How To Start A Haunted House Business Part 3
Welcome to week 3 in the How to Start A Haunted House Business where we show you how to make a haunted house business. In the previous How to Start a Haunted House Business Part 2 we talked about what a business plan was, why it was important and some of the uses it has. Now in the previous post I mentioned that we would move on to the break-even analysis but I have come across a great business plan template from SCORE and am going to rework my series a little to work you through the entire business plan and its various sections. So this week we are going to discuss your company in general and come up with the description.
So lets start off by getting you writing. Grab some scrap paper or open up a word processor and put down some answers to the following questions. Do not feel you have to have just one answer for now just put down whatever comes across your mind because it will change and change again as you work through this.
Question one and you can work through this in the business plan also. You can download the business plan template here. Now the first question.
- What business will you be in? What will you do?
Now this is starting you off at Section III General Company Description. Go ahead and work on your mission statement which is basically your beliefs in the business what your principles and reasons for doing it are. This is a good thing to check back to often to keep you on track to your original purpose for starting a haunted house as you may get lost along the way.
Next we will move onto your goals and objectives. Write down some examples of where you want to get with your business. These are your goals and the objectives are things that need to be done along the way to obtain the goal. Be careful here not to get the two mixed up.
Following this is your philosophy and that is what is important to you which kind of ties back to your mission statement.
Next we will get a basic introduction to your target market, in a general overview and on a basic level explain who your target market is this is who you will sell tickets to. The victims of your haunted house.
The next thing to cover quick and on a basic level is the haunt industry. For some good information and numbers on this visit Haunt World and click Haunted Facts. They have some great haunt industry statistics and you will be coming back here to pull some industry numbers for future parts of a business plan.
The last two things to mention in the company description are the strengths and core competencies of your business. What will make your company successful and what gives you the competitive advantage. Do you have any experience or skills that you bring to this venture. The last thing is to mention your legal form of business which is sole proprietor, partnership, corporation and limited liability corporation and why are you using this business form. Each of these have different advantages and you can research more into that by just doing a search on Google or your favorite search engine. If you decide on one then you may want to visit Nolo.com and pick up one of their guide books on your specific business and if your not sure which to pick you can find some great books on the different business structures including Choosing the Best Ownership Structure for your Business.
Well you have your work cut out for you until next week. So if you have not go ahead and start researching some of the links and working on the description for your haunted house business startup. Next week in my How to Start a Haunted House Business Part 4 I will get you moving on section IV Products and Services. If you thought that a haunted maze or house was all you were going to offer I am gonna blow your mind with the array of options you have to bring additional sales during the haunted house season and during the off season if your in a full time location and are not just leasing for the short term. Hope you enjoyed this section on how to make a haunted house business and I look forward to your comments and questions.