Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Michael Mason. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Michael, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I was in Facebook group of people asking for jet ski rentals, and noticed that all of the local rentals were already booked for the year. I realized that the demand in our area was obviously higher than the supply. This got me thinking about how we could differentiate ourselves from other jet ski rentals. We then decided we wanted to enhance their experience by focusing our business plan around maximizing their vacation time by minimizing the amount of time wasted on them picking up and dropping off their rental. Thus, the idea to deliver directly to our customer’s preferred dock was born. Rather than focusing only on providing a jet ski to a customer, we decided to focus on making the rental experience as convenient as possible by bringing the ski and all recreational accessories directly to the customer’s dock of choice. Our goal is that the customer will arrive to their vacation with the ski, life jackets, tubing equipment, etc. already waiting on them so they can jump into the lake as soon as possible. We provide on site training of how to operate the jet ski so our customers can be confident and comfortable with their rental.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a military veteran who settled down in Knoxville, TN, over 20 years ago after retiring from the air force. Through the years, my wife and I have raised our three daughters on the local lakes every summer. We especially enjoy visiting Norris Lake, and the community surrounding it. While conceptualizing this business, it was a natural fit to include my wife, Hyacinth, and oldest daughter, Kaiya, to make this a family owned and operated adventure. Hyacinth uses her technological expertise to build our website and maintain the online rental process. Kaiya brings in her experience with social media to manage customer outreach and building connections within the online lake community. In my job experiences through the years I have become accustomed to being a problem-solver in many industries. With my time on the local lakes and community, I began to notice that there was a high demand for jet ski rentals but not enough supply as rentals would be fully booked through the summer before the season even began. This brought on my initial idea to begin renting out jet skis. I also noticed that others in the industry had many other aspects to their business (marinas, a multitude of land and water rentals, etc.), which pulls their attention in many directions. Because of this, I decided I wanted to focus on providing top-of-the-line jet skis with our attention being directed fully at maximizing the experience of our customers by providing a full service rental delivered directly to their dock of choice. With our goal being convenience, we provide everything the customer will need to enjoy their vacation, including all inclusive tubing gear, life jackets, extra storage, and an on-board cooler filled with water and ice at no extra cost, as well as the option to add a fuel service. All of our jet skis have room to seat three people at a time so you can entertain the whole family all day. Our skis also contain ample storage and bluetooth audio so you can play your own music while cruising the lake. On top of it all, delivery is always free- “We bring the adventure to you!”.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Social media has made a huge impact in our outreach to those visiting our local lakes who are pursuing jet ski rentals. We began by starting a Facebook and Instagram page to share our newfound business with our friends and family. Once we decided it was time to share our business with the community, my oldest daughter, Kaiya, took over our social media accounts and took to the local lake Facebook groups. These groups provide a community of people who enjoy these lakes as much as we do and gives us a place to connect with those looking for jet ski rentals. Through these groups, we have met many likeminded people from multiple different states and have indulged ourselves in the lake-lovers community. If we were to give advice for those beginning to build their social media presence it would be post, post, post! Dive into the online communities of people who have similar interests to your services and make both personal and business connections whenever you can. We believe that sharing your personality and experiences through your social media will create a bond and trust to those in your intended community. Don’t overstress your efforts to sound “professional” or “business-like”. In our experience, people appreciate getting to know the real people behind the business, and will remember you more for it.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

We use our social media to keep in contact with our clients to continue our personal relationship as well as business relationship. We also target convenience by using our website to share local marinas and events happening so our customers can easily plan their trip. Our goal is to send our clients off with the excitement to book their next trip and share their experience with their friends when they get home.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.TennesSkiAdventures.com
• Instagram: tennesskiadventures
• Facebook: TennesSki Adventures
• Other: TikTok: tennesskiadventures