Outdoor Adventure Centre Business

bigneacy

MODS: I placed this in Biz and Sports to get a full perspective. Hope this is OK?

I was interested in setting up an outdoor adventure centre business, ya know the ones that take people out kayaking and the like. It is directly to the front of my business (tourist accommodation) and it would complement my trade perfectly.

I have the perfect location, a former boat house that's actually on the beach with 2 sandy area's to either side, it is not in use and is part of my property. We use it as the official car park for legal/planning reasons, but it never has been and will never be used. I am in talks with local planning officers to ensure any other use will not affect the current "use".

The tide does go out 5km each day but when it's in, it stays in for a good 4-5 hours (different times each day) I can see it working despite this, would just have to arrange the activities for set times depending on the tides.

Now, I have no qualifications, nor do I have any desire to get them (too busy with my current business). The way I intend on doing it is to simply give the building to somebody with necessary skills to run as an adventure centre, they would refer all their guests over to me (and likewise) and I would take a percentage of the business for being so generous for giving it rent free in the first place.

They will be responsible for everything themselves, all the equipment and Insurance and everything, All I am supplying is the building.

So my question is; does anyone have any experience of running this type of business and what are the necessary steps to opening such a thing?

Cookie_Monster

Sounds like a good idea.

What activities do see the area allowing, obviously boating/ kayaking of some form seems to be an obvious choice but what else do you think could be run there? Coasteering? (walking along/ jumping off the seaside but rocky cliffs are really needed for this)

Aside from the access is there anything of note around the area that would draw kayakers? Sheltered bay/ interesting sights / bird colonies

I'd be inclined to simply rent the place out and have a fixed income from it rather than rely on a %of profits, you may not see a penny form months while someone uses you building.

Be sure to check out any insurance issues is kayaks and gear is being stored in the building, pretty expensive to have in the needed numbers.

As for people running it, make sure they have the required qualifications.
www.irishseakayakingassociation.org
canoe.ie

may be able to provide some info, also get in touch with tourism Ireland to see if they can offer any help.

PS: B&B in sig looks nice, gallery page doesn't seem to work properly though

bigneacy

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

What activities do see the area allowing, obviously boating/ kayaking of some form seems to be an obvious choice but what else do you think could be run there? Coasteering? (walking along/ jumping off the seaside but rocky cliffs are really needed for this)

As well as kayaking and canoeing;
Hiking and mountaineering and orienteering would be perfect because we are so close to the Mourne and Cooley mountains, raft building, archery, wind surfing and kite surfing would all be ideal for the location it's in.

Coasteering wouldn't work as well because the sea is very shallow for 5 kilometres out, which makes it also an ideal location for learning how to kayak and canoe.

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Aside from the access is there anything of note around the area that would draw kayakers? Sheltered bay/ interesting sights / bird colonies

Yeah, it's in a sheltered bay with amazing views of the mountains and the local towns and its home to a huge population of wading birds and to a lesser extent, gulls.

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

I'd be inclined to simply rent the place out and have a fixed income from it rather than rely on a %of profits, you may not see a penny form months while someone uses you building.

The thing for me is though, that, as it stands its not being used at all. There wouldn't really be any other use for it aside from storage (which I don't need) so it would be Ideal for me to have a profit share and keep a percentage of the company. It takes the pressure of the prospective occupier also.

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

PS: B&B in sig looks nice, gallery page doesn't seem to work properly though

Thanks, Yeah, I was trying out some new gallery script and It seems to have just given up on me. Might get the gallery hosted elsewhere for now.

NathanKingerlee

Just left you some comments in the Biz section. Sounds like a good idea!