Featured Business Areas

According to a hospitality, travel, & tourism professor at the University of Denver: "The resort industry is booming, increasing the demand for energetic management personnel well versed in the unique issues and problems of resort management and operations. Job functions include activity programming, guest safety, and security, corporate and meeting planning, the management of seasonal employees, front-end and back-end management, and operations that include engineering, maintenance, and being a host to a multitude of resort-specific tasks. Other related areas of professional growth are: ski areas, golf and tennis resorts, spas, theme parks, gambling & casinos, resort designing and landscaping, marketing and promoting resorts, cruise ships, mountain climbing venues, and “Gold” resorts. Guest activities including reservations, accommodations, & personal services".Source: "Resorts: Management and Operation, by Dr. Robert Christie Mill

Resorts & Lodging
Therefore, we feel that the greatest opportunities in resorts and lodging for business start-ups, will be for ski lodges, strategically located bed & breakfasts, and niche resorts. The start-up costs and competition among large or luxury resorts makes this an almost impossible venture for the single business owner, so the smaller the better. Ski resorts often have other activities to engage in besides skiing and snowboarding, such as snowmobiling, sledding, horse-drawn sleds, dog-sledding, ice-skating, indoor swimming, hot-tubing, game rooms, and local forms of entertainment. For these reasons, it is important that you find your niche in this demanding yet lucrative environment. Source: Careers & Job Hunting-Resort Management & Travel Guiding by StreetDirectory.Com

Specialty Travel & Tours
Another good outdoor business is starting a specialty travel & tour service. Unlike traditional travel agencies, this business focuses on specialty tour packages from white-water rafting to wildlife safaris to tours of gourmet restaurants. There is increased demand for specialty travel tours.Source: "Start Your Own Specialty Travel & Tourism Business" a book by Entrepreneur.Com available at Amazon.Com

Recreational & Park Management
Businesses, employment, and technological advances in recreational science for parks, wilderness, and protected areas have expanded greatly over the past three decades, reflecting the fact that much outdoor recreation occurs on prized public lands & water. Increased competition for these spaces translates into jobs and business opportunities in the areas of “Green” &/or Environmental “Sustainability” Engineering & Consulting.
Niche Farming
The next big area is farming or in tech lingo agricultural engineering. In addition to traditional big crop and big livestock production farms, new farms include organic farming, herbal, or specialty plant farms, niche livestock production, and wild farms. Agricultural technicians specialize in crop enhancement and livestock maximization without our without chemicals or stimulants. Even though “Sustainable Agriculture” or ecologically responsible farming has to sustain the farmer as well as the land, we find that this start-up business requires little in the way of initial costs. An excellent book on starting your own farm is: “"You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start & Succeed in a Farming Enterprise," by Joel F. Salatin. Also, the USDA has literally millions of reference materials available at: the Cooperative State Research, Education, & Extension Division.
(For more information on Organic and Herb Farming, see our next section Start-Up Business Profiles)
The last Featured Business Area, is Logging and Land Clearing. While controversial, logging and land clearing is a money-making business and recently we’ve seen growing demand for recycling and reusing the debris hauled away from excavation sites. For those not afraid of very hard work, we found an inspiring story of one man who turned a teen-age hobby into a multi-million dollar business. We believe that business owners in this area will “turn green” when they realize profits from their disposal materials. Go to “"Finding A Way to do it Yourself," by Dan Cristiani, owner of Gotta Go, Inc, Earth First, Inc., and Dan Cristiani Construction to read how to do it.

