Meet the next generation boatbuilder taking over the family business

Jaxen Doucette has been an entrepreneur from a young age. 

When he was nine, he started his own hardware store in a baby barn in his backyard, selling things like tools and candy — mostly to other kids in his area. 

Doucette said he made a bit of money, mostly because candy was a big seller. 

"I was always doing that. In my earlier teen years I was buying and selling a lot of stuff, four-wheelers and snowmobiles and all that stuff," Doucette said. 

"I always wanted to do something with business and never, ever wanted to work for somebody else. I always wanted to do my own thing. And here we are."

Now, he runs the fibreglass boat-building business in Miminegash, P.E.I., with his family's name over the door.

Keeping it in the family

Doucette's Boat Building builds 45-foot fibreglass fishing boats and employs 12 people year-round, though they take an extended break in the summer due to the heat. 

The company usually has four boats on the go, Doucette said, and finishes one per month. 

"It's pretty much just an assembly line," he said. "Since [lobster] fishing's been good, we've been busy. But if there's a drop in the price of lobsters it affects everything. It's a domino effect." 

The company was founded in 1990 by Jimmy Doucette, Jaxen's grandfather. He took over earlier this year after the elder Doucette died. 

"He built six or seven of his own wooden boats and then they took a mold off the last wooden boat, which gives us our fibreglass boat."

The company is currently working on its 125th fibreglass boat. The crew recently built a 45-foot cruising yacht that featured luxury finishes, but they specialize in fishing boats with custom interiors. 

A growing market

Doucette's boats can be found in P.E.I., New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and in the U.S.

"We've been here now for 20 some years and, you know, people seem to like our boats, from word of mouth," he said.

"And we go to quite a few boat shows from here to Halifax and Moncton, right down to Florida. And the internet's a big thing — Facebook and Instagram ... there's always people sharing it and commenting and I'm getting phone calls."

Doucette said his love for the business came naturally, and his family has been behind him since he opened that first hardware store.

"I was always around. My grandfather and my grandmother and my father always worked here, and my uncle always worked here. And I've just been around. We're a close family."

Doucette hopes to expand the business eventually, which would require a bigger shop and more employees. 

I always wanted to do something with business and never, ever wanted to work for somebody else ... and here we are.— Jaxen Doucette

"We're gonna keep rocking and rolling here," he said.

"The whole economy thing right now with COVID and inflation and all that — we're just going to, you know, play it by ear for now. And some day we're definitely going to be building a bigger boat, something a little bit bigger than this one."

But at the end of the day, Doucette said it's all a tribute to his grandfather Jimmy, who taught him a lot — and not just about business. 

"Make sure that you're always, you're always putting your heart into it.... And always make sure that you're doing a good job and never cut corners. And just always make sure the customer is satisfied and you're doing it to your full ability."