Starting up any business has its fair share of logistical nightmares; a hunting business is no different. Nevertheless, there are some clear guidelines associated with developing your own hunting business that you must adhere to. There are also many different sects of a hunting business that you can specialise in.
The Types of Hunting Businesses
It is important to develop your own niche of hunting business before you actually start developing your business plan and subsequently open your business. There are three main types of hunting businesses, all of which could be lucrative ventures for you. Of course, all of three of these fundamental business areas can be further explored and made into more of a niche or specialised business as you wish.
1. Distribution service
This business would be good for the business forward entrepreneur. It would involve selling hunting wear and equipment. In essence your business would be a fixer for your clients hunting needs. You would need to have a good understanding of the hunting market, the new opportunities and items open to clients and good supply links. The hunting distribution service is one of the more realistic business ventures for an entrepreneur to start up quickly and potentially earn a good return on your capital.
2. Land lessor
If you own, or have the means to get the rights to a large plot of land then you could act as a land lessor. This would mean organising a yearly schedule for your clients or businesses to which they can book out time and use the plots to hunt on. This is a great business opportunity for those entrepreneurs already owning such plots; if you do not own them then you can purchase the land and start up your business thereafter.
3. Hunting intermediary service
The hunting intermediary service would entail you working as a fixer for your clients hunting needs. This would require you having a good online and physical presence, a good link with suppliers and hunting grounds alike and the ability to offer bespoke days for your clients. This is possibly the most realistic hunting business proposal. This is because a lot of the more expensive outgoings would be priced and owned by your partners, leaving the risk with them.
How to start a Hunting Business
Below are the steps to start a successful hunting business, they have been generalised to help every niche venture get started. However, they are tailored to the hunting profession and should be used as a guideline to help start up your business.
Produce a business plan
This should be the first stop for anyone looking to start up a business. Developing a business plan will help you to focus your attention on the strengths and weaknesses of your brand. This in turn can help you to secure financing options; it can be used to get venture capitalists or partners on board and helps your business come across more professional.
This will be your blueprint to starting up your hunting business, so it can include any of your specialist ideas and explain them, making them viable. It is a great tool for you, your customers and partners to properly understand your business.
Find the right locations or suppliers
Depending on your niche, you will have to conduct a lot of market research to help you find the perfect spot for hunting, or the best suppliers to work in conjunction with. This is also important if you decide to open a physical store, the location of this store will directly impact its success or failure.
For this it is important to speak directly with your target market, this information can also be used for your marketing strategy. If you conduct a survey, this can be of land, suppliers and customers you will be sure to find the perfect fit for you. This way your business will see a higher return on investment overtime.
Get your Licences
If you are hoping to stock hunting weapons, or take clients on hunting trips there is a lot of legislation that you will need to complete. It is important to understand them and to conduct your business within these guidelines. For most businesses they will have to secure a hunting lease on either private or state owned game lands. You must read through the legislation, or hire a legal team that will be able to disseminate it for you. If you operate outside of the legal remits the repercussions could be huge and your businesses name may be tarnished indefinitely.
Study your Competitors
Due to the lack of competition in the hunting business, there are a few key players in various locations. It is important to learn from their mistakes, look for the gaps in the market and adapt your offerings to fill them. Competitor analysis is a very worthy way for a new business to spend their time, and in some cases money, to truly understand how to undercut their competition and offer a better all round business concept for your clients.
Conclusion
There are many ways to develop your hunting business; it just depends on the specifics of your vision. Please remember that to start up your business you could decide to partner with an already established business, or run a franchise. This would greatly reduce the amount of risk associated with starting a new business, but you could still see some huge rewards.
A hunting business relies on the interest from your clients, the access to good suppliers and premium goods and great hunting spots. You must spend some time developing your business plan to ensure that you do not miss out on any avenue that would set you above the rest. It is quite a difficult market to crack due to the legislation associated with it; this should not be a deterrent but an investment into your business.
