Came Up With an Idea for a Business Just Not Sure

[big rockpile]

ok every river but ours has an Float Outfitter.Our Son says our river would be Great because it hasn't been trashed like the others and it's close to Kansas City.That we might as well start an Outfitter Business,someone will before long.

Great idea on making money.It will change the way the river is now and we really don't need to do this.

Thoughts?

Went swimming yesterday





big rockpile

[blooba]

The biggest problem you will have besides obtaining river front property is getting people to come out in the middle of nowhere. Unless you are on a heavily traveled highway its hard to get word of mouth started when noone has been out there.

[meanwhile]

It is a good idea. A very good idea. But, careful planning can mean the difference of Success (!) and failure or sure trouble. We want Success for you - so plan ahead, carefully and get advice from those who can help.

Is there a free Small Business Center near you? In North Carolina every Community College has a Small Business Center where they help local businesses learn and be successful. My older sons are taking classes now and it has saved them thousands of dollars already plus un-told amounts of trouble.

Find a good source of advice and help and your idea can become very Successful!

Here are some things to think about. I do not mean to "wet blanket" the idea since I think it is a very good one. But, planning ahead for everything can mean Success or a sad and expensive failure.

Ideas to think about:

The "put in" and "take out" locations are important. Also, you will need an insurance policy for the rafts/floats and another policy for any vehicles used in transporting people to and from the "put in" and "take out" spots.

My son has worked for several Rafting / River businesses. There is much more involved than one would think.

For example, at one "take out" spot, it was on State owned property. More than one River Raft-Float businesses used the same "take out" location. The State got involved in order to make a schedule and be sure that everyone had equal access. Then....more rig-a-ma-roll got going when people decided they must have a bathroom...which meant a composting toilet set-up.

At another business, local folks complained of traffic when a business just rented out the floats/rubber rafts. The customers were parking illegally in the yards and on the gardens of private property and leaving trash at the "take out" and "put in" areas.

Other concerns are:
-if a customers who has rented your raft/floats, decides to get off the river onto private property and....steal something....or just "go potty" where they are not supposed to go.
-customers who are drinking (police and sheriff got involved near here to clean up drinking on a local river and that, in turn, invoked local rafting companies)
-traffic and parking / any where that any customer would park for any amount of time would involve any one nearby who would be effected by the parking (this can be good and bad / people will whine and complain about traffic but others will be thankful that your customers add to their business like buying gas or snacks)
- Value Added things: You can sell sunscreen, shoes, towels, you can charge for showers after they get off the river, sell picnic snacks, sell beer for AFTER the trip (this would involve licenses,etc.)
- You can add camping nearby

Take a look at all the web sites for any similar business in your state and in every state nearby.

As you get ready - set up a Facebook page and put good photos. Get a web site of your own. If you are working with a Small Business center of some sort they may help you set up the web site and even pay for it. I know of one business near here that is getting a free web site design, free hosting, etc - it is all part of the Small business help place.

Good luck! Do lots of reading and research and plan ahead. I bet it will work out after good planning. Best wishes to you!

[Maura]

If you want to have more control over what happens to the river, limit the expeditions. Go through hotels that tend to have family or business events and offer the river raft/canoe tour as a group event. This way, you can have all tour groups planned ahead. The groups will tend to cluster on the weekends, or during the week, depending on which type of groups attend the hotel(s).

If you do this a higher level of "professionalism" would be expected. This would be in the form of clean polo shirts and hats with the name of your company, well kept up docks where necessary, maps of where they will be going, bottled water for the guests in a small cooler that is strapped to the raft/canoe, etc. Not expensive, just thoughtful.

[big rockpile]

Well all the take outs would be on Government Land,13,18 and 22 miles so a couple of Floats would be over night.But there is camping and Toilet at the 13 mile.

My Son has been at this for years and he says that it's all Government Land.Only thing I would have to check into is what he has dealt with is State Land this will be Federal.As matter fact short part of this float looks like river but actually is Lake.

I could fix up Camping on my Property,already have access to some equipment and Financial Backing.

My only concern is if I started this from what I've seen there is no stopping once started and with more people comes Trashing and Overfishing,plus much harder on Law Enforcement as far as Under Age Drinking and Drugs.

big rockpile

[big rockpile]

Just seen on the News the river my Son works on they made 40 arrest for Drugs and various other things today.

big rockpile

[Awnry Abe]

Originally Posted by big rockpile

Just seen on the News the river my Son works on they made 40 arrest for Drugs and various other things today.

big rockpile

Hey, well at least it is getting cleaned up. Sign me up Rockpike, you know people around here like to float. Something in your area would be very convenient for KC.

[gobug]

My first impression after just reading the first posting is that it is a great idea. Then the replies brought some reality into view.

Another perspective could be: if intended for profit, the majority of your business is most likely to occur on weekends and holidays. When would your time off be?

What are the major attributes to your river world now? Do they equal what others are seeking for a recreational event, or is it the beauty and serenity of your home that inspires you to share?

It may help make ends meet, but it won't get you rich. My guts say share, don't make it a business.
Gary

[goatlady]

IIRC you had this same idea last year, guy. Your biggest hurdle would be obtaining and affording the liability insurance and getting .gov permits. Don't really think in this current economic turmoil that starting up a business one has no experience in is not a good idea. Think of the medical insurance costs for your employees!

