The campground / RV park business launch plan
Every step from deciding to opening, in the order it happens, shaped to your situation, with your own numbers beside it. About 51 steps in 8 phases, 22 of them specific to a campground / RV park business. Free to read; ticking steps off and putting in your own numbers come with membership.
The plan51 steps
- 01Not started0/6Fold
Decide with the numbersa week or two
Before a dollar is spent. Most expensive mistakes happen here, and this phase costs nothing.
A campground makes money four ways, and the cost of each one differs wildly.
Typical for one unit is $300,000 to $3,000,000 a year; the owner keeps 30 to 45% of it before paying themselves. If that band does not cover what you need, that is the signal to pause and look again.
~50% survive 5 years. Roughly half of all new U.S. businesses reach five years.
Twelve questions about your money, time, experience and temperament, scored. Then the 5 questions this business asks of its owner, about the hours and the work. Answer both before you spend a dollar.
Rule of thumb: if you can buy a well-located operating park with real , transferable seasonal contracts, and sound utilities, buying buys you years and a track record. Answer it in your situation above and the plan reshapes.
Customers, prices, rent, staff pay, what it costs to open. We filled in typical numbers; change what you know and everything on this page follows.
- 02Not started0/5Open
Plan the moneya week
What it costs to open, where the money comes from, and the cushion that keeps you alive until the business pays for itself.
A campground is capital-heavy at the start because you are buying land and building a utility network, not fitting out a storefront.
The itemized cost to open9 lines
- Land, survey and closing: $40,800 to $525,000About 20 acres; rural land at the low end, destination land at the high end
- Engineering and permits: $45,000 to $185,000Site plan, septic and utility design, zoning and campground license
- Clearing, roads and drainage: $196,000 to $560,000Gravel roads at the low end, asphalt at the high end
- Pads, power and water at every site: $476,800 to $1,392,000Gravel pad, 30 and 50 amp pedestal and water per site; sewer at every site at the high end
- Well, septic and dump station: $100,000 to $300,000Where municipal water and sewer are not available
- Bathhouse, office and laundry: $120,000 to $340,000ADA restroom and shower building, check-in office, guest laundry
- Site furniture, vehicle, mower and signs: $82,348 to $170,699Picnic table and fire ring per site, utility cart, zero-turn mower
- Wi-Fi, website, insurance and launch: $21,289 to $73,053Park-wide Wi-Fi, booking website, first premium, legal setup
- Initial working capital & off-season reserve: $40,000 to $200,000Payroll, utilities, and float through the trough
Costs start on day one; customers take months. Map the first twelve months of cash so the business does not run out of money while it is getting going.
The business has to earn your pay like any other bill. Set it in your numbers and watch the month it move.
How deals in this business are financed4 lines
- SBA 7(a) loan (Up to 25 yr with real estate · 75-85% government-guaranteed)The workhorse for buying an operating campground.
- Seller financing (Often 10-30% of price · 3-10 yr)Common in campground deals, where many sellers are aging owners.
- Commercial real-estate loan (Secured by the land & improvements)For the land-heavy portion, a conventional CRE mortgage secured by the property.
- USDA / rural financing (Location-dependent · rural eligibility)Rural parks may qualify for USDA business or real-estate programs that support rural enterprise, sometimes on favorable terms for the location.
Most new shops pair an with 10 to 20% of your own cash. Know the monthly payment before you look at a single space.
Before you shop. A lender tells you what they would fund, what they need from you (credit, your cash in, a plan with numbers), and a pre-qualification letter makes a landlord or a seller take you seriously.
- 03Not started0/4Open
Set up the companya day or two
A day of paperwork, and it has to come before the space: a lease, a loan application and every permit are in the company’s name.
Your state’s business name search, the trademark register, and the domain, before the name is on a sign, a van, or a lease.
A , an , and the S-corporation election each change what you keep and what you are exposed to. Compare them with the numbers, confirm with a CPA and an attorney, then file with your state.
After:The is free from the IRS in minutes once the company exists. The bank account needs both. Keep business money separate from day one.
After:Pick the accounting software and connect the bank account now, so every cost of opening is captured and the numbers you later are real.
