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. This camp
would be gender specific for each period of time. There should be less issues by
not mixing genders. 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.
There would be premium alcohol upgrade packages for those that want finer
beverages and brands. 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. There will be dinner themes and costume nights
planned beforehand for better camp participation and experience. 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. 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. Due to alcohol consumption, the age of
counselors would be 21 or older. 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 influencers as 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.
Changes from first draft of Venture concept:
I changed the counselor ages to 21+ since alcohol was being served. I clarified that cabins would be gender specific. I added premium alcohol packages for more profit. I added the package for influencers to attend camp first to get the word out on social media afterwards. I added dinner themes and costume contests. My next steps didn't change much after conversations suing first venture concept.
