The SUP Online Academy and Rhine River SUP with Peter Rochel - 023

Peter is a serial entrepreneur in Cologne, Germany with a passion for water sports and standup paddleboarding.  Peter runs an innovation company and water sports business and has found a way to combine his two passions with his SUP Online Academy. Peter is very involved in the German SUP community, is the standup paddleboarding head of the German Surfriders Federation and is a SUP instructor on the Rhine River. His online river SUP classes have enabled him to expand his reach to SUP students exponentially and in turn has driven more demand to local SUP shops for in-person follow-up coaching.  Inventing new ideas and trying to find new ways to do things more efficiently along with being on the water is his passion.

In this interview, we discuss:

• Peter’s early introduction to water sports at the early age of 3 and how his passion grew through years of being on the water
• How moving inland changed his focus from sailing, white water rafting and windsurfing to river SUP
• Urban legends about the Rhine River, how important safety is, dangerous currents and why instruction and skill is critical in river SUP
• Motivation behind taking the River SUP program online, generating a passive and repetitive income stream
• Strategy and the thought process behind designing the online instruction, for both beginners and advanced levels
• Initial reactions by shops to his online SUP courses and how the inverse happened generating more business for shops and creating more demand
• Benefits of his SUP podcast, offering a platform for German team riders, sharing stories and adventures and awareness of the sport
• Seasonal challenges in SUP. Local water sport shops and SUP stations close for the winter, shutting off access to equipment and options for off season instruction
• 100km day trip challenge down the River Rhine

How to find Peter:

• Facebook @peter.rochel 
• LinkedIn @peterrochel
• Twitter @peterrochel
• SUP Online Academy:
  • SUP-OnlineAcademy.com
  • Facebook @SUPOnlineAcademy
  • Instagram: @SUPOnlineAcademy
• Der SUP Podcast: iTunes, Spotify Overcast

LINKS REFERENCED:

• 7 TIPs to Fill Your SUP Classes eBook
• Aqua Adventures Kayak and Paddleboards
• Classes That Sell Themselves Virtual Workshop
• German Surfriders Federation
• German Lifesaving Association
• Unleashed: Making Money On and Off The Water Community
• Water Safety Clinic

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!

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Special thanks to Peter for joining the show!