- 04Not started0/6Open
Find and secure the spaceone to three months
A campground is location twice over: the land itself and the market around it.
What decides it for this business: near a natural or destination draw, climate that stretches the season, good access & pass-through traffic, nearby population & rv ownership, utilities & expansion room.
One call to the planning desk with the address: is this use allowed there, and what will it take (, permits, fire sign-off)? A space that needs a change of use can add months.
Rent, free months for the , who pays for what, the and the renewals, subject to financing and permits. The lender needs this letter or a draft lease to take your application.
After: ,, renewal options, increase caps, what the landlord adds on top of rent, and what happens if you have to leave. For a location business the lease is part of the purchase price.
After:at minimum; property, workers’ compensation and the rest as the business needs. The landlord asks for a certificate at signing and the lender at closing.
Walk the floor plan and the equipment list, then get contractor quotes. The lender wants the quotes; the health department wants the plan.
- 05Not started0/2Open
Get the loanfour to eight weeks
Four to eight weeks with an SBA lender, longer if the file is incomplete. Everything else waits on this, so send a complete file.
Your plan with numbers (download it as a PDF from this page), the company’s papers, the or draft lease, the and equipment quotes, your personal financial statement, and proof of the cash you put in.
After:The lender approves against the ; you sign the lease once approved; the loan closes against the signed lease and the insurance certificate. Ask for the to match the or longer.
After:
- 06Not started0/13Open
Permits and the build-outone to three months
A campground is land-use first, hospitality second, so the regulatory work is about what you can build and operate on the property.
Bind the policies you had quoted before a contractor, a vehicle or a customer is in play. Keep the certificates; the landlord, the lender and the city will ask.
After:Your contractors pull the building, plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits and close them out by inspection. Hold the free rent months for this.
After:Most cities approve exterior signs separately; signs take weeks to make. Order early.
Register your or corporation and obtain the city or county operating license.
With your state, before the first taxable sale. Usually free and online; check your state.
Confirm the parcel is zoned for a campground or RV park and how many sites are permitted.
State and county approval of septic fields or a treatment system sized to the sites.
Potable water from a permitted well or municipal connection, with testing where .
Coverage for the public on your land, plus property coverage on the buildings and infrastructure.
Selling packaged food, propane, or firewood may require retail, food-handling, or fire permits.
Register to collect and remit tax and any local lodging or tax on stays.
Fire-marshal review of exits, extinguishers and load, after the build and before the .
After:The city’s sign-off that the space is approved for this use. You cannot open the doors without it.
After:
- 07Not started0/10Open
Set up to runduring the build
During the build, so the business runs from day one: the systems, the prices, the people and the routine.
The backbone: online booking, site assignment, seasonal contracts, and a calendar that fills the peak.
Ring up firewood, propane, ice, and rentals and track inventory.
A dedicated account keeps site, store, and seasonal-contract separate from personal money: essential for clean books and any future sale or refinance.
You host the public on your land with fire rings, water, and roads.
See the price the the business needs implies, then check it against what the market pays.
Federal plus state employer, withholding, and workers’ comp once you hire staff or camp hosts.
After:Wages are the start: , insurance, training time and the hours you stop billing. Owners usually post the jobs a month out and hire two to four weeks before opening so training happens before the doors open.
Peak weekend: Full house. Peak weekday: Lighter nightly traffic; long-stay and seasonal campers are steady. Arrivals & the camp store: Every arrival is a store sale waiting to happen: firewood, propane,...
Opening, closing, the sale, the complaint, the cash. One page each. This is the manual a franchise would have sold you.
Free, and it is how most people will find you. Address, hours, photos and the menu or price list, live before opening day; then the sign, the soft opening and the first regulars.
- 08Not started0/5Open
Open and measurethe first ninety days
You own it. Now run it on the numbers.
Friends, neighbors and a short menu or list. Find the problems while the room is forgiving.
Enter the real numbers and see every cost line against the for this business.
Land debt or lease; Seasonality and idle capacity; Utilities, grounds & septic.
Growth consumes cash before it produces it. Find the rate your own cash funds before you push.
Campgrounds are in unusually high demand from buyers.