If you had a caravan park and decided you wanted to keep it, how would you run it ? 

Many of us growl about caravan parks but what would we do in their shoes?  I'll start the ball rolling.....

First of all, my goals would be to run a good park giving good service to my customers, while at the same time making a decent living from the business and putting some of the profits back into the park to make it a pleasant place to stay.

If I found it was difficult to make ends meet for my goals and it was allowed by the Council, I would build some cabins for some selected permanents to buy or rent so I had sufficient income during the slack times that customers do not come to the park in non holiday times or when the weather was lousy (winter or summer depending what part of Oz you are in).   I would also build some cabins for tourists that may not be RV types and like a bit more comfort.

I would try to provide some or all RV bays to be a decent size and mostly drive through.  I would also try to keep my prices reasonable and standard througout the year whatever time of the year (holidays etc).   If over time I found it difficult to stay afloat and I was made a business proposition to sell to a developer (providing it was allowed again by Council) I would give that serious thought, bearing in mind it is a business and not a charity and has to be viable.............. 

(ok, that will do for starters, please feel free to shoot holes in what I have said with constructive criticism or suggestions of your own on what you would do in the shoes of caravan park owners). 

Well guess your right I would run it that way but it would be one price all year for short term  stayers even at $10 dollars a night is better than nothiing  but hope to have a quite a few permanents to help to cover costs.

Gday...

What an interesting concept - makes ya think

First thing to consider before making any 'business plan' for my hypothetical van park would be where will it be.

Without knowing its location it is very difficult to determine just what I could/should provide. In a coastal area (small non-tourist or tourist), coastal area (larger tourist), in the mountains (again non-tourist or tourist - river frontage, lake frontage, what sort of town), inland (tourist or non-tourist, size of town, river frontage, lake frontage, promotable features of the town).

The location will certainly determine what my likely occupancy/cashflow may be and that will determine what facilities/features I could provide - profitably. The location, and whether tourist area or not, would determine what tariff I could charge as I would need to know what my fixed outgoings may be - these would be totally different dependant on location.

The cost of purchasing the land to develop the caravan park would be totally dependant on location as well.

Damn - now I have a headache. I think I will just stay with my well set-up van and continue to predominantly camp away from towns and save all that stress of worrying if my caravan park is attracting sufficient patronage to allow me to cover all my expenses and provide me with some sort of income.

Sorry Vic - I am just a party pooper

Cheers - John

Duh, well stated, ''no hole shooting from me, ?? As one who had his own business with a staff of 14 at it's peak, your Business plan seems quite reasonable to Me.

Your plan seems to be aimed at ''attracting'' people to your park, not ''demanding' that if you visit this area, You Have to stay Here, 

for what your park is offering, I would be prepared to pay around $30 Max per night for a powered site, [ stay 7 - pay 6 would be good to } 

''Hypothetically'' the friends we travel with, are on a budget, ? and cannot afford $30 a night for a whole week ??? their Set-up is self sufficent with toilet and shower and batteries, so if Your park also had a place for them to SAFELY park and leave the van , they would be prepared to pay ''say between $10 to $12 per night and stay the week with us, Other than that your park seems Ok to me and I will recommend it when i am around the campfires,,

PS. to make it even More Popular, -----------------------  you could make it a ''wombat'' free zone 

dazren wrote:

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... so if Your park also had a place for them to SAFELY park and leave the van , they would be prepared to pay ''say between $10 to $12 per night and stay the week with us, Other than that your park seems Ok to me and I will recommend it when i am around the campfires,,

PS. to make it even More Popular, -----------------------  you could make it a ''wombat'' free zone 

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 Hmmm....sounds reasonable.......might have to have arc mesh buried below the surface of the grounds to prevent Mr Wombat from invading though

Some good thoughts there all, you forgot the weather John (tropical/sub tropical/cooler regions etc) but still some good input.

At this stage in life I don't think I would want the stress of owning/running a park, so maybe leave that to some more enterprising and energetic soul, but park owners who try to do the right thing by their customers within their budget etc have my admiration....

Doug,

  From your lips to the industries ears, Allah be praised!!!

Rip and Rosie wrote:

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Clean and shiny toilets and showers.
Wifi Internet.
Dog friendly with dog minding for a fee.
Dump points clean and convenient -maybe for a fee.
Nice big sites - drive through, and big enough for Annex, ,awning and some privacy.
Adequate security, rules that mean something (I.e. no noise after 10 pm) and the ability to police them.
Clean camp kitchen and BBQ.
Cheap van storage, an no shabby permanent vans.
Deals- like 7 nights, pay for 5, or discounts for meals at the local pub, etc.
No kids- at least not before 7.30am.
Water views, to at least a pleasant view.
Assistance with set up, or laundry for a fee.
Van wash for a fee.
Foxtel.

Mainly all of the above. However. 

I have often heard  people complaining about how they do not have air con but have to pay the same as someone with say a big motor home with two air cons.

Well if I owned a park I would try to have pay as you go power, used to be quite common once. these would be run by tokens available at reception

I would like to have only ensuite sites. Ammenities are only as clean as the last person to use them,

And I would really like to have people stay and enjoy their time in my park but at the same time realising the high cost involved just to supply water these days, plus all the other costs. 

I would not just like to break even, I want a reasonable standard of living with the thought that one day I will retire

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Dougwe wrote:

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If I could afford a CV Park I wouldn't be too worried about the money side off things. I would like to at least break even though.

