Tip: To simplify this you can just paint the ground one solid color! It will still look awesome!
How to Start an RV Park: Financing, Site Plan and More
RV parks are hidden gems that even the savviest of commercial real estate investors can overlook. They are an excellent way to turn an affordable, seemingly useless tract of land into a cash cow. However, like any CRE project, it’s essential to perform your due diligence to ensure your investment is profitable.
Much of the confusion around RV parks and mobile home parks lies in the nomenclature. Recreational vehicles come in a variety of styles. Some are like buses with the driver’s seat built in, and others are towed and referred to as “campers” or “trailers.”
While the terms trailers and RVs can be used interchangeably, mobile home parks and trailer parks should not be — although they often are. Mobile homes (despite the name) are generally designed to be long-term residences. Although they can be moved, doing so requires special equipment and is very costly. Think of the double-wide or triple-wide mobile homes you’ve seen transported occasionally on the freeway.
With that factor in mind, the development and business plans of RV parks and mobile home parks are inherently different. RV parks are typically intended to be high turnover, sometimes featuring amenities to draw in new guests and boost rates. An RV park usually wants to attract a mix of camping enthusiasts and road travelers.
Mobile home parks are tenancy at will (A.K.A monthly leases) or long-term leases. Some long-term mobile home parks also offer ground leases where the tenants are free to develop small plots at their own cost. Because mobile home parks are typically more permanent, development and operational costs can be lower depending on the owner’s vision.
How to Start an RV Park: 6 Steps
Starting an RV park is more than buying land and renting out spaces. There are six high-level steps to starting an RV park.
1. Research
The recreational vehicle industry is unique and requires a lot of know-how to create a park that RV enthusiasts will want to patronize frequently. A knowledgeable team of advisors, including attorneys, developers and RV owners, will help you gain the critical knowledge needed. Learning the ins and out of the industry is vital for making profitable business decisions and positioning your RV park as a premium choice for road-weary travelers.
2. Business Plan
As with any business endeavor, a detailed business plan is table stakes for securing funding and ensuring future success. We’ll discuss this step in detail later on.
3. Acquire Land, Permits, and Insurance
Once you’ve acquired your funding, it’s time to purchase your land. Once you have the deed, obtaining the proper zoning permits to develop according to your business plan and insurance to protect yourself and others is critical.
4. Develop Land
Seeing your park plans come to life is one of the most satisfying parts of starting an RV park. Later, we’ll cover some expert tips on how to make your RV park a booming success.
5. Hire Personnel
Simply put, anyone can tell the difference between an understaffed RV park and one that’s not. It’s important to remember that RV parks are hospitality-focused. A well-trained staff to interact with customers, maintain the grounds, and provide security are crucial.
6. Market Your Business
Like any new business, no one will visit your RV park if they don’t know it exists. Unless you’re a marketing wiz, hiring a marketing team with proven results in the RV industry will help get customers on the grounds faster.
The 5 Parts of Creating Your RV Park Business Plan
Business plans can vary in complexity based on your industry. However, all business plans should include the following five sections. With RV parks specifically, a few unique components should also be included.
1. Financial Projections
Whether a private equity group or individual, investors in a business need assurances that their investments will see a worthwhile return.
At the very least, investors need to see accurate profit and loss, fixed cost, income statement, and balance sheet estimations to back an RV park business.
2. Competitive Analysis
A comprehensive competitive analysis within a business plan achieves two primary objectives. First, it serves as evidence that you can match your financial projections. Second, it identifies competitor weaknesses and opportunities for your business to have an advantage.
For example, say that your prospective RV park only has one main competitor within thirty miles. That RV park does not have electric and water hookups at every lot, while yours will. That shows a competitive advantage that your RV park has the potential to outperform your competitor.
3. RV Industry Statistics
Providing investors with statistics that the RV industry is stable and poised for growth is always a good idea to include in your business plan.
The campground and RV park sector took a significant hit at the beginning of the covid pandemic due to travel restrictions and fear of the unknown. The industry is progressing back upward. As of 2021, it’s valued at $6.32 billion.
4. Tenant Leasing Agreements
A unique aspect of owning an RV park is that it’s entirely up to you to determine the tenancy terms. You could operate like a hotel charging nightly or weekly rates or offer longer-term arrangements.
