When you take a boat offshore, you don’t just cast off and hope for the best. You create a passage plan. You know your destination, study the charts, check the tides, and plot a course. Without that plan, you’re at the mercy of winds and currents, moving, yes, but not necessarily toward where you need to go.

For founders building start-ups in the yachting and marine industry, the marketing strategy and tactics are the same.

A passage plan starts with a clear destination. For your start-up, that’s your core product or value proposition. Without choosing this “port of call,” your marketing risks becoming scattershot with each new idea a gust of wind pushing you somewhere unintended.

Sailors don’t fight the sea; they work with it. They study tides, currents, and weather patterns to align their course. Likewise, your marketing strategy should be built on an understanding of market dynamics, customer behaviour, and competitive currents. Without this, you’re sailing blind.

Out on the water, trimming sails is about efficiency getting the most from the wind without wasting energy. In a start-up, trimming your marketing “sails” means prioritizing. Not every opportunity deserves pursuit. Some winds feel promising but would only take you off course.

Every sailor knows the sea is never constant. Winds shift, squalls roll in, and sometimes the forecast is wrong. The answer isn’t to abandon the passage plan completely, but to adjust tactics. You may shorten sail, take refuge while the storm blows over, or plot a new line to reach the destination.

The same applies to marketing strategy. Market conditions will change. Customers evolve. Competitors appear. That doesn’t mean shifting your destination. It means adapting how you get there. As the saying goes, “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothing.” Preparedness, flexibility, and resilience allow you to keep moving forward even when the seas get rough.

At sea, it’s tempting to chase distant horizons or divert to shiny new harbours. But every detour costs fuel, time, and momentum. Remember, you may have limited provisions aboard. For founders, this is the equivalent of chasing secondary markets, new product ideas, or unfocused campaigns. They may look attractive, but they pull you off course from the destination that matters most.

Here’s where a Fractional CMO comes in. Just as a seasoned navigator keeps the vessel on course, a Fractional CMO provides objectivity, discipline, and focus. They’re less focussed on the tactics - the how is not really their remit - we will get into the difference between Captain, Helm, Tactician and Navigator some other time.

With a passage plan, you’re steering toward growth. Without one, you’re drifting.