24A - Venture Concept No. 1

ENT 3003: Venture Concept

Brian Kalch

Adults-only camp

 

Opportunity:

Adults wishing to participate in a different activity or vacation that is not readily available currently. They need to be offered an alternative to the vacation and activity destinations currently offered. Potential customers are adults who have disposable income, are employed with vacation time, are physically active with outgoing personalities. The market would be adults in the Southeast and it is unlikely this will be a national destination point for visitors. Potential customers are currently going to Las Vegas with friends, renting cabins for fishing excursions, and reuniting in ball rooms and conference rooms for reunions. This is a moderate sized opportunity but will be difficult to scale as the locations and amenities are crucial to the interest levels of participants. The window of opportunity is long term as there will be interest among new generations.

 

Innovation:

This is a new style of vacation or camp. Typically, camps are focused on children, religious youth groups, and boy/girl scouts. Summer camps are also an option. What is innovative about this business opportunity is that it is marketed to adults. It will include activities that children can do as well as provide alcoholic beverages and adult themed activities. This is rarely offered in the current camp atmosphere. The adult camp would provide short term weekend getaways as well as weeklong vacation style packages.  The adults would sign up to fill each cabin of approximately 10 people. Any cabins not completely filled would be completed with smaller groups to get to 10 people per cabin. Upon arrival the campers would be directed to their cabins. Once given time to unpack and meet their camp counselor, we would have a welcome party to explain the calendar of events and rules. We would provide sign up sheets for additional cost excursions and activities that are not part of the standard camp package. Campers would be fed three times a day and the campers would be responsible for part of the total camp cooking, cleaning, and serving on a rotational basis to cut labor costs. Each day there would be activities for the campers. Towards the end of the camp experience there would be a cabin competition which would determine winners that will be presented awards at the final campfire night of the camp. The average cost per head per day would be approximately $125. Short term weekend campers would be $150 per day and long-term campers would be $100 per day. There would be one paid counselor per cabin on 10 people. We would offer unpaid internships to people who want to gain community service hours for scholarships. The additional activities that are additional fees would be offered only if profitable to run. These activities will be comfort based for those campers not wishing to have a rugged and basic experience. Activities offered would include zip-lining, swimming, survival skill training, fishing, basketball, volleyball, flag football, kickball, diving, water skiing, hiking, archery, bb gun range, and many other activities.

 

Venture Concept:

With all the negativity going on in the world this camp would be a getaway for adults to have fun with current friends and make new friends. Many folks went to camps as kids and have fond memories. Many wish they could have attended due to economic reasons and now want to have that experience. Other folks who may meet friend’s yearly are tired of going to the same place such as Las Vegas or their former hometown. This camp would offer a new experience for adults.  This would be something different than what they are used to. Word of Mouth and a good Social Media campaign would be crucial to the long-term success of this business. Seeing pictures and videos of friends, family, and acquaintances on social media attending an adult camp would catch their attention. Once the business was established, we would then move to a themed camp to try and attract repeat visitors by offering a different experience than what they had previously. There are camps around the Southeast that market to children. If the adult experience was not sufficient enough to make a profit, we could always fall back on to allowing children and be a traditional camp part of the year to supplement income. The roles that would need to be filled are Camp Director which I will fulfill at first, Camp safety coordinator, camp marketing/finance Director, Activities director, and one camp counselor per 10 attendees. The “secret sauce” of our camp would be adult only activities that customers could not get at a traditional camp.

 

Next steps would be acquiring the land and facility and getting activities ready to be performed. Acquiring insurance and legal certifications for employees would be next. During this time, we would set an opening week and start marketing to customers with stock file photos. These would be updated with employees once we were close to starting the camp. There would be introductory offers to the first campers and an agreement to post on their social media numerous times to get the discount. I would keep my current job until the opening of the camp and then take a leave of absence to focus on the business. I would partner with the American Camp association to try and get free press and contact opportunities.