“%&#$, man! I just want to be an instructor and earn enough to do it full time. I’ve tried to make it work but I feel like it’s impossible”
Sam
We totally get Sam’s frustration. This is why we got into business, to help people like him to thrive with as little barriers as possible. We’ll tell you how.
There are two options to earn a living as a dive instructor (people with rich parents are the exception squinty, jealous eyes). One way is by earning a salary. The other is by commission or tips. Salaries provide job security but it can also mean earning as little as USD $20,000 a year. Commission carries greater risk but it also gives you more opportunity to take home more money each year. Both are viable options. Let’s be honest, though, an instructor salary of USD $20-25K really isn’t enough to live on, especially as the cost of living continues to soar - how do we cancel inflation?!
What we often see are instructors who choose to work for dive shops and try their luck at making more by way of commission. Unfortunately, these same instructors will typically end up with a secondary job in order to stay ahead of their bills. This is the reality of our dive industry. We guarantee either you or someone you know is in this position right now. Either that or they are living well below the poverty line and you need to bake them a bacon and egg pie ASAP!
Although Synergy Diving is a business, it is more of a passion project of ours. Both of us - the co-founders - have full time jobs that we enjoy and thankfully pay well (could we be your rich parents? No). The point we are trying to make is this: making money is not what drives us. Making people happy by helping them work and thrive in an increasingly competitive dive industry is. Dive shops currently dominate the dive industry which is why we have made it our mission to provide instructors with an additional avenue to do what they enjoy while maximizing their take home pay.
That’s right, we don’t take a cut of your earnings. Whatever you list a course or diving experience for is what your take home pay will be.
To put this into context, a dive shop will charge roughly USD $400 per student for a PADI Open Water course. As an instructor you might make $120 in commission (and this is us being generous!). If you fill up a course with, say, four students that’s $480 (less tax) in take home pay. If you listed that same course through Synergy Diving you would take home $1600 (less tax). In essence, you could run thirteen Open Water courses over the period of a year and make more money than an instructor who works full time on salary.
The best part? At Synergy Diving, we support instructors who want to work at a dive shop AND list their courses through our online booking platform. We don’t enforce non-compete agreements. There are no prohibitive conditions. No cloak and dagger business practices.
Perhaps you’re a freelance instructor who already has their own website where you market your courses? We support you too! We will even offer you the use of our secure booking system to enable safe and secure credit card transactions. Using Synergy Diving does not mean cannibalising your existing business or source of income.
It’s our philosophy that everyone in the diving community deserves a fair go. We really do just want to help you succeed.
So, if you’re like Sam and feeling frustrated about your ability to earn a living and do what you enjoy then make sure to get in touch! We would be happy to assist you in setting up a free account.
Happy diving!
The Team at Synergy Diving