Starting a ski Chalet Company.

A snowHead

I am looking to start a ski chalet company and I was looking to hear from people who have started their own and the challenges they faced. I am aware of how much of a challenge this will be and I am reasonably well connected within the resort I have chosen and various people within the ski industry so I am not after people telling me that it isn't worth doing unless you have tried and failed yourself. If you have tried and failed then information and what ultimately led to your failure would be much appreciated, if you can learn from other peoples mistakes it means you don't have to make those mistakes yourself. I am also aware that there is a lot of competition but hopefully my company can offer enough to make me stand out.

I look forward to hearing your replies!
cheers,
Jake.

A snowHead

Whatever niche you think you're in doesn't matter if the customer base doesn't recognise it or seek it out. How much have you tested it with people who would actually be paying for it. Also remember customers are definitely not mugs.

Also the problem with niches is that reality means you compromise - say your niche is absolutely adults only then you get a strong demand for parties of 20 with kids wanting to book the whole chalet at once at top dollar in peak weeks - do you hold the line?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

In review, my idea only just fits in within a niche market and doesn't in fact restrict the customer base entirely.

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Troisvalleysjake, seems to me that people running successful chalets have no particular reason to want to assist potential competitors and those who have failed are unlikely to want to vaunt their problems in public. Given that you know your resort well (a good start) talking to lots of people in it would probably provide more immediately relevant information. It would be very interesting to hear more about what you plan to do and how you plan to do it.

To the casual observer, from the "demand" side of things, there seem to be rather too many chalets already, judging by the bargains which abound for much of the year. I used to enjoy chalet holidays in the past. I have my own place now but there seem to be a huge range of chalets to choose from, in many different resorts and for all conceivable budgets. I've always thought it must be quite a tough way to make a living and admire those who succeed.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Troisvalleysjake, Your first step should be to try using the search function on here, as you can imagine this topic has arisen on here at least once a season for the past few years. > Forum Search< top of the page.
When done go to www.Natives.co.uk and search on there etc etc.

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Hi Jake,

Good luck with your venture and good to hear that you have had plenty of experience in the industry - always the best basis on which to start any business I think.

We run a small catered chalet company and so I might be able to help. Feel free to post your questions here and I will have a look . . .

Good luck!
Heather

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Troisvalleysjake, good luck. My immediate concern, based on observations (and conversations on here) is that at least an element of your competition will come from individuals who are independently financed and who own their own chalets outright - so no real need to maintain any sensible pricing levels if things are tough.

A long time ago I was involved with a chalet business and one of our major headaches was that when necessary, the big operators would discount so deeply simply to get contribution to overheads (which in their cases included allocated air seats) that they could provide the entire package including flights for far less than my marginal cost of doing so.

If this is factored into your plan, that's a good thing.

After all it is free

Do you know the local Mayor, that would be a good start ?

Troisvalleysjake, assuming you are proposing that you start during the 2014/15 season (I would say you are too late for this season) my tips would be:

- get your local permits, company and tax affairs right from the beginning
- ensure the property you rent or buy is ''right'' for your target market
- if renting, rent at the right price - and ask yourself if it is an establshed resort with lots of operators, why are you able to rent it? If buying ask yourself the same questions
- have a sufficient financial cushion built into your business plan to assume that you do not even hit what you think is your worst case scenario in seasons 1 and 2 (and 3)
- get your website right - it is critical
- be sure you are able (ie have everything in place to do so) to take bookings during the summer before (first time, as opposed to repeat, bookings this year were being made in August)
- make sure you have a marketing plan and are sure how you are going to be able to deliver on it. Whilst running in an established place is good (usually perceived as less risky than going it alone in an unknown resort, although there are examples where that has worked), it means you have lots of competition. The reality is that although there are repeat guests in certain resorts and in certain target markets you need to assume that you find all new guests each year
- re-watch the various documentaries about/re-visit the hundreds of website entries about this business as there are common themes revealed by them
- depending on your sector, make sure you can deliver premium service or high quality and personal at low price (or your staff can)

The most common reasons for ''failure'' are:

- insufficient customer base
- inadequate financial reserves to deal with a business that can take years to build (in term of brand, presence etc)
- poor cost control
- owner unsure if doing as a lifestyle 'thing' or to generate profit and create a profitable longterm business

Good luck!

