RV Campground ownership?

[Nords]

Originally Posted by TromboneAl

This camping style was very consistent. With no disrespect to the happy campers, the overall feel is more homeless encampment than campground.
Does that sound like a fair characterization, Nords?

If you saw this on the North Shore around Mokuleia or just about everywhere on the west side past Ko'olina, then that's exactly what it is...

Unlike those areas, Bellows AFS and a few other public campgrounds get a heavy weekend family recreational business. However the two-person pup tents with a cooler of food and a couple beach chairs seem to be a thing of the past. You can't hold your head up at today's local campground unless you have a high-clearance 4WD pickup, a 10-person tent with a screened dayroom, an electrical generator for all the things you came to the "wilderness" to try to escape, a propane grill that could cook a luau piggie, two cords of lumber for your fire pit, and KCCN FM 100 blasting on your speakers for the comfort of the other campers. Bonus points if you bring a second generator & blower to set up a bounce house for the kids.

I guess I can see how that sign came into existence after all.

Me, I'll be that tiny dot on the horizon looking for peace & quiet on my longboard...

[dex]

KOA campground workshop
Campground for Sale - KOA

How much money will you need?

KOA recommends that you have available cash of not less than $225,000 to get started. Costs to construct a new campground can range from $750,000 to well over $1 million, and you'll need sufficient funds to get the project underway and sustain construction and operations until the campground is up and running.
New Construction Franchise Fees
The fee for a new franchise is $30,000.

[winnie]

Hi Brewer:

We were left a (beautiful, waterfront) seasonal RV park (100 spaces) several years ago my my FIL.

At that point, we had never a) run our own business or b) owned an rv. No-one else in the family wnanted it, so we ended up running it by default.

Class A vs Class C's vs 5th wheels -- all greek to us then. We had a very steep learning curve.

We have now been operating for six years, and business is booming. The RV industry is growing all the time, RV-ers are getting younger (and wealthier) and there are less and less RV parks with nice amenities for all these new RV-ers to go to (with land getting expensive, many long time RV parks in our area are being sold off for condos/development). Which means, if you run your park well, keep it up nicely, and are able to add all the new amenities that today's rv-ers want, you will have a great business with a lot of cash flow.

That said, it is HARD WORK. Working for mega corp was WAY EASIER.
Dealing with customers is very difficult, and if you are not the easygoing type, you will probably give yourself high-blood pressure in no time flat.

Dealing with labor issues is equally difficult. Yes, you can find temporary workampers on Workamper, but we have had very mixed results using this source. So we are thrown back on the local labor-pool which is very tight.

Bottom line, there's a lot of money to be made IF you buy the right park (i.e. close to some major attraction/or is itself a "destination park"), and cash flow will easily cover the upgrades you will need to make. But prepare to commit more physical and emotional energy to the project than you have to any other job. The typical RV park owner lasts about 7 years, according toindustry publications.

we keep at it because our park is in a beautiful natural setting and because it has been very rewarding to see our business grow every year. Also, we are seasonal, which means we have about 4 months off every year to recoup. (the park is open for 6 months but it takes about a month to open up and a month to close down.)

winnie

[dex]

If I was looking for a business similar to an RV park it would be a storage facility.

[chinaco]

Some interesting thoughts posted about businesses.

Due to the large demographic shift, there are going to be some emerging and growing (small) business opportunities in the services area.

If one decided to run it themselves on a seasonal basis a low effort/low head ache biz make sense.


I also agree with the idea some one posted... I you cannot net enough return to beat the money invested in a diversified portfolio, why do it.

In other words: (Total Rev - Personal Wages (for effort spent) - All other expenses - Taxes) should be greater that post tax market investment in a conservative diversified portfolio.

It also occurs to me that many people just wind up buying a low wage/no wage job.