students the surfing gear they need or rent it to them for an additional charge. Charges for advanced individual classes are up to $250 per hour depending on the reputation of the instructor.

How much profit can a surfing school make?

A surfing school business run by a single person is not a huge moneymaker. However, it is a wonderful lifestyle. Those who enjoy teaching this sport to others earn enough that helps support the surfing lifestyle that is so enjoyable. Being able to share the terrific experience of surfing with others is the real reward. That is why people go into this business. The gross profits of a small surfing school are about $2,000 per month at best, so nobody gets rich doing this business on a small-scale.

If you are lucky enough to establish a brand, based on your reputation, as did Jack O’Neill, it is possible to create very successful surf shops, surfing-lifestyle shops in multiple locations, sell through other retail stores, and sell online.

Jack O’Neill started in the Santa Cruz area of California, which is a legendary surfing area similar to Hawaii. He invented the wetsuit that made surfing in the colder waters of Northern California comfortable. Then he gained more traction years later by selling fashions that represented the California surfing lifestyle. He was able to sell his products all across the world even in places that have no surfing because his brand represented the cool California lifestyle. The O’Neill Surf Shop brand makes many millions each year.

How can you make your business more profitable?

Surfing schools may add related courses over time as the revenues increase. The expanded classes could be paddle boarding lessons, windsurfing classes, and associated types of watersports such as canoeing, sailing, and kayaking. It is possible to offer other water-related activities such as scuba diving. This expansion creates a general water recreation company that offers many diversified services. The path to real monetary success is to make your business a brand. There are a few very successful examples such as the O'Neill Surf Shop that created a famous brand name and then they could sell swimwear, fashion clothes, and other things related to the surfing lifestyle. One pathway to this is to sponsor the up-and-coming, professional surfers and create a brand from their increasing popularity.

Want a more guided approach? Access TRUiC's free Small Business Startup Guide - a step-by-step course for turning your business idea into reality. Get started today!

STEP 2: Form a legal entity

The most common business structure types are the sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC), and corporation.

Establishing a legal business entity such as an LLC or corporation protects you from being held personally liable if your surfing school is sued.

Form Your LLC

Read our Guide to Form Your Own LLC

Have a Professional Service Form your LLC for You

Two such reliable services:

You can form an LLC yourself and pay only the minimal state LLC costs or hire one of the Best LLC Services for a small, additional fee.

Recommended: You will need to elect a registered agent for your LLC. LLC formation packages usually include a free year of registered agent services. You can choose to hire a registered agent or act as your own.

STEP 3: Register for taxes

You will need to register for a variety of state and federal taxes before you can open for business.

In order to register for taxes you will need to apply for an EIN. It's really easy and free!

You can acquire your EIN through the IRS website. If you would like to learn more about EINs, read our article, What is an EIN?

There are specific state taxes that might apply to your business. Learn more about state sales tax and franchise taxes in our state sales tax guides.

STEP 4: Open a business bank account & credit card

Using dedicated business banking and credit accounts is essential for personal asset protection.

When your personal and business accounts are mixed, your personal assets (your home, car, and other valuables) are at risk in the event your business is sued. In business law, this is referred to as piercing your corporate veil.

Open a business bank account

Besides being a requirement when applying for business loans, opening a business bank account:

  • Separates your personal assets from your company's assets, which is necessary for personal asset protection.
  • Makes accounting and tax filing easier.

Recommended: Read our Best Banks for Small Business review to find the best national bank or credit union.

Get a business credit card

Getting a business credit card helps you:

  • Separate personal and business expenses by putting your business' expenses all in one place.
  • Build your company's credit history, which can be useful to raise money later on.

Recommended: Apply for an easy approval business credit card from BILL and build your business credit quickly.

STEP 5: Set up business accounting

Recording your various expenses and sources of income is critical to understanding the financial performance of your business. Keeping accurate and detailed accounts also greatly simplifies your annual tax filing.

Make LLC accounting easy with our LLC Expenses Cheat Sheet.

STEP 6: Obtain necessary permits and licenses

Failure to acquire necessary permits and licenses can result in hefty fines, or even cause your business to be shut down.

State & Local Business Licensing Requirements

Certain state permits and licenses may be needed to operate a surfing school business. Learn more about licensing requirements in your state by visiting SBA’s reference to state licenses and permits.

In addition, certain local licensing or regulatory requirements may apply. For more information:

Most businesses are required to collect sales tax on the goods or services they provide. To learn more about how sales tax will affect your business, read our article, Sales Tax for Small Businesses.

