With all of these concerns, who do dealers turn to? Often, nobody.

Pity the poor powersports dealer.

When a dealer faces a particular concern, whether regarding back-office functions, technical issues or pending legislation, more than one-third of dealers say they have no one to turn to. Other top responses included 23 percent who turn to state or federal legislative bodies and 12 percent who look to their OEMs for help.

"I don't know how in the [heck] they could live without an association for them," says Phil Keeter, president of the Chicago-based Marine Retailers Association of America. The organization is comprised of 3,900 marine dealers that derive at least 75 percent of their annual revenue from the retail side of recreational boating. Although powersports dealers associations exist in many states, only a few are active and none has a national presence in the powersports arena like MRAA does in the marine industry.

The closest organization for powersports is the Motorcycle Industry Council, a nonprofit for makers and distributors of motorcycles, scooters, ATVs, aftermarket parts and apparel. Although dealers specifically are prohibited from membership, many do turn to the MIC for resources and industry data.

MRAA did attempt to reach out to personal watercraft dealers about 15 years ago when those vehicles were coming on the scene, "but we didn't get much response ... which is a shame," Keeter says. MRAA would be open to helping dealers form their own national organization. "We'd be happy to consider something like that," Keeter says.

One potential problem with a national group would be dealing with different laws in each state, says Bonnie Jones, vice president at Montgomeryville Cycle Center, Hatfield, Pa. Still, "sometimes, we could use help, sure," says Jones. "For any type of audit, sales tax or title work questions, any kind of help would be nice."

Another concern about a national organization is the lack of time to attend meetings, says Jones. Nearly 95 percent of respondents are independent dealers, and getting time away is a challenge, she says.

However, finding the time to attend educational seminars could actually pay big dividends, says Sam Dantzler, president of Retail Powersports Management Group, based in Denver. Formerly known as Lemco Management Group, the company has more than 300 powersports dealers who participate in 20 Groups, sharing monthly financial information with non-competing dealers and getting together three or four times a year to visit stores and share best practices. Actually, RPM refers to them as "20 Clubs," and Dantzler says that 16 is about the right number of members to have in each group.