[arabian knight]

Originally Posted by goatlady

IIRC you had this same idea last year, guy. Your biggest hurdle would be obtaining and affording the liability insurance and getting .gov permits. Don't really think in this current economic turmoil that starting up a business one has no experience in is not a good idea. Think of the medical insurance costs for your employees!

Ya that is what I thought also. I had to look at what date the post was made just to make sure. LOL

[pumpkin]

The very first thing I would find out about is insurance and what would be your liability. The cost of the insurance alone may make the venture too risky and expensive.

[suzyhomemaker09]

arabian knight
Miniature Horse lover
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: West Central WI.
Posts: 12,622


Quote:
Originally Posted by goatlady
IIRC you had this same idea last year, guy. Your biggest hurdle would be obtaining and affording the liability insurance and getting .gov permits. Don't really think in this current economic turmoil that starting up a business one has no experience in is not a good idea. Think of the medical insurance costs for your employees!

Ya that is what I thought also. I had to look at what date the post was made just to make sure. LOL


Not last year....less than 6 months ago.....

[big rockpile]

Ok just talked with my Son.No Government Permits,No Insurance on Employees and No Liability for Floaters once they hit the water,they sign Waver before they leave.

Been this way with all Outfitters for years.

big rockpile

[big rockpile]

This is what a Guy had to say about the river my Son works on,he floated this last weekend.This was the least Floted area of the river.

This is what I'm afraid of on this river if we start Floats.

big rockpile

Well , me and my buddy put in at Barclay Friday at 5pm and took out at Leadmine today at 9am. We had never floated this river so we were both excited.

I'm gonna get this out early- by far the dirtiest river I have floated. I have never seen so many empty beer cans on the bottom along with pretty much everything else one could think to put in a canoe. Pretty much every gravel bar that had signs of humans was littered with foil, bean cans, cigarettes, etc.... What a darn shame.

Friday we floated down to just below te old bridge piers. Pretty uneventful float, caught plentyof smallies on soft plastic and a top water popper- biggest fish of the day was 13". Crowds were decent and we actually enjoyed floating by all the campgrounds as everyone was hanging out in the river by that time.

Saturday we woke up and there was a nice chill in the air. I really enjoyed this section of the float as it had a nice current and some good fishing. Fishing was better today, with me snagging the fish of the weekend. Around 11:45 I told Rob this certain hole looked really good...... Deep water after a little flow and in the shade. First cast..! Bamm....... I knew it was big the second I set the hook. After a few minutes of her pulling my boat around I finally landed her. Rob got a few pics, I was going to keep her in the water before laying her on the cooler for a measurement. Well, she shook my grip and away she went- oh well. I guesstimate she was a little more than 18" but you can make your own guess once I post pic. I'm on my iPad and don't have pic but will post tomorrow. Ended the day with a visit to Blue Spring and camped about a half mile from there. Ended the night pulling a nice 16" out of the hole by the campsite.

Woke up today to some rain, which felt great! Spent part of morning cleaning up someone else's trash they left prior to us being there. Didn't fish at all today, as we just enjoyed the final 2-3 miles of our float. Forgot to mention there are some really nice cabins along the way. This section seemed to have a few long slow stretches as we neared Leadmine. There is one section that obviously is a collection area for trees during floods. Someone has done a ton of work clearing all that wood so canoes can get by. And the property owner along there obviously doesn't want anyone on his property. I have never seen so much purple on a river (I'm sure he's sick of cleaning up after all the people who trash the gravel bars)

Anyway- pretty section of river with plenty of flow, only had to get out one time. Sad to see all the trash, but fishing was solid, gravel bars were easy to find for camping, and once we floated past Mountain Creek we only saw one canoe. Hope to get back there sometime..... Maybe in the fall.

[treasureacres]

Originally Posted by big rockpile

Ok just talked with my Son.No Government Permits,No Insurance on Employees and No Liability for Floaters once they hit the water,they sign Waver before they leave.

Been this way with all Outfitters for years.

big rockpile

Many times those waivers do not hold up in court if you/your company are found negligent in a accident. Another problem is even if they do hold up you will spend a small fortune defending yourself. Liability insurance is a MUST if you own/run any business. Just my opinion

[big rockpile]

Originally Posted by treasureacres

Many times those waivers do not hold up in court if you/your company are found negligent in a accident. Another problem is even if they do hold up you will spend a small fortune defending yourself. Liability insurance is a MUST if you own/run any business. Just my opinion

Can't help what they do once they leave.Had a Girl get pinned between a Canoe and Tree crushed her Skull.Family tried suing,Courts found in favor of the Outfitter,set president on how these cases would be handled.

These people know there is places that the river can get a Little fast and certain Dangers that is out of the Outfitters control.They don't put in during High Water.

big rockpile

[treasureacres]

Originally Posted by big rockpile

Can't help what they do once they leave.Had a Girl get pinned between a Canoe and Tree crushed her Skull.Family tried suing,Courts found in favor of the Outfitter,set president on how these cases would be handled.

These people know there is places that the river can get a Little fast and certain Dangers that is out of the Outfitters control.They don't put in during High Water.

big rockpile

That may be the precedent for some judges...but I think we all know that it only takes one judge to not agree. I personally can not imagine taking that kind of risk without some type of insurance or protection. What kind of up front costs are there to starting a business like this? How much profit is there in this type of business? I love hearing about new startups.