Liability Waiver

A strong recommendation is that participants (students and instructors) of a surfing school sign a liability waiver agreement because they will be in situations where they might experience an injury. This agreement shifts the liability for the damages from injuries away from the school to the individuals for what they personally do, with the exception of injuries caused by gross negligence of the instructors. Here is an example of one such form

Recommended: Rocket Lawyer makes it easy to create a professional release of liability form for your surfing school when you sign up for their premium membership. For $39.95 per month, members receive access to hundreds of legal agreements and on call attorneys to get complimentary legal advice.

ISA Certification

While not required under law, any individual that wants to run a certifiable surf school should go through the International Surf Association (ISA) which controls the prerequisites that the instructor is required to follow.

Official ISA-certified surfing coach must renew their registrations every year to remain a certifiable surfing instructor. It is strongly recommended that participants of a surf school sign a liability form due to them being in situations where they will be dealing with possible injury. More info can be found at the ISA’s development programs page.

STEP 7: Get business insurance

Just as with licenses and permits, your business needs insurance in order to operate safely and lawfully. Business Insurance protects your company’s financial wellbeing in the event of a covered loss.

There are several types of insurance policies created for different types of businesses with different risks. If you’re unsure of the types of risks that your business may face, begin with General Liability Insurance. This is the most common coverage that small businesses need, so it’s a great place to start for your business.

Another notable insurance policy that many businesses need is Workers’ Compensation Insurance. If your business will have employees, it’s a good chance that your state will require you to carry Workers' Compensation Coverage.

FInd out what types of insurance your Surfing School needs and how much it will cost you by reading our guide Business Insurance for Surfing School.

STEP 8: Define your brand

Your brand is what your company stands for, as well as how your business is perceived by the public. A strong brand will help your business stand out from competitors.

If you aren't feeling confident about designing your small business logo, then check out our Design Guides for Beginners, we'll give you helpful tips and advice for creating the best unique logo for your business.

Recommended: Get a logo using Truic's free logo Generator no email or sign up required, or use a Premium Logo Maker.

If you already have a logo, you can also add it to a QR code with our Free QR Code Generator. Choose from 13 QR code types to create a code for your business cards and publications, or to help spread awareness for your new website.

How to promote & market a surfing school

If you or your surfing instructor is a world-class surfer, this is helpful. Surf schools that sponsor world-class surfers who win championships are going to get a lot more students. The coolness factor for a particular surfing school comes from the instructors and the legacy that they created by being world-class surfers.

Pay attention to building a good local reputation by word-of-mouth. Promote your website using a good search engine optimization (SEO) strategy and use high-quality content to attract visitors. Use pay-per-click advertising for the website if you can afford it.

Another way to promote the business is to support the younger and talented surfers to bring them to international prominence in surfing competitions. It is a great idea to support the youngest surfers who will be tomorrow's heroes and this helps build up the reputation of the surfing school.

How to keep customers coming back

The best way to get customers is to have instructors that are world-class surfers and provide excellent customer service with classes that are enjoyable. Even having the world-class instructors teach on a guest basis is a way to attract new customers. For physical locations, you need to have a surf shop in a high profile area, easily seen by visitors. The best places are right in front of a beach area that has great waves. For example, in Oahu Beach, Hawaii (in Honolulu) the surf shops catering to tourists are located right on the popular Waikiki Beach.

STEP 9: Create your business website

After defining your brand and creating your logo the next step is to create a website for your business.

While creating a website is an essential step, some may fear that it’s out of their reach because they don’t have any website-building experience. While this may have been a reasonable fear back in 2015, web technology has seen huge advancements in the past few years that makes the lives of small business owners much simpler.

Here are the main reasons why you shouldn’t delay building your website:

  • All legitimate businesses have websites - full stop. The size or industry of your business does not matter when it comes to getting your business online.
  • Social media accounts like Facebook pages or LinkedIn business profiles are not a replacement for a business website that you own.
  • Website builder tools like the GoDaddy Website Builder have made creating a basic website extremely simple. You don’t need to hire a web developer or designer to create a website that you can be proud of.

Recommended: Get started today using our recommended website builder or check out our review of the Best Website Builders.

Other popular website builders are: WordPress, WIX, Weebly, Squarespace, and Shopify.

STEP 10: Set up your business phone system

Getting a phone set up for your business is one of the best ways to help keep your personal life and business life separate and private. That’s not the only benefit; it also helps you make your business more automated, gives your business legitimacy, and makes it easier for potential customers to find and contact you.

There are many services available to entrepreneurs who want to set up a business phone system. We’ve reviewed the top companies and rated them based on price, features, and ease of use. Check out our review of the Best Business Phone Systems 2023 to find the best phone service for your small business.

Recommended Business Phone Service: Phone.com

Phone.com is our top choice for small business phone numbers because of all the features it offers for small businesses and it's fair pricing.

