Training Center! My ticket out?

[JPH]

I've been sitting on this dream for a while. I think it's time to go public with it. Imagine the following facility carved into a piece of rolling hardwoods, somewhere in the heartland.

A training center for hunters, tactical athletes and outdoor adventurers! In a perfect world it would consist of the following:
Indoor facility
- A spacious gym, focused on large, multi-joint strength and conditioning movements. It would provide a full complement of dumbbells, Olympic weights, treadmills, stationary bikes, sandbags, ropes, bands, etc.
- A martial arts room with padding,
- Classroom.
- A rehab room with whirlpool, massage tables, etc.
- 90' range for archery, air guns and training munitions.
Outdoor ranges
- Armory
- Covered, heated shooting shack with 10 yd. pistol lane and 25, 50, 100, and 300 yd. long gun lanes.
- Archery range with elevated shooting platforms and 3D targets at ranges between 10-60 yds.
Outdoor courses
- Trail with lots of hills for running/hiking.
- Obstacle course.
- Orienteering course.
Water
- Pool or pond for water confidence and survival training.
Instructors
- Full time instructors with expertise in fitness, shooting, martial arts and injury rehab.
Special classes offered
- Beginning to advanced level fitness
- Hunter/Bow Hunter's Safety
- First Aid/CPR
- Hunting tactics
- Enhanced shooting skills
- Outdoor survival
- Firefighting, Military, & LE tactics and survival techniques
- Orienteering
- Mountain sports prep.
- Self defense
- Water confidence and survival
Membership
- Full access to all facilities and discounts on special courses.
Special events
- Camps and seminars for hunting groups, sports teams, military units, FD's, and PD's.

So, now I've laid it out. Anyone want to invest $5 million? I'll let you help name it. D&DH? I'll let you put your logo on the wall.

[bobow]

I've got a quarter I'm not doing anything with.

I do hope you are able to achieve your goal! It sounds sweet.

[kellory]

Send me the flier when you open. I will spend part of my vacation there, and the rest hunting. Now would this be seasonal, prehunt, or year round? You could cut your cost and space requirements by posting the raised archer platforms on top of the covered / heated long gun range, and faceing the opposite way. You could also go public and sell shares. Keep %51 percent at all times though, or you could find yourself out of your own job! Sounds like my kind of place. Did I mention I was a BoyScout and taught knotwork and pioneering? Where should I send the resume?

[SwampLife]

Ha! I see that you 'geek out' on your topics of interest as I do.

I play a lot of basketball so I train for explosion, stability, flexibility and plyometric strength which keeps me in pretty good shape. Only training I do for hunting is walking on a treadmill with ankle weights and a weighted vest, which gives me unlimited endurance for basketball as well

Your facility sounds awesome, no I don't have $5mil to invest, but if you get one open in south Florida I will surely be a member You might as well add some sort of living quarters because I wouldn't want to leave...

But you left out Paintball!

[JPH]

Haha! All you guys will get the D&DH forum discount.

And as long as we're dreaming (actually I like Swamplife's phrase "geeking out" better), I'd like to keep it open year round, shifting the training schedule to fit the weather. But if I'm the boss, you won't see me during the rut or the peak of spring gobbling.

I thought about paintball and also a rope tower and climbing wall. When you're dreaming faster than your budget and ability can keep up, you forget to write stuff down.

Fun to imagine though, isn't it?

[Jslotter]

No bar??? Thats a pretty cool idea you got there. It would be like an outdoorsman bootcamp.

[ranwin33]

Have you run any numbers, or are you still in the dreaming stage?

You might check with your local community college and see if you could offer some of these classes in partnership with them on the non-credit/continuing education side. Might give you an idea of how much interest there is for the topics you are wanting to train. Who knows, down the road they may become a customer if you get successful.

[JPH]

Have you run any numbers, or are you still in the dreaming stage?

You might check with your local community college and see if you could offer some of these classes in partnership with them on the non-credit/continuing education side. Might give you an idea of how much interest there is for the topics you are wanting to train. Who knows, down the road they may become a customer if you get successful.

No, just geeking out.

I've taught firefighting tactics and survival tecniques on the side for years. Mostly on contract but I've also worked with the local CC. I also do some personal training at my gym and I focus on the kind of stuff described above (large. multi-joint strength/conditioning moves). Most of the participants are regular housewives or office workers who enjoy "boot camp" style workouts. You gotta really hustle if you want to make much money on either.

I'll bet the start-up costs would be staggering. I think the real way to make a go of it would be to start very small and work out of a shed somewhere, run a good web-site and build on success.

[ranwin33]

[
No, just geeking out.

I've taught firefighting tactics and survival tecniques on the side for years. Mostly on contract but I've also worked with the local CC. I also do some personal training at my gym and I focus on the kind of stuff described above (large. multi-joint strength/conditioning moves). Most of the participants are regular housewives or office workers who enjoy "boot camp" style workouts. You gotta really hustle if you want to make much money on either.

I'll bet the start-up costs would be staggering. I think the real way to make a go of it would be to start very small and work out of a shed somewhere, run a good web-site and build on success.

Nothing wrong with dreaming. That is where a lot of successful businesses have started. Startup costs and insurance given what you want to do would be tremendous I would think, but as they say where there is a will there is a way. Might look for some partners, or check out your CC's Small Business Development Center - they can be a great resource for new and small business owners.

Following my dream we just bought a 70 acre farm about 30 minutes south of our residence in KS October 2010. Got into the "green" thing a while back as part of my work, and decided raising grassfed beef, etc. in retirement might be fun. My wife and daughter would like to open a pie restaurant as an outlet for some of the product. So we are on a 10 year plan now to get the thing up, running, and functional. My daughter and son-in-law are living on the place now, quite the experience for a couple of city kids. But they love it. Wish the deer hunting there was better though, only small bucks and does so far.

[kellory]

Sounds like an interesting goal! Are these to be desert pies, or will you be offering beef pot pies as well? Might even try for venison pot pie....yummmm!