where to start?

caris

Hi

My husband has just lost his job, I am on long term IB and we have one child. We have thought about owning our own business before but have been scared about it, basically we dont know where to start or where to go. Can anyone point us in the right direction as to where to start and if there would be any financial help for us?

We would like to own a small campsite either starting from scratch or buying one already set up, we would only be wanting a site for touring caravans and tents and then if things progressed statics at a latter date, my husband has experience in the maintenance side of campsites and |I have previously worked in the retail business.

We would if possible need to have our own accomodation on site either a static van or permanent building.

We would be very grateful for any advice

caris

Savvy_Sue

businesslink would be a good starting point.

The only thing I'd say about this particular kind of business is that it is obviously a 24/7 kind of operation when you're open, but you may not be open all year, and even if you are you will be very busy at some times and very quiet at others. So you need to make enough money in the busy season to last you through the quiet season, and you may well be starting with a quiet season given that it's July now.

Now, in the busy season it won't matter if you feel really poorly and can't look after yourself, never mind your child, if something goes wrong your DH is going to have to fix it.

Are you already keen campers and tourers? I would guess there is a 'club' for site owners, so finding out about that might be useful.

One legality is that I believe some caravan sites do not allow permanent occupancy, even in static vans, so you will need to check that for your own accommodation.

Good luck - I think this is the kind of thing you'd need to be passionate about to enjoy!

paulwf

The first hit I got on Google took me to a site that sells caravan sites so it should be easy to dig around and get an idea of the costs involved. Then try and work out how many pitches you would need to fill to make the loan repayments plus two salaries and other associated costs and see if it is realistic.

One thing to bear in mind is some campsites are cheap because farmers have a bit of spare land to make a bit of extra money. You'll have to go much more full on if you are buying some land and have to pay that back plus it is your only revenue stream.

Sites for sale look like being £40K to way over £1 million - quite a big spread of prices!