Is this Business Right For You?

Surfers are people who enjoy the surfing lifestyle. Every day is a day at the beach when the waves are good. Surfers who want to teach others are even more special because they need to have patience when being an instructor for first-time learners. The best surfers enjoy daily surfing and catching good waves for them is a spiritual experience.

If you find yourself in the ocean water every day looking for the next great wave, you are a real candidate for this business as long as you also like working with other people to teach them how to surf better.

Want to know if you are cut out to be an entrepreneur?

Take our Entrepreneurship Quiz to find out!

Entrepreneurship Quiz

What happens during a typical day at a surfing school?

Check the weather. Be sure to know the surf conditions. Get the surfboards ready for your surfing students by waxing them and making sure there are no problems with the boards like broken fins, cracks, and missing tethers. In places where the ocean water is cold, you will need to check and maintain the wetsuit equipment as well to look for tears and repair them. Check the schedule for the students that have reservations and contact them as a reminder of their appointment time that day.

For an online business, which does not operate a surf shop, online marketing is essential. Online marketing includes having content on your website and distributing it to your email subscription list. Examples of this content are surfing articles, blog posts, and newsletters, which make good use of keywords and phrases for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). You may want to run a pay-per-click advertising campaign as well to attract traffic to your website. If you are not able to do these things yourself, you will have to hire freelance workers to help you and each day check their work.

If you run a surf shop, you need to make sure the store looks nice and you need to maintain a nice inventory of surf-related things for sale. In tourist areas, you may get customers that buy something from the shop as a souvenir and do not necessarily take surfing lessons.

What are some skills and experiences that will help you build a successful surfing school?

In order to run a surfing school, you have to be an excellent surfer or hire those good surfers as instructors. You will also need to be able to explain the basic surfing skills to “newbies,” who want to learn something fun to do in a few hours. You can start by simply teaching a single student some of the things you know. If you get them to buy you a beer after a lesson, you are in business! Many start in this most simple way by getting a reputation at a particular beach and being open-minded about teaching others. For the more advanced students, you will need to give them tips that help them learn the special circumstances about the waves in a specific locale.

While not required by law, any individual that wants to run a certified surfing school should follow the process of the International Surf Association (ISA), which controls the prerequisites that a surfing instructor is required to follow. An official ISA-certified surfing coach must renew his or her registration every year to remain status as a certified surfing instructor.

A word of caution is appropriate here. In congested surfing areas, which are popular, there is a very strong local presence. These local surfer gangs protect their best surf areas from intrusion by outsiders, even to the point of violence. Do not expect to walk up to a good surfing area on a beach where nobody knows you and start giving surfing lessons. In order to gain acceptance by the locals, you will need to already be a good surfer and take the time necessary to befriend the local surfer gangs in order not to experience this severe resistance to outsiders.

What is the growth potential for a surfing school?

A surfing school business, which concentrates on giving lessons, is limited to locations with the proper conditions of ocean waves and climate. There are about twenty great areas in the world with enough visitors to make establishing a surfing school worthwhile in those places.

More established companies of this type generally do not increase in size, but rather by the demand for the surfing lessons. The limits include the rental equipment available, the number of instructors for the school, and the maximum number of students permitted for each class. This results in waiting lists for popular surfing schools.

Some very successful surf shops, such as the O’Neill Surf Shop make millions in annual revenues from selling items in their shops and online that relate to their surfing brand. This is a much larger revenue stream than the money coming from giving surfing lessons.

Offering surf lessons is still important and that is how the O’Neill Surf Shop started and then gained its international brand recognition. Being near Santa Cruz, California, in the little town of Capitola, the O’Neill brand represents the California surfing lifestyle made popular by so many movies. Even non-surfers like to feel they are part of that surfing culture.

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Take the Next Step

Find a business mentor

One of the greatest resources an entrepreneur can have is quality mentorship. As you start planning your business, connect with a free business resource near you to get the help you need.

Having a support network in place to turn to during tough times is a major factor of success for new business owners.

Learn from other business owners

Want to learn more about starting a business from entrepreneurs themselves? Visit Startup Savant’s startup founder series to gain entrepreneurial insights, lessons, and advice from founders themselves.

Resources to Help Women in Business

There are many resources out there specifically for women entrepreneurs. We’ve gathered necessary and useful information to help you succeed both professionally and personally:

  • Funding
  • Events
  • Guides
  • Support

If you’re a woman looking for some guidance in entrepreneurship, check out this great new series Women in Business created by the women of our partner Startup Savant.

How and when to build a team

Starting with yourself as the first instructor, you will want to add more instructors if you can create sufficient customer demand for the surfing lessons. These instructors can work on an as-needed basis when there are enough reservations booked for the classes.

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