Originally Posted by
houndhunter84
My questions are for experienced and established outfitters and guides. I am very interested in buying an outfitting company in the near future and am seeking advice, guidance, wisdom, tidbits anything that I can learn to help make this a success. I worked in the outfitting industry in western Wyoming for 8 years as a packer, camp jack, cook, hunting guide and wrangler. I’m a good horseman, and woodsman and I genuinely like most people. It has been my dream to own my own outfit since the first time I threw a squaw hitch on a pack mule. I am wanting to purchase something in one of the western states (Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, or Utah) and I am wanting to be able to operate nearly year round( spring Bear, summer fishing and pack trips, fall deer and elk, winter lions). I am familiar with the forest service rules for the most part and have a decent understanding of what is involved with a special use permit. My experience with the BLM is less then what I have acquired with the Forest Service and I am less educated about their rules and regs regarding outfitting. My direct questions are, How do you get started? Where do you find camps and business for sale that don’t cost $500,000 or more? How do you go about financing them? I know that most people say you won’t make any money for five years, but I have a family to take of and I am concerned about making enough money for us to get buy with as I build a successful business. I am asking these questions to a lot of outfitters and guide school owners that I know as well. Thank you in advance. I welcome any and all advice and guidance.
The adage is true: It takes money to make money. You wont get bank financing on an outfit because the risk is way to high. You have some of the basic skills but if you are going to own an outfit in the west you better be able to call elk for archery hunters. Elk is the bread and butter of nearly all western outfits. You need to have a business mind also. I've seen some great outfits go under because the outfitter just didn't have a mind for business. You need to familiarize yourself with terms like ROI, net margin, gross margin, operational expenses fixed and variable, advertisement/margin ratio's, set asides, etc. You need to know the laws both state and federal and business. You need to network, and you simply must be a customer service orientated person. You need to ID trends not just in the market, but also in the community and industry, and be politically astute.
There are many things to consider before buying an outfit, and no, you don't have to starve the first few years if you buy right. You will need a sizable down payment because even in an owner finance situation permits and inventory will be assigned to you, and that typically means a lot of money. You will also need to look at where you are going to live and where you are going to keep stock. You can live away from where you outfit if the outfit has a permitted transfer camp at the trailhead where you can keep stock during hunting season, for example. In a owner finance situation you will be making serious payments a couple times a year to the previous owner, and if you don't you will lose the outfit and all you invested in it back to the original owner. You absolutely have to be able to manage your money. Keeping an outfit going is expensive, and to keep it going a certain amount of gross income must be set aside for unexpected chaos of life in the mountains. Clients only have a week to hunt and they have spent a lot of money for that week. No excuse will suffice for non-delivery of promises made.
In 2011 we got booted out of our area due to a fire four days before the first client arrived, it cost us thousands of dollars quickly buying new tents etc and setting up a secondary camp as our camps were already set when the evac order came down. We got through it, but without set aside capital we would have been doomed.
The best way to purchase an outfit is to be groomed for such by the outfitter himself. You need to go work for an outfit for a couple years and maybe a few of them, pick the one the best suits your clients needs and begin to learn the ins and outs of running an outfit. When you are comfortable you strike an agreement, put it in a legal contract, and take over the business. Finally, you can be the best guide in the world, have the best equipment and the best staff, but if you can't book hunts you'll starve. When purchasing an outfit vet them like a client would, if the have a marginal reputation you will struggle, reputation is everything in outfitting. Buy an outfit with a strong reputation, work for it a couple years, learn from the outfitter, and you will thrive if you always remain honest.