The more leasing options your RV park offers, the more appealing it will be to more people. Highlighting this in a business plan can spotlight recurring revenue, which is appealing to investors of all business types.
You could include this section in the financial projections, but depending on the complexity of your RV park and the lease offerings, you might want to have a separate breakdown.
5. Amenities
Consider for a moment the target market for an RV park. It’s those that enjoy camping but want some of the amenities of home. That means the more amenities your RV park has, the more appealing it will be.
This goes beyond the standard electric/water hookups and a place to dump your septic tank. Think of things a hotel might have. Consider offering a pool, gym, onsite restaurant, a play area for kids, travel guides and cleaning service. The sky is the limit.
The more amenities your RV park offers, the more your upfront investment will be. However, you can also justify charging your guests more to stay there. Not only that, your RV park can become a must-stop destination for serious RV enthusiasts.
While your amenities could be addressed in the competitive analysis section of your business plan, dedicating an entire section to it would really make your plan stand out.
What you will need
- A pencil
- An eraser
- A sheet of paper
- Coloring kit
- Ruler
- 30 minutes
We will dive deep into the and explore the fun world of camping together. All you have to do is to follow each step carefully. By doing that, you will have an amazing camper within a few minutes.
Step 1: Draw the Camper’s Body
The camper’s body (like a vintage camper) is where all the drama happens. The body contains all the items required for an adventure. The body must be spacious.
To draw the camper’s body, think of a big rectangular box. This box represents the camper’s body. Pick up your pencil and make a big rectangle in the middle of the paper.
Now, let’s give it an artistic touch. To do that, we’ll make the corners of the rectangle round. The bottom left corner should be more curved than the other cabins. The most fantastic part of our cabin is ready.
Young artists! This was an easy step, and the following steps are even easier. You’re doing a great job, and let’s just keep going.
Step 2: Draw the Door of the camper
The door of a camper is different from the doors of other vehicles like trucks. As a camper is like a mini-home, its door is more like a room door.
We’ll draw a vertical rectangle inside the camper’s body to draw the door. This is the main frame of our door. We’ll draw another rectangle inside the first rectangle to draw the see-through mirror on our door.
To draw the door knob, we will draw a tiny horizontal rectangle under the see-through mirror, as shown in the image. We can also draw a vertical rectangle for the door knob. How you want your door knob to be is up to you.
Step 3: Draw the Camper Windows
The camper has windows to experience the best views while you’re on an adventure. Imagine laying inside the camper at night and staring at the sparkling stars through the window.
We will draw two horizontal rectangles inside the camper’s body to draw the windows.
One rectangle will be on the left side of the body and the other on the right side of the body. The rectangle on the left side will be smaller than the right. We’ll make the corners of these rectangles slightly curved.
Step 4: Create the Wheels
For smooth mobility, we need to add wheels to our camper. Get a round lid to make the circle. If you don’t have the lid, no worries; you can use the freehand technique to make the circle. If you’re drawing a circle for the first time, it’ll take a few attempts to draw a nice and smooth circle. So don’t worry if your first attempt isn’t satisfactory.
Under the camper’s body, we will draw a circle. Within this circle, we’ll draw another circle. We’ll ensure that half the circle is above the baseline of the camper’s body and half is below the baseline.
The back wheels are ready, and we’re near completion.
Step 5: Draw the front wheel
The front wheel is as important as the back wheel. In the first step, we drew the camper’s body and curved the bottom left corner more. From this corner, we will draw two parallel horizontal lines. At the end of these lines, we’ll draw a vertical rectangle.
Under the horizontal lines, we’ll draw a small rectangle. At the end of this rectangle, we will draw a small circle. Inside this circle, we’ll draw another circle. This circle represents the front wheel of the camper. The back wheel is bigger than the front wheel because it holds the weight of the camper’s body.
This completes our camper drawing.
Step 6: The camper car is ready
Congratulations, talented artists! The camper car is all set to go on an adventure. You did a wonderful job. We’re certain you followed each step and made your camper car. To make the drawing more prominent, we’ll outline it using a marker. After outlining, we’ll erase the pencil marks for a better look.
