4A-Forming An Opportunity Belief

4A-Forming An Opportunity Belief

I believe there is an opportunity for adult summer camp style programs. This belief is a result of previous conversations with friends over the years. My belief is that there is a market for grown-ups to go to a day-long or week-long camp. The version of this idea that I believe would be the first to try out is a “Man Camp”. The curriculum would be things that many guys believe they should know or wish they knew more about like minor electrical work, basic carpentry, self-defense techniques, cooking basics, hygiene basics, survival techniques, and basic car repair. Experts could be brought in to give hands-on training for the day or week.

This camp would be for guys who did not get enough training on these topics from family and friends up to this point in life. Currently these guys are looking at YouTube videos or paying professionals to come in and do the work for a fee. Adult friendships could be made as a result and confidence in these basic skills could make them more prepared for life. I am 100% sure that there is a need for more knowledge on these subjects but I’m only confident that about 25% of men care about getting these skills and don’t already have that knowledge. My prototypical customer would be a male age 20-45 with moderate disposable income.

Typical Customer Discussion #1: (37 yr. old married male)

After giving a summary of my Man Camp opportunity I gained the following knowledge: he had done a camp with his son last year near Tampa and made some great memories. He didn’t think this style of camp would generate those kinds of positive memories and experiences that would encourage others to want to attend. He inquired about the location of the camp. I told him it was intended to be a lakefront type of environment in theory. He said if it was in a hotel ball room or community rec room, he would have zero interest in attending. He said he would be willing to pay $75 per day for this camp. I told him this would probably cost much more since we would be providing meals and would need to pay experts. In summary, I don’t think he was that interested.

Typical Customer Discussion #2: (42 yr. old single male)

After giving a summary of my Man Camp opportunity I gained the following knowledge: he lives in an apartment and most of the skills my camp would be teaching didn’t apply to him at this time. He said maybe in the future when he owned a house. His Father taught him some outdoor skills, so he didn’t need those. The only skills he was interested in was basic car repair. However, many cars have fewer items that can be repaired with basic tools and the absence of computer systems designed to test the car. He didn’t give a price that he would pay because I don’t believe he saw the value in attending this style of camp.

Typical Customer Discussion #3: (24 yr. old single male)

After giving a summary of my Man Camp opportunity I gained the following knowledge: he lives with his mother and was really interested in a lot of the topics I told him the camp would offer. He was very interested in the after-hours environment of this camp. I told him I hadn’t focused on the partying aspect of the camp and it was more about life skills. He seemed disappointed. He said he would pay $500 for the week but had concerns about taking a week off work to spend at a camp with nobody he knew. In Summary, he had some interest in the concept but probably wouldn’t have spent a week’s vacation going to it.

 

Assignment Summary

I was disappointed that my typical customers weren’t as interested in the Man Camp concept as I was. They never saw any glossy brochures or fun marketing videos making the camp seems awesome to attend. The level of enthusiasm was very low, and these people were my friends and acquaintances. I would imagine complete strangers would be harsher and less enthusiastic than they were. I was surprised that hanging with other guys and learning useful things wouldn’t be more of a draw.  I’m not passionate enough about the idea to ignore my small sampling of negative responses and push through the negativity. There would be too much up front capital spent on the idea to have a good chance to get my money back and make consistent profit. Maybe I’m one of the few that would pay more and take vacation to do a Man Camp. I must be in the minority. With great risk is the opportunity for great reward. I believe sometimes people who are crazy enough to take a chance on things that don’t make sense at the time are sometimes just ahead of their time. I’m not that person at this time with this concept unfortunately.