The
Question
Dale,
Love your weekly advice! I would like to know if it is feasible to own a
campground and keep your home life too. We want to buy a campground that is
about 1 hour from where we live. I would run the campground, driving there and
back everyday. Kind of like a normal job. My father and husband would be doing
the maintenance. My father is semi-retired. My husband wants to keep
his job for many reasons, but two are, the insurance and the income. We have two
children, ages 13 and 15. In the summer months the kids and I would stay at the
campground most of the time. We have six years until they are both in college.
Until they are finished, we need his income to pay for college. Also, the kids
do not want to live at the campground permanently.
I would like to know if this scenario will work, and if any other owners out
there have tried this.
Signed,
Anxious
CAMPGROUND
OWNERS REPLY:
OWNER
NUMBER ONE:
In
reply to the email from Anxious, we don't think that this scenario would work at
all. In our opinion, owning and operating a campground is not a "job" it is a
lifestyle and to do it correctly you need to be totally hands on and able to
handle situations as they arrive and give "personal" attention to all of the
campers when it is needed most” nights and weekends.
And after
reading the other responses:
Hi Dale,
After reading all of the other comments
from campground owners to Anxious, I would like to add that the type of
campground they are buying could make a big difference as to whether or not
this would work. Since the majority of our campers are "overnighters", we
have a more demanding work schedule (I'm assuming) than a park that is
mainly seasonals, that tend to be more self-sufficient. Bottom line though
is if it is something that you sincerely want to succeed in and put forth
that effort...anything is possible!
OWNER
NUMBER 2:
I'll try to answer the
question about home life and the campground:
1) Depends on how they
define home life...
2) The way we run our campground, we go home (for us a stones throw away) at a
certain hour and don't return until the next morning when the campground opens.
3) We also take time off. Because we have good/trustworthy/reliable employees
this affords us to take a weekend off a month and take off Sundays.
4) Be sure to have a good overnight check in procedure and posted store hours
that people can rely on. Customers will work around your schedule.
5) We have found that
people rarely bother us at home. When they do they are either totally clueless
or there is an emergency.
Hope this helps.
MY
ANSWER:
It will work. I have seen
it work…. You deal with the situation. The key is
. “In the
summer months the kids and I would stay at the campground most of the time.”
What does this mean? You have to have someone on duty 24/7 during the season.
If you have that you can do exactly what she says. Ideal? Probably not, but
life never is. ANOTHER OWNER CHIMES
IN:
Hi Dale
I agree with your recommendation to the potential buyer, if he wants it to work,
it will work. My campground is approximately 400 miles from where I live and
work from September through May - I schedule work that needs to be done during
the week days during the month of June which has
been typically slow since kids in the area don't get out of school until the
last week of June due to snow days during the winter months. Most of my campers
come from a 25 mile radius and those with children can't camp during the week
until school is out. I agree with many of the points suggested by the second
owner, having reliable people make all the difference. It doesn't have to be an
employee, I have several seasonal campers who regard the campground as their
second home and look after it as if it were theirs.
Jeff Lennox
Dale:
My recommendation to this family is to wait a
few years until the kids are in college to even consider park ownership. I
have a job one hour from my park which is manageable but we do live at our
park and we are here in the season 24/7 to handle problems.
When you add all of the negatives up (distance
from the park, husbands job, kids in high school and activities, there will
be too many problems for most families to cope with. To me the biggest
problem is two young adults and the stresses that this would bring to bear
on them. I believe they should be the first consideration.
Dennis McFarland
Buttonwood Campground
Hi Dale,
I truly believe that if you make the right
arrangements; it will work. The kids will be the biggest concern here,
but if you work out a plan so that the campground is like a summer camp
for them or just be creative somehow, they will enjoy it as well. One
of the statements regularly made is so very true; when owning a
campground, it is not a job, it's a lifestyle. Your life style does not
have to be according to the book of Hoyle as long as you can make it
work. What works for one CG doesn't necessarily apply to all. It will
be hard but rewarding to say the least. If you do not try, you will
never know. I own and operate a campground from one hour away. Mine is
a little different, but I have made arrangements to make it work. I say
"Go with your heart and give it your all"
Douglas
Hi Dale,
I feel that if you are able to work out a set schedule that you
publicize for your campers, that this will help make things work.
Some people might not think that it is ideal, but that doesn't mean
that it won't work. And I agree that the most seasonal campers will
be pretty self service, provided if it is clear on your hours, etc.
The suggestion that Anxious wait a few years, might be the
difference in being able to get into the camping business at all.
After all campgrounds aren't in every county, and even if they are
in the area, they may not be for sale, or out of reach financially.
I know that I was blessed enough to get involved in the camping
industry with some pretty unconventional financing. Had I not acted
when I had the chance I would not be in the industry.
Robert Goodrich
Adirondack Fish Tales Etc.
Do you
have a comment.... e-mail it:
db@campground-data.com
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