Clayton Nienaber & Jeremy Dean on How to Grow a Surfing Business

Author: Jade Green
Published: Sun 06 Dec 2020
Episode Link: https://shows.acast.com/barrelsandbusiness/episodes/clayton-nienaber-jeremy-dean-on-how-to-grow-a-surfing-busine

Meet the team behind Amanzi Surf, Clayton Nienaber and Jeremy Dean.

Clayton is a high-performance surfing coach and has worked the cream of the crop. His style is part brutally honest feedback and part mind-bending allegories.

Add to that picture Jeremy Dean, Amanzi Surf's "IT guy.” By trade, this barrel chaser is a digital product manager and marketing professional in the tech field. He's applied his talents and love for the water to growing the Amanzi Surf community.

In this episode, get set for one "Claytonism" after another. These little golden nuggets of surfing knowledge are priceless for any surfer, whether you're a grom or world-class. Hear how Clayton has come up with these hacks to help anyone with their surfing.

Clayton's not just an awesome coach, but he's an epic shaper. Learn how he picked up his skills and hear some insights about figuring out the right board for you. Through the episode, he weaves his story about how he transitioned from being a shaper to coaching people to landing in Australia from South Africa.

Growing a business is like messy waves; the route's totally unpredictable. Jeremy chats about figuring out things, learning, pain points, and frustration. Get some raw advice from their branding challenges. Jeremy also dives into some wins, like how one of their vids went viral. Hear lessons learned in the five years they have working on the program.

At every stage of the journey, Clayton and Jeremy's love of surfing has sustained what they do. If you're having fun, it shows in the product.

Tune-in for a raw conversation stuffed with surfing advice and business lessons. And don’t miss out at the end of the video Jade being coached by Clayton and going arse up! #kookslams

Key points

15:50: How Clayton and Jeremy started their business by planning an online program, with Clayton Nienaber recording a gazillion "little golden nuggets."

20:45: Clayton talks about finding "trigger words" or hacks to help people with their surfing

23:25: Clayton is known as an epic surfboard shaper. How did he become a coach?

33:35: Surfing's more crowded now that everyone has time to do it

35:10: When Clayton was learning to be a shaper he felt like a fraud because he was just copying

36:55: Clayton's steps to figuring out the right board

39:05: All about the business of surfing: adding things and learning, figuring out their market and their pain points

43:40: A Claytonism for catching waves and pushing the cream out of Oreos

46:10: Talking about the creation of one of their viral posts and how it came about

57:40: Surfing's a tough sport; you have to love it. Same with business. You've got to enjoy what you do.

1:04:45: Tackling points of frustration as they grew their business; Jeremy on why price anchoring was so crucial

1:10:30: The catalyst for change: they got disillusioned but then got back into making the videos and keeping the vibe fun

1:16:50: The wave of progression: you got to suck before you get better

1:21:20: Jeremy on survival in a corporate world. It's like working five jobs at once. Lesson learned–you don't need a suit and tie to be successful.

1:29:10: What matters in selecting a brand. Picking brand names and what you need to do first

Key takeaways & quotes

You have got to learn how to market to the right demographic. Research and know your target market.
"Not only do you have to know how boards work, but you have to understand where they work. A lot of people don't have that background knowledge."
"If you're in control of your body, you can pretty much ride anything. And that's what we're going to do to make you ride everything."
"Funny thing about surfing– what you think it is as opposed to the real knowledge as to what it is, is just the polar opposite."
"If you can figure out what the bus stop is, and then you use those techniques, surfing can be effortless. You can surf with a lot of power and a lot of style."
Knowledge is one thing, but you don't understand it until it's been proven to you.
One of the hardest things to do is change our habits. Our brains are lazy, and we default to habits. We have to come up with ways to reteach the body.
Preparation is crucial to success in every sport, surfing included. "You don't just show up and be like, 'all right, cyclone season's here. I'm going to go ahead and rip it.' You do some prep. In every other sport, that's normal."
You've got to get inside the head of your target customer. What keeps them up at night? What's stressing them out? Focus on them and what they need.
Return on investment is important. Every idea you back has a cost. Think about the time you lose or gain by backing a specific thing in your business.

Connect with Me and the Barrels and Business Community

Website: https://www.barrelsandbusiness.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/barrelsandbusiness/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barrelsandbusiness/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jadegreenau/

YouTube: https://bit.ly/jadegreenyt

Acast: https://shows.acast.com/barrelsandbusiness/episodes/welcome-to-the-barrels-and-business-podcast

Connect with Clayton Nienaber and Jeremy Dean

Amanzisurf.com https://bit.ly/ombesurf

Clayton on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/clayton.surf.1

Clayton on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/clayton-nienaber-5197a7101/

Clayton on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/claytonsurfboards/