They say that nothing focuses the mind in business like biting off more than you can chew and chewing like hell.

Now picture this: a couple with only 18-months experience managing a moderate size holiday park on the NSW Mid North Coast, decides to take on a 579-site, two part park in the popular holiday spot of Evans Head. What could possibly go wrong?

That’s exactly where my wife Casey and I found ourselves. We recently reflected on our nine-year journey in the holiday park business on an episode of the That Bad Review podcast. Along the way, we’ve built up four parks, and currently run two, and had three gorgeous kids along the way. It’s been a rollercoaster at times, but the rewards and the lessons have been great.  

If you’re in the business, or thinking about it, or even looking to start a whole different business, something from our experience might just inspire you.

Take That Leap of Faith

Who knows where Casey and I would be now if we didn’t do this. In fact, it’s been more of a series of leaps. Taking on our first park at Urunga with only six months left on the contract was the first of these. Add to that the 30 to 40 grand in costs for a couple just starting out and it took a lot of faith in ourselves. I’m not saying that every grand idea we’ve had has paid off, but the major ones have.

See The Business Potential and Grasp It

Eighteen months later we stumbled across a tremendous opportunity. The Evans Head Holiday Park came up for tender. With only 18 months experience, we thought it would be a struggle, but we backed ourselves and the managerial experience we had gained outside the industry.

As Casey mentions in the podcast, taking on a park with 579 sites just seemed ridiculous at the time.

The Evans Head park was interesting because they only had half the park open when we took over. They only opened the other half during peak periods. We again took a bit of a leap of faith and opened the whole park all the time. The former managers just didn’t the see the potential, even with the extra staff required to manage it. The assets were the view and the river access. Sometimes you just have to crunch the numbers and see what will work for you and what’s the best thing for your park.

Doubling Revenue in Seven Years

Starting out at Evans Head, it was tough, even without kids early on. There were a lot of tears at first. Looking back on it, we came together as a team, and really did an amazing job.

Again, looking back at it now, it seems hard to believe but we ended up doubling the revenue of the park in seven years. We constantly achieved double-digit revenue growth compared to the previous year and to previous periods.

It came down to a number of factors: we were putting in the hard yards ourselves, we hired well, we developed the potential in the property, we focused on providing great service, and we became an active part of the local community and its development.  

Choose The Right Staff and Trust in Them

Taking on a relatively large staff at Evans Head was also new to us. When we took over there were only six staff members running the whole place. And we realised almost immediately, it just wasn’t enough to achieve our plans. We increased to 10 in short order. That quickly grew to 14 or 15, and when we left it was over 20.

Now that we run two parks, in Yamba and Brooms Head, people say how do you do it. Well, it’s with good staff. With good managers and good staff in place, it takes the burden off. So, while we would say that we are running the parks, it’s really the team.

Try New Things And be Innovative

Even now, running two parks and with three young kids, we’re still constantly learning and trying new things. My philosophy is I’m never scared to share knowledge or share ideas. That’s how we keep the momentum going as managers, as an industry, as communities and as people.

Listen to the entire conversation with Casey and I here.