It’s a funny thing about this group of folks – most of you get very little credit for the success of your park, and yet most of you have taken your parks to heights that only the first generation could dream about!
Here is a typical journey:
In the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s your parents either started or purchased the campground. By the time you were 12 or 13 you were working the park all summer – mowing lawns, helping customers, taking folks to their sites, running the store, cleaning the bathrooms and just about everything else! Fast forward a few years and you’re 18 and are the General Manager of the park and not getting credit for it – usually with NO OPTION FOR COLLEGE. A few years later your parents want to retire and you ARE their option. So you do what is expected of you and figure out a way to buy it.
Then on comes the internet, social media, and intense marketing. All of the sudden you blow up the park to several times what it was worth when you took over. You have become an expert in Business Management without the knowledge and use of all the fancy terms, but you know how to make money and your bank account shows it! Things like NOI, ROI, CAP RATES, EBITDA, and CASH on CASH mean very little to you, but spoken in campground speak – you know them all! I can help you bridge some of this lingo, if you’re looking to expand the park or refinance or even sell!
A few years later you have children graduating high school and you and your children have the luxury of deciding about college. Off to school they go! 4 years or so later they come back with a degree and NO INTEREST in running a campground! They say things like, “we see how hard you work every weekend to make sure someone else has a great vacation!” – That is not for me! Even if the 3rd generation does want in, you can use my help to get you a proper valuation of the park – and I will do this for free!
