2023 PLANNING IN FULL EFFECT!
We are celebrating FIVE YEARS in business as we prepare to launch our 2023 season!
If you asked me in 2018 where I’d be in five years I’d have no answer, only the bubbling ideas that became what Paddle Time Kayaks is today. The initial plan was to rent kayaks over the phone and deliver them to different clients around the river each day. That plan was quickly realized as not feasible due to the fluctuations in water depths due to the tidal changes, and at low tide, it’s simply too shallow. And so we found our favorite “kayaker friendly” roadside spot to meet people on the Shark River Hills side of Shark River, we dialed in on the tides and how to forecast our reservation schedule, and have been evolving approach and services ever since!
In 2020, “kayaking near me” quickly became a Google Search sensation and all the hard work I put into our website made our online analytics shine and it became quite the motivator! The phones where ringing multiple times a day and by mid-June I knew no matter how reluctant I was to it, we would need to implement online reservations – even if just for my own sanity as I tried to balance this “passion project” with my full time job at Shore Systems Group. We also set up a new VOIP phone system and by the end of the season we were fully automated. Albeit we had to wiggle through those changes mid season which was not ideal, but we did it – and we had our best season that year!
In 2021 and 2022, we had consecutive years of settling from the chaos of the pandemic. It wreaked havoc for us just like everyone else. Jeremy, the co-founder of Paddle Time Kayaks, hit his thresholds of contentment with his management position for “big name” retail store employer and took a leap of faith into the bike mechanic industry with Brielle Cyclery. This career shift was strategic for the benefit of Paddle Time Kayaks and it felt like an opportunity that was “made” for him.
Team work makes our dream work!
As we began the ‘22 season working together as a team, each weekend we realized more and more that our potential was real. While we couldn’t do the changes in those moments, we did our best to keep things on track with setting 2023 goals and keeping our “life plates” spinning without dropping one – and we did it again and got through last season with great satisfaction. Though we didn’t break our 2020 sales record, it was only a motivator because we know that WE CAN BREAK IT!
So, here we are in January of 2023 with big hopes, new ideas and shifts in our approaches to our operations. We hope this will leave us to see our best and most fun season yet. Will you be joining us and helping us to see this goal through? We hope so!
We are aiming to provide hourly rentals on Deal Lake (you’ll have to see our schedule for those dates) and also provide more opportunities for “Intro to Kayaking” clinics. Paddle Time Parties are a great way to gather a group of friends for an afternoon of fun on the water and when everyone splits the cost, it’s cheaper than our hourly rental, so plan ahead and reap the discounts of our group events that are planned in advance. We also love to hear from Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops. Schedule with us ASAP and consider a rain date! We know from experience a back up date is always a good idea!
One last thing, if you have supported us in any of our previous seasons we would be remiss not to shout out a big, GIGANTIC actually, thank you! We truly are passionate about the sport of kayaking and sharing our knowledge about safe paddling practices on Shark River and our nearby water ways.
Please keep us in mind the next time you want to kayak and we’ll see you down by the river real soon!
Blue Skies & Calm Winds,
Kira Lang
