Yorath's "Yacht of the Month," a 36' Luhrs Convertible.
Marketing and advertising budgets get hacked in lean economic times—that’s just a simple fact. And yet from a long-term survival standpoint, that’s probably one of the last moves any company should make. When a company’s marketing and advertising evaporate, the company’s visibility in the marketplace—and the company itself—usually evaporate with it.
Tom Yorath, Jr., of Yorath Yachts in Huntington Beach, Calif., knows this. That’s why despite the recession of the past few years, Yorath, who runs the 40-plus-year-old yacht brokerage business with his father, Tom, Sr., and his brother, Alan, in Huntington Harbor, has stuck with his marketing plans.
“We haven’t cut back on our marketing—that was something we knew we could not give up,” says Yorath, 46. “We’d have been disappointing our sellers, and selling ourselves short. I try to do as much marketing as I can, especially with Yachtworld. You have to get the word out on your products. Marketing keeps things going. We kept our plan in place and that helped push us forward through the difficult times.”
Forward, indeed. In 2007, Yorath Yachts reportedly saw a 30-percent increase in business. Business dropped off 10 percent from its new high in 2008—still a strong year—but dropped significantly in 2009. But based on the first quarter of 2010, Yorath says he expects the year to finish at its 2008 level.
“I would say we are healthy now in that the business has dramatically turned around,” Yorath explains. “If we do what we did in 2008, and I think we will, that will be a nice year for us. And right now our listings are down—we don’t have anymore that we did in 2008—because our sales have increased.”
The Yorath family: Tom Jr., Tom Sr. and Alan.
Yorath Yachts sells only pre-owned powerboats from “production” builders including Sea Ray, Donzi, Luhrs, Meridian, Hatteras, Tiara, Grand Banks and Ocean Alexander. Current listings include models up to 65 feet. Prices range from $30,000 to $2 million.
The Yorath family started boating in 1971 when they bought their home in Huntington Harbor. Their vessels of choice were Uniflights (no longer in production) from Washington.
“We were raised on boats,” says Yorath. “Our family would pack up the boat on Friday afternoon and head for Catalina Island, and we’d get back on Sunday night. That was how we spent our summers. So when my father left his business in ‘corporate America’ in 1983, he started a yacht brokerage. He’s involved in the business on a limited basis, but he’s still here five days a week.”
Yorath describes the economic climate of the past few years as “a challenge” for his family’s business, yet still manages to see a positive side. “If you were a buyer in 2009 your timing was perfect, because you could get the boat of your dreams at a severe discount.
“Fortunately, we have so many repeat customers and a big referral business that we were able to weather the storm,” he continues. “We knew it was coming. But as I said we have many repeat customers and great referrals, and that’s all about giving exceptional customer service. With some of our customers and their boats, we’ve sold and listed ten times.”
Although Yorath says the company has had several opportunities to sell new boats, they choose to stick with pre-owned models. He’s not opposed to taking on a new-boat line at some point in time, but nothing there is nothing on the market now that “intrigues” him enough to make that commitment. Plus, as noted earlier, business already has picked up substantially this year.
“We specialize in what we do,” says Yorath. “And we enjoy it so much.”
