ACA Home Forums starting without facilities

I've been working on a business plan and some projections, and I can't get past the cost involved in starting from scratch. Buying a "camp" or building one seems to be roughly $1,000,000 and that seems like a lot of debt to hold right off the bat.

I've been looking at sans-facilities groups like Outward Bound, which short of the equipment requirements don't have nearly the overhead of a typical camp.

Is there any guidance or experiences that you more experienced folks can share about the backpacking style camps versus the more typical brick-and-mortar establishments?

I can completely see the value in the larger and more complex facilities, but like I said I'm just really wary of getting into large debt before I have my first registration check cleared.

Honestly unless you have the money to burn dropping a million on a camp is money you will never get back in your life time. (If you start from scratch.)

Many new camps today start as day camps and build up to something. Just dropping a million and hopping kids will show up is tough.

My suggestion buy a camp that is already up and running. Or start small and build up because it would be hard to run a camp and pay off a million dollars.

Unless...

Most camps today make most of their money from non camp activities. Weddings, conferences, school field trips, ect...

So do you work and think out side the box.

If you're really interested in a traditional camp, it wouldn't hurt to start looking at schools and/or churches that would rent you space for cheap for a day camp. I had a friend do that for a couple of years and it worked pretty well. After that, building up a name and reputation, you could see about renting some land from a farmer or someone else in the community who has a lot of land that you could use part of. You would have to pitch tents, rent a Johnny On the Spot and cook your own food, but it could be done. You could also find a state/national park in the area that would let you rent their grounds for a week.

After all of that I would look at partnering with a large non-profit group that would either loan or grant you the money to start a camp.

Luke is right, though- weddings, field trips, conferences, are where the real money is made. It's the year long cash flow.

Like apalm said most camps don't start from scratch. They come from established bases of a church, city, etc. Or they start by buying a existing location and hoping some of the past campers stay on.