Up until last month, we thought the dozens of industry reports, dossiers, and other glamping research would be enough to support the forecasts we used in our business plan. Unfortunately, we found out from our bank that we would need a feasibility study conducted.
What's a feasibility study? It's a third-party assessment of the likelihood of a proposed plan or project succeeding. How viable is the business? In the hospitality industry, it came down to two main variables: how much could we charge (average daily rate, ADR), and what occupancy could we expect. Thanks to a referral by Ben Quiggle of Woodall's Campground Magazine, we discovered a wonderful Michigan-based consulting firm named Freshwater Hospitality Consulting. As the name implies, they specialize in the hospitality industry, including RV Parks and Campgrounds.
The team at Freshwater were professional, demonstrated expertise, and completed the study in a reasonable amount of time for a fair price. They helped us better understand exactly what ADR we could expect, based on the accommodation and the time of year. They did the same for occupancy. Although they admitted their forecasts were conservative and we had the potential to exceed them, their forecasts were still slightly better than our own! This was incredibly reassuring.
To learn more about Freshwater, click the link below. Detailed results of the feasibility study will be made available to potential Mitten Getaways investors.
I may be biased, but this is 5-star work here... and I'm mostly doing this to test out the comment and rating system 😂
That’s fabulous news! Congratulations!