Hey, wait! The real fun is about to begin. We are about to upgrade our drawing and make it look more realistic. Are you ready to unfold your imagination and creativity to make your drawing professional?
Taking your Camper drawing to the next level
There is no limit to your imagination. Once you use it effectively, you can achieve anything. Similarly, you can take your drawing to the next level using your creativity. Let your thoughts run and create something awesome for your drawing.
Doing this will make you feel more confident and willing to draw more things. This section is all about creativity and experiments. We’ll add different things to our drawing.
Adding background to your drawing
Everyone has a story to tell. It can be narrated through words or even pictures. You can narrate your story by adding a background to your drawing. Having a background gives a whole new look to a drawing. It enhances the details and gives a perspective.
We’ll add a relative background as a camper is used for adventures. We’ll add bushes and plants behind our camper for a scenic look. This is an idea about background; you can also add a background of your choice. Imagine the camper in a mountain area or a deserted land. It can be anything.
As we draw the background, we will ensure it doesn’t overlap our camper. If you notice any line overlapping our camper, erase it carefully.
Adding colors to your drawing
Colors bring your drawing to life. It creates more attractiveness and is pleasing to the eyes. Without colors, there is no charm in the drawing. It seems dead. Do you want your drawing to be unlively? Of course not.
Now splash some color on our camper and turn our black-and-white sketch into vibrant scenery.
It is a fun way to explore your artistic nature. Every color adds a new layer of magic to your drawing. It’s a whole new world. So grab your crayons, marker colors, poster paints, or anything you choose, and let the colorful magic begin. You can add any color of your choice, but be realistic. Keep the bushes and plants green rather than coloring them with unrealistic colors.
P.S. Bonus Tips
Our drawing is completed, and we’re sure you enjoyed it as much as we did. As mentioned earlier, there’s no limit to one’s creativity. The drawing can be upgraded in any way. We added background and colors, but there’s more you can do.
You can write your name on the camper’s body to show the ownership. You can also attach a flag on top of the camper’s body and write your name on the flag as well.
You can add a sun behind the bushes to make the scenery more beautiful. Then add the sun rays coming through the bushes. It’ll be a spectacular scene!
Under the camper, you can add a road or an unpaved forest road. It’ll seem more adventurous that way.
Hey, young artists! These are just a few ideas. Don’t limit yourself to these ideas only. Use your creativity and give your drawing a new look. It is a hit-and-trial method. If you won’t get right on the first attempt, practice and try again.
Conclusion
That’s it! Our drawing is completely ready now. It was a fun and easy process. We’re sure you followed each step without skipping and made an amazing drawing. This guide explained each step in the most easy way. We started by making the camper’s body. After that, we made a door with a see-through mirror. For the scenic views, we made windows in the camper’s body. Then we added front and back wheels. In the end, we upgraded our drawing using our creativity.
Remember, drawing is a fun way to unleash our potential. It should always be fun drawing different things. If you don’t get the desired results on the first attempt, no worries, go for it again.
Thanks for reading & feel free to check out more of our articles!
15. Paint the trees.
I used light green permanent mixed with titanium white.
I also used a 1/4″ flat brush.
Figure out where the top of your tree will be.
My largest tree went way above the mountains.
Start at the top and paint strokes, dragging each stroke diagonally to form the pine tree.
Paint additional layers of that same color by painting from the bottom of the pine tree and working your way up.
Next add in the color dark green permanent to your brush.
Start from the bottom of the tree and paint diagonal strokes as you work your way up.
Each layer overlaps the next as you go up.
Paint a tree trunk with the 1/4″ flat. I used neutral gray mixed with black.
Then I painted various trees of various heights by using the same technique!
16. Paint the campfire.
You’ll need chalk, a small round #2 brush and to load your palette with white, yellow, orange and red paint.
Painting fire is kind of daunting at first!
But actually it’s pretty easy.
It’s a combination of the warm colors: red, yellow and orange and loose strokes going upwards.
The colors I used for the campfire are:
- Titanium White
- Cadmium Yellow Medium
- Cad Red Light (this actually looks orange!)
- Cad Red Deep
17. Write your optional quote!
I used a gold sharpie for this!
If you’re afraid you’re going to mess up on the letters, you can always draw them in chalk first and then erase.
