Precision Sails: Growing the boat business in the waves of uncertainty

The knowledge and quality products offered by Precision Sails reflect the sailing community’s passion and love for their boats. Before the pandemic, the business was growing, and the team needed more space to expand operations, but space was hard to come by in Sidney. “Sidney is 20 minutes from Victoria, the ocean and marina is nearby. There’s not a lot of land available on the island, so we’d struggled to find space,” Darryl explained. “We’d put in multiple offers, but the deals kept falling through. We’d gotten to the point that we were renting out shipping containers, and putting them in the parking lot, as we were in a crunch.”

More funds were needed to secure space but, despite the team’s strong performance and track record, the pandemic added a challenge, with financing approval from a couple of banks falling through. “I decided to get in the car and drive around to the local banks, seeing who wanted to partner with me,” he shared.

CIBC welcomed Darryl enthusiastically and matched his passion for his business. “When I went into CIBC it was amazing,” he explained. “I got into an office talking with the team about 3 minutes.” 

The team went above and beyond to get to know Darryl and the Precision Sails business. Darryl noted, “Tracy Antonacci, our business advisor, was new to CIBC, but she was fantastic. She was in our building within a couple days to check it out. She went to the next level, spending time to get to know me and my ambitions for the business.”

The CIBC team handled Darryl’s unique requests in stride and committed to helping make the business a success. “We had some conversations about why I was making different requests, and once I explained my perspective, they just made it happen,” Darryl shared on how the relationship developed. “It is hard to build a relationship and work with a bank that cares about what you’re doing as a business owner. With CIBC it felt way different. I knew the team was representing me, they learned my business, then advocated for me.” 

The financing from CIBC has made a huge difference. The extra funds allowed Darryl and the Precision Sails team to purchase and design a new commercial space, hire more staff, improve the company website and build a better ecommerce experience. Ultimately, it has allowed Darryl to focus solely on running and growing the business. It made such a difference that Darryl transferred his personal banking to CIBC, too. “Tracy helped make sure we got everything set up as planned.”

While the right partnerships and financing offered relief, the pandemic brought on stress associated with the unexpected. “The boat market fluctuates, with guys often overleveraged buying big yachts and financing it all. Given the recession of 2008, in the back of my mind, I wanted to be careful, I didn’t want to mess up what I’ve been building,” Darryl said. “The stress started setting in trying to find out what came next. I realized I had already saved money aside. I knew at that point we were good to run without any sales volume for about half of the year before we were going to have any issues.”

The rapid change and uncertainty also contributed to growth for the business and for Darryl as a business owner. “I realized that I had been letting my guard down when times were going well,” he shared. “We moved forward and hired staff and I set out new expectations with my management team. It was very stressful along the way and we are not done yet, but we as a team have become stronger and achieved more than I imagined we would in the last year and a half.”

The timing paid off in other ways, too. Darryl’s search for a bigger space for the business was made more affordable as many companies switched to working from home. “The news was full of COVID updates and continually focused on how all commercial office space would never be revived and prices would drop,” he said. “We went shopping and got an accepted offer in April, one month after COVID started. I was able to find the building I really wanted, and I got it at a discount.”

The market shifts, new lifestyles and evolving business considerations brought on by the pandemic also helped launch Precision Sails on a new trajectory. “Throughout the pandemic, we’ve grown and we’re still growing,” Darryl said. “We’re more set up now, to the point where we can handle way more volume. We now have 22 people in Sidney in the head office and we’ve really added structure to the business. With the staff in place and space we need, we’re trying to use the resources to keep securing position in the market. I don’t see it slowing down.”

Are you a business starter looking to turn your passion into your job or grow your business? Meet with us Opens in a new window.. We’re here to help. Talk to a CIBC business advisor today by calling 1-866-992-7223. Opens your phone app.