I would like the park to be about 80-100 sites only. $15 no power and $20 with power, per night 2 people with $5 per extra person per night. Single? $10 and $15.

I would set up for Older travellers, good old fashioned service, good size private sites with concrete pads just wide enough for van and annex and a car space beside annex (not concrete but scoria or similar)not on road, power and sullage to all sites and power supplies would be locked and key issued if power was required. All sites would go around perimeter of park and all would be approx 30 foot deep to allow for most size rigs. In the middle would be two good sized clean amenities block with laundry, nice grass area each end and in between the blocks for social gatherings.

A road would go around in front of sites and nice and wide to swing a wombat. Yep I would allow two legged wombats only. Dogs would be allowed but under control. I would probably set some fenced off land to one side of the park with entrance gate as a dog run.

Oh, and most important, BOOM GATES at entrance and exit

No play equipment but I would consider an inside hydro pool, I reckon that would be nice and something I would like to see in CV Parks.

NOW, when I dream I dream BIG :)

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 Like the sound of your CP park.!!!!!!!!!!

I have a recollection of reading a post from ( I think) a Newbie. (not 100% certain if it was on this site, but was around the time I first joined))

He had claimed to have purchased some land in the Flinders Ranges (I think southern part) and was planning to turn it into a caravan park.

From memory his aim was to provide a van park to cater for the older travellers, sites would be well spaced and quite separate from each other, creating privacy. Reasonable tariffs, etc, etc.

Sounded like a great idea.

Does anyone remember reading this, and was it on this forum ????

Daryl 

$15.00 powered sit       $10 unpowered and bar councils from any part of said Parks then they would never be empty......Be nice to senfd an email off to every C/P in Australia and no Cabins

I would have a two part park.

At one end it would be bushland, gravel access roads (but graded, regularly) sites large enough for the biggest rv's and annexes, car,etc, with power, water, wifi, fireplace and room to hang out the washing.  In this area there would also be a good amenities block, with camp kitchen.

A few cabins and ensuite sites would be scattered in this bushlaand setting.

At the other end of the park would be the made roads, medium sized sites with power, water, internet connections on a pay as you use pole(box) basis, at this (metrolpolitan) end there would be cabins, ensuites, playground and pool.  Unlike the other end which would not have concrete pads, this end would have a choice of both.

Boom gates and security would be a must.

Each amenity block would also have an alternative toilet for use when the amenities block is being cleaned.

NO permanents allowed in tourist area.

If there where to be permanents, there sites would be regulated for neatness.

Ken

Great thread!!! thanks Duh (and all).....I am potentially likely to buy a CP some time soon, so this info is an invaluable insight!

I also remember (from a previous, similar thread) that well-lit-at-night, friendly staff, individual site 'seclusion' and plenty of room to manoeuvre a rig were key factors to include in an ideal caravan park.....

The thing is.....as I see it (ie practically), a welcoming and progressive CP of any reasonable size would need to be an ongoing, cost/beneficial proposition for the operators.

So, compared to idealistic fees, I wonder what 'price' is actually deemed reasonable for reliable, clean, friendly, secure and scenic? (and a pub nearby too apparently! )

I think the only way you would know what was a realistic price is to investigate any cp's on the market and get their books examined by a competent accountant, ensuring they are the true state of the park income, assets and outgoings etc and then comparing this with other similar parks on the market if any.  

I don't know how else you would know unless you can access small business records from some source (goverment sources?).

Perhaps those who have run a business of one type or another could comment here on what to look for. 

In WA we have a state government small business department who give advice on such matters and what to look for etc, but I don't know about other states.   

Having been inbusiness for most of my working life, I can only tell you how we have based our prices on.

First, we learnt the hard way, DO NOT be too cheap.

Price is based on what you are offering, the quality, not the quantity.

Price is based on what people are willing to pay for that quality, we never apologised for a higher price.

We used to see what the opposition was charging and what they offered for that price. 

As others have said, if the cliental you are encouraging do not want jumping castles, etc. don't have them, BUT do offer them what they want and make it top quality.

When I started our first business, I was given the best advice possible by an old gentleman who had beeen in business for many years.

"Son, never apologise for quality. People will always remember a poor job long after they have forgotten the price."

Good luck with any venture you may tackle.

Ken

perthpom wrote:

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Sorry this is my first post so hello everybody. I'm a grummpy old greybeard from Perth.

How about. -

Charge as much as you can get away with and certainly double what you can get away with at peak times.
Sell as many bays as you can to resource companies who can put permanent accommodation on them.
Make sure that you have the council in your pockets so that you can prevent free camping eroding your not inconsiderable profits.

Sorry that model has already gone to the resource states, I'll just have to think of something else!!

Nick

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 Welcome Nick, let me know if ever you buy a park so I can avoid it!  

@Landfall (Ken)

thanks for your informative post, it is MUCH appreciated; AND not just because I agree with you either BTW

(+1 the old gentleman and his sage words too).

IMHO "my ideal CP" includes people running/managing the CP in a way that is obviously positive, customer-focussed and where they are clearly confident in sharing their 'world' with me.  In this case, if that takes a few extra $ as a CP customer (for a few extra customer comforts/contentments) so that the business is an ongoing viable concern, then (business headwise, at least) it seems to me to be a good deal; all round.

@Perthpom (Nick)

mate, good point although there's a lot of Australia currently less 'under the mining boom influence' than parts of WA.

I thoroughly recommend discovering/travelling all of it.