Maya Runs Successful Fishing Supply Company

By LOU PAVLOVICH, JR.
Editor/Collegiate Baseball

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Ryan Maya is one of those rare college baseball players who runs a business while going to college.

A righthanded pitcher for Nova Southeastern, he created his own online store called Fishing Kings Supply.

After a slow start where he had to shut down his company after a few months, he restarted it and had robust six figure sales each of the last two years.

This redshirt junior now has his days full with running a company, going to school and playing baseball.

“My fishing supply business started in May of 2016,” said Maya, who posted a 2.25 ERA last season in 17 appearances with 32 strikeouts and 17 walks for the Sharks.

“I was playing summer ball in Orlando, and my cousin was doing a similar business model and making pretty good money.

“I have been an entrepreneur with little businesses here and there. So I asked him to explain how he sold products on the internet. He gave me the log-in information to read an on-line course on what he was doing which was extremely helpful with selling online.

“I had a little bit of success that summer. But sales really started to dwindle when I went back to school that fall. So I had to shut down the internet company.

“In the summer of 2017, I played summer ball but this time in mountains of New York. I didn’t have anything to do other than play baseball.

“So it gave me the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of marketing and selling on the internet. That is the point where Fishing Kings Supply really took off as I restarted the company with much more knowledge.”

Currently he carries 100 different products on his website at www.fishingkingsupply.com which can be used in all types of fishing scenarios that include lakes, streams and oceans.

“I don’t have a physical store where I ship everything out of. I utilize drop shipping where I contact different companies I work with when orders are made. Then they ship it out to clients. That way I don’t have any inventory of products that I have to purchase myself.”

Maya said the majority of his sales come from braided fishing line.

“I found a niche within fishing that is extremely popular with fishermen. Braided line is similar to monofilament line as it can have 5 pound test all the way up to 300 pound test.

“However, braided fishing line is stronger, comes in different colors and lasts longer than monofilament line. You also can cast further with it.

“By utilizing great marketing techniques, I have been able to produce a lot of sales through advertising and videos I create.

“I also sell apparel, fishing hats, fishing shirts, hooks, lures, fishing reels, fishing line,  decorative fishing wall art, among other things. The one item I don’t sell is fishing rods.”

Maya said he has quite a few customers from the state of Florida.

“There isn’t one specific product that does well in Florida. But I also sell to people all across the country.

“I’m not a millionaire yet, but I feel like I am on the way to achieving that goal. In 2017, I had a little over six figures in sales. Then last year, I was well above that number.

“Remember these are sales figures. There are expenses that come after that. However, you could say I did very well last year.”

To read more of this story, purchase the March 8, 2019 edition of Collegiate Baseball or subscribe by CLICKING HERE. He explains how he runs his business with no employees and how his business works on the internet. This superb righthanded pitcher tells how he had a 13.50 ERA during his freshman season and nearly stopped playing baseball after that. But he found success during that summer and has pitched well ever since.