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So after I've been lurking around here more than usual lately, I've gotten the itch again to open a haunt. I'm at the point now where I'm tired of standing on the sidelines and I'm setting my sights on opening a haunt next year. So now I'm trying to figure out how best to pull this off. I don't have a yard, or a house, to do this in, so that's out. I don't have a ton of money saved up and with the economy the way it is, I've ruled out the idea of getting a loan. Working in a haunt and working my way up is not really an option since my day job is demanding enough, I wouldn't be able to work a full season at a haunt and work this job at the same time. If I were running the haunt I'd just take a leave of absence for a few months, but that's not something I can do if I'm not getting paid at all.
You're probably thinking I'm insane by now...but aren't we all? haha. And I enjoy a good challenge. I'm not one of those people who thinks this will be easy and I'll make a ton of money. But I do think that despite my limited haunting experience I can pull off something great, and make it a success. I'm not as concerned about keeping the haunt going as I am about opening it in the first place.
So I've managed to come up with two possible scenarios....both are insane. lol. The first idea is to go small and try working with a charity. That should make sponsorships more attractive and I just might be able to come up with enough funding for the haunt. Problem I see with this is that I'm in the Chicagoland market, which does have some big haunts...so that's some tough competition for a little charity haunt.
The other idea is to go all out....which is really more my style. I don't think on a small scale, haha. This would be a professional haunt, and it will have the budget of one. A high marketing budget, not to mention a high quality haunt, will allow me to compete directly with some of the bigger haunts around here. There might still be some money contributed to a charity, but this would be a for-profit venture, whereas the smaller charity haunt would be giving most of the profits to the charity, which should make the charity or potential sponsors more likely to contribute some startup capital. Lacking that in this case, I would be seeking investors to cover most of the cost of startup.
I realize how unlikely either of these ideas are. I'm well aware that charities might not be willing to shell out money for the startup, and that investors are going to want me to both be contributing my own money, but also see that myself and my partners have extensive experience in this industry (which we don't). But I'm willing to work my ass off, and I personally think I've got the design skill to pull off a great haunt. This might not be enough. But that's why I'm asking for the advice from the experts here. So the question is, which of these plans seems most feasible, or what drawbacks might there be that I may not have foreseen with either of these plans? Also feel free to come up with an entirely new plan. I'm open to all constructive criticism, and I'm fully expecting some people to flat out tell me I can't do it. But I'm stubborn and don't give up easily. If all else fails, I'll just rob a bank. And then I can reuse the masks. haha.
You're probably thinking I'm insane by now...but aren't we all? haha. And I enjoy a good challenge. I'm not one of those people who thinks this will be easy and I'll make a ton of money. But I do think that despite my limited haunting experience I can pull off something great, and make it a success. I'm not as concerned about keeping the haunt going as I am about opening it in the first place.
So I've managed to come up with two possible scenarios....both are insane. lol. The first idea is to go small and try working with a charity. That should make sponsorships more attractive and I just might be able to come up with enough funding for the haunt. Problem I see with this is that I'm in the Chicagoland market, which does have some big haunts...so that's some tough competition for a little charity haunt.
The other idea is to go all out....which is really more my style. I don't think on a small scale, haha. This would be a professional haunt, and it will have the budget of one. A high marketing budget, not to mention a high quality haunt, will allow me to compete directly with some of the bigger haunts around here. There might still be some money contributed to a charity, but this would be a for-profit venture, whereas the smaller charity haunt would be giving most of the profits to the charity, which should make the charity or potential sponsors more likely to contribute some startup capital. Lacking that in this case, I would be seeking investors to cover most of the cost of startup.
I realize how unlikely either of these ideas are. I'm well aware that charities might not be willing to shell out money for the startup, and that investors are going to want me to both be contributing my own money, but also see that myself and my partners have extensive experience in this industry (which we don't). But I'm willing to work my ass off, and I personally think I've got the design skill to pull off a great haunt. This might not be enough. But that's why I'm asking for the advice from the experts here. So the question is, which of these plans seems most feasible, or what drawbacks might there be that I may not have foreseen with either of these plans? Also feel free to come up with an entirely new plan. I'm open to all constructive criticism, and I'm fully expecting some people to flat out tell me I can't do it. But I'm stubborn and don't give up easily. If all else fails, I'll just rob a bank. And then I can reuse the masks. haha.
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