Entrepreneurs also have their dreams. In 2007, while promoted to a well-paid executive position in advertising, I turned a long-suffered dream into reality.
Thanks to some savings and a small personal loan from a bank that trusted my employment continuity, I bought a new small motor cabin boat from a Finnish boat builder (Flipper Baots, nowadays absorbed by Bella Boats).
The shipment to my location encountered serious problems during the road trip from the north to the south of Europe. Several boats, some much heavier than mine, were loaded on a trailer in Scandinavia.
During a sleep break, the transporter did not realize that the trailer brakes had overheated. The driver went to sleep while smoke appeared in the back. Little by little, it began to catch fire, and when it reached the fiberglass of the boats, everything caught on fire violently.
As if the loss were not enough, the transport company opted to save insurance expenses and took out accident insurance for the weight, not the value, of the transported goods. All boats were utterly destroyed.
Fortunately, the company that sold me the boat, assisted by the boat builder, took full responsibility. The only problem I had was a longer wait for a second newly built unit to arrive. We named it “Maiplou,” a Catalan word meaning “Never rains.”
Luckily, my bank’s financial risk did not suffer any setbacks either. I kept my management position, which made it possible to enjoy the boat for 10 years and pay all the installments punctually. In 2016, having passed wonderful family boating trips, I decided to give up my professional career at listed agencies to jump into the abyss of entrepreneurship.
First, I got rid of everything unnecessary, including the beloved Maiplou. In 2016, I made my last meters to the crane. The boat was sold to a German client living in France.
Eight years later, having built a new agency from scratch, I returned to the water in 2024. Boating requires money, and payment capacity requires tremendous effort, unwavering determination, and a bit of luck.
I learned to sail during my eight years of building our own company. I learned to be even more cautious, to consider the value of slight breezes, to know how to keep calm when things get complicated, and to be aware of the risks of sailing through life.
Most importantly, I regained a decent income, which allowed me to buy the “Milos.” It is an old 1996 rock-solid sailboat from the German boat builder Dehler. Now, I can sail alone for work and my dream. Boating as a boat owner became a reality for the second time.
If you are interested in how I gained control over my financial stability, I wrote a book that contains the receipts that worked for us.
Although it is not exactly a book about navigating the waters, it is an essay to help anyone who wants to make dreams come true. It is not a book about making money quickly; be wary of those pipe dreams! To navigate your company and life safely, you must proceed with discipline, like when sailing. Here is our startup story.
Philipp Fürst 