The Baby Steps Strategy for Building A Glamping Business

I might disappoint you today.

Picture your dream glamping resort. Maybe it’s 20 units by a river. You have a close-knit staff of go-getters, working in harmony to create the perfect stay for your guests. You’re probably earning 7 figures for your troubles.

Unfortunately, that’s bloody hard to do. 

Designing the guest experience. Finding and retaining the best employees. Attracting enough guests. It’s all difficult to pull off.

But that’s not the worst of it. Unless you’re super rich, you’ll need to raise the money first. And that might be the hardest job of all.

The uncomfortable truth? Most won’t make it out of the starting blocks.

So, how do the best operators get into business? 

They start small, then expand.

It’s time to lower your expectations. 

The Baby Steps Strategy

Assuming you’re not a billionaire, you’ll almost certainly be raising money to make your idea a reality.

Banks are one option. It’s always worth trying local banks, but most won’t touch you with a ten-foot pole unless you’ve got years of operational experience and income statements to show for it.

So, you’re going to want private investment. It’s doable, but difficult. 

It took Posh Outdoors 13 months to crowdfund $748k, and that’s with a sizable audience and track record in this space. It also only funded 5 units for our first project – none of the infrastructure (that was on the landowner).

Simply put, if you’re a newbie, the odds are stacked against you. You need to find a way to improve your odds.

The easiest way to do this is to lower your expectations. 

Don’t start with 20 units and a huge org chart.

Start with 3-5 units. Be the GM, cleaner, maintenance pro and guest experience wizard. 

Call it the Baby Steps Strategy.

This cuts your costs dramatically, and makes your raise target much smaller. You’re much more likely to cobble together the funds you need.

Want proof? Some of the best operators in the business started small before expanding:

• Bygnal Dutson at Open Sky - Started with 3 tents, with Bygnal performing every role you could imagine. Now they have 13 units and are looking to expand to multiple locations

• Blake Smith at Walden Retreats - Began with just 2 tents, now has 15 and is planning a significant on-site expansion

• Derry Green at Secret Garden Glamping - What began as a 1-unit backyard project during covid has become the UK’s most popular glamping site

Trust me when I say this. Getting into business is so, so important. It instantly gives you credibility and separates you from the pipe dreamers. Remember, banks and investors are pitched all the time, and the first thing they look for is operational history.

I speak from personal experience. When Posh Outdoors first started looking for investment a couple of years ago, we went straight to institutions. They told us to come back once we had our first location.

We got that first project into business with the $748k from the crowdfunding raise. Once that grueling process was complete, we opened for business in June.

This Tuesday, just weeks after opening, we closed another $500k private placement. 

That’s 66% of our original raise in a fraction of the time. All made possible because we’d proven the concept.

That’s the power of being real.

The Key Ingredient - Momentum

Being in business doesn’t mean anything if the business is bad.

For this strategy to work, you need momentum. Ideally, instant momentum.

In May, we did $245k USD of booking receipts in 24 hours. That made a huge impact on the investors considering the private placement. They could see that we were real and good.

Here’s the Baby Steps playbook in a nutshell:

• Work your ass off to raise the money for a 3-5 unit pilot project

• Keep a list of every investor who said no but sounded interested

• Plan a launch campaign that brings in a ton of quick bookings. Make a huge deal out of this when it happens

• Call the “no” list and tell them you’re in business, and that you’ve started strong

• Offer similar terms to the ones they originally turned down. Remind them there’s limited availability

• Build your empire

I love it when people dream big. I do it myself. But dreaming big and being realistic aren’t mutually exclusive. 

A dash of realism can help you achieve those dreams. 

It all starts with baby steps.

📰 The Posh Report

You read the main piece. We closed a $500k private placement this week. 

That takes our total cap raise to $1,248,000.

We’re about to start scaling.

If you’re an accredited investor interested in the next investment offering, reply to this email. I’ll add you to the list.