Our fourth season opens in June. We’re planning a big launch, but our ambitions are getting pretty expensive.
You likely know the story of the Genesis of Monument Creek glamping sites. It’s comforting to know that our hospitality business is serving a genuine need in the market. Earnings pay the bills, of course, but we get more pleasure out of bringing happiness into people’s lives.
For our fourth season we want to exit the “pilot” stage and really launch Monument Glamping. Make it legit. We’d like to see ourselves on the cover of an outdoor magazine sometime.
We live in El Paso County in Colorado, and though we are unincorporated and semi-rural, we still need to fit into the county’s vision and goals. Last month we paid for a special planning meeting with the county’s planning and zoning department. It unearthed quite the expensive to-do list:
- Building permits for all decks and large structures.
- Safe entrance points to our property.
- Fire and hazard-safe tents and fire pits.
- An entirely new well.
- A new septic tank.
And then there’s the “fun” stuff like tents and hot tubs. These upgrades are coming, too. We just need to build the infrastructure first.
Needless to say, we will likely spend approximately $200,000 to get this up and running. That’s quite a sticker shock, especially when compared to popping a tent and throwing it up on Airbnb. That’s flying under the radar. Cheaper, of course, but not really a business.
We’re taking this to the next level of development. We have financing in place and are ready to make this happen. It’s off-season right now, but by the time we open back up in June we plan to have a legitimate glamping operation that will make an even bigger impact into people’s lives.
And that’s what this is all about, isn’t it? This is a small investment. While the permitting process is tedious and sometimes frustrating, it will turn out an exemplary glamping operation for guests to enjoy for years to come.
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