Eleven Fun Start Up Businesses

The kind people at Entreprenuer.Com/Small Business Idea Center have targeted these 11 businesses as being promising outdoors endeavors:

Adventure Travel Agent
Startup Costs: $10,000 - $50,000 With a little imagination, motivated entrepreneurs can earn a substantial income arranging adventure vacations for people who are seeking something out of the ordinary. This can be especially fulfilling if you also share the same enthusiasm for adventure travel and recreation. Source: Entrepreneur.Com_Idea# 7

Cruise Ship Travel Agent
Startup Costs: $2,000 - $10,000 .The cruise travel agent industry is competitive, but at the same time, it is also the fastest-growing segment of the travel industry. Key to success in this business is marketing. The successful cruise ship travel agent will have knowledge of the major cruise ships lines, and be able to tap in to the demographic groups that are most likely to take a cruise, which include the 50-plus crowd and newlyweds. Source: Entrepreneur.Com Idea # 1138

Extreme Adventure Trips
Startup Costs: $2,000 - $10,000. Being a master of juggling various itineraries, dealing with demanding customers, awareness of thrill seeking adventure spots, and exhibiting strong confidence in surviving in the wild are pluses in this non-traditional outdoor business. Source: Entrepreneur.Com Idea # 145

Kayak Tours
Startup Costs: $10,000 - $50,000. Being in very good physical condition, ability to work with children and diverse groups of people, and have an expert knowledge of white-water rafting or kayaking are some of the perquisites for this fun yet challenging business. If you are able to book 3 or more groups per week, you have the potential to earn $3,000 per week plus have fun, enjoy your sport, and live it up in the great outdoors. Source: Entrepreneur.Com Idea # 52

Off Road Tours
Startup Costs: $50,000 - $100,000
Off-road, or four-wheel-drive, tours have become an extremely popular day excursion for many vacationing families. It is a reasonably priced outing and can be enjoyed by the entire family. This kind of tour business can be very profitable, providing you can come up with the $100,000 it takes to have a good 4- wheel drive, outfit it, and learn things like first-aid and truck maintenance.
Source: Entrepreneur.Com Idea # 25

Owning A Greenhouse.
Startup Costs: $10,000 - $50,000. In the past decade, greenhouses have become a very hot home improvement product and project. As the baby boomer generation slips into retirement they are looking for ways to keep busy, physically fit, and enjoy life. Greenhouse hobby gardening provides them with exactly what they are seeking. Profit potential range is $20,000 per year part-time and $50,000+ per year full-time. Source: Entrepreneur.Com Idea # 1074

Specialty Travel Tours
Startup Costs: $2,000 - $10,000. The key to success in doing specialty tours is that you
must have a niche, or a plan that’s tailored to a specific type of person or group, like seniors, families with small children, women traveling alone, music aficionados, or chocolate lovers. You can conduct just about any
type of tour you can dream up. Source: Entrepreneur.Com Idea # 212

Run A Herb Farm
Startup Costs: $2,000 - $10,000. Herbs are tremendously popular these days--from the smallest shop to the largest discount warehouse, you’ll find medicinal herbs, culinary herbs, herbal teas, in addition to many other herbal products. The advantages to this business are that it’s just you and Mother Nature-this is real back-to-basics stuff, good for the body and the soul-and you can start from home, part time if you like. Source: Entrepreneur.Com Idea # 80

Organic Farming
Startup Costs: $10,000 - $50,000. In the past decade organically grown and produced food products have really taken off in popularity and have been scientifically proven to be better for our health. Of course, operating a farm that grows organic foods requires a great deal of consideration and research prior to committing, not to mention an extremely large financial investment. However, the current demand for organically grown foods shows no sign of slowing down and will only continue to expand as the human population continues to become more concerned about maintaining a healthy and balanced diet. Source: Entrepreneur.Com Idea # 618

Tour Guide
Startup Costs: Under $2,000.The key to success in becoming a personal tour guide is to promote your service aggressively, build contacts with companies and individuals that can help you succeed, and to provide clients with the best time of their vacation. This business works well in tourist towns, resort towns, and coastal towns. Source: Entrepreneur.Com Idea # 273

Bed & Breakfasts
Startup Costs: $100,000 +. Can you order people around with a smile on your face, take care of a large family, at times pamper people, or are you located in some quaint cozy hide-away that would make strangers feel comfortable? If so, a wide range of B&B’s can be created. In addition to fine cuisine and snuggly accommodations, you’ll need above average business skills and tourist arrangement knowledge. Source: Entrepreneur.Com Idea # 1174

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