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Troisvalleysjake, if your user name is any cluse as to where you may be operating, then you are obviously aware of how competitive it is.

Can't help with your questions, but you will find here a lot of people who book chalets so a good place to gauge likely interest as well.

From a punters point of view, I'm sure I am not the only one who is struggling with cost of living at moment so for us ski holidays will be stripped right back to bare essentials. Maybe something to consider.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

snow reports

I think if I were trying to start an accommodation based business in resort, I'd be looking at providing super-cheap self catering apartments to young families/etc, with an in-house creche/childcare option, and maybe a cheap in-house restaurant/pizza takeaway type thing. Chalet market is sooo saturated in most places already, TO's with in-house childcare seem to be at the more expensive end of the market, and lots of people on here seem to struggle finding good childcare options in many places.

clarky999, +1 Cheap could well be the way forward over the next few seasons, I feel. Dunno how you're ever going to make childcare cheap though - possibly people are going to have to start choosing between having kids and hvaing fun. wink

You know it makes sense.

Lizzard, it was the having fun but which led to kids

clarky999, yep - there is a gap in the market for self-catering chalets with childcare IMO. Is either catered chalet with Ski Esprit etc or complete DIY, must be room in the middle?

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Boris, that company often praised here, who operate in Puy St vincent, seems to provide exactly that, and does well. Snowbizz?

A snowHead

A friend who set up in the 3Vs told me he lost twenty grand in the first season, so deep pockets help. Operates two (or three?) chalets now though, so worked out once the brand was known.

A snowHead

Pam W - Yes Snowbizz are a great company and their childcare was excellent. However they are only in one resort which is not the most extensive and the apartments are quite basic. We really enjoyed our holiday with them but I could not imagine going back to those apartments or PSV year after year.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

write a business plan
write a business plan
write a business plan

don't expect more than 50% bed/night occupancy in the first year

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

It's interesting to wonder why there are no more companies who are copying the successful Snowbizz model.

Just watching the world go by, in a small French resort, it seems that the British determination to have their children "cared for" is unusual. There are ski classes and kindergartens for small kids, just for a few hours a day, on the whole. But mostly the families who visit seem to be OK with looking after their own kids, maybe because of the cost implications of paying somebody else to do it, maybe just because they like doing things with their kids? Quite a few families seem to be "three generation" - I often see what looks like grandparents - competent skiers - with small kids. I spent one very happy half hour watching a three generation family on a small free nursery slope tow, near my apartment. Mum had small baby in a carrier and a little girl of about 5 who was showing off her ability to whizz round the slope, using the rope tow. Grandparents, apparently on their very first attempt at skiing, were snowploughing very slowly, under the careful instruction of "Mum", who seemed, from the advice and support she was giving to the grandparents, to be a competent skier.

It was a happy family scene.

Kids are only tiny for a few years. Seems a shame to be determined to hand them over to strangers on holiday.

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pam w, Couldn't agree more.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

My friend set up a website which dealt with all of the extras for ski holidays above accommodation think it's called SnowOrganiser- you could drop her a line I know she was looking into a chalet company but I'm not sure why she decided against it, sure she wouldn't mind talking it through...

After all it is free

We own and run a chalet and now also have 3 small children (Naomie 1 month, Alex 2 tomorrow and Jenny 3 nearly 4). You don't have to have child care when skiing, We take turns taking them skiiing (even as babies - very well wrapped in down jackets in a carrier and checked on alot). But it is nice to go for a blast together for a couple of hours - so we put the litte kids with the Nounou (child minder), for just a couple of hours and that is enough. It is fun taking little ones, but you doo need a good level yourself to make irt easier... Jenny can't turn or stop really but we ski together down the blues as I often ski backwards infront of her on tricky bits.

It is good on the business front to own your chalet as mentioned, and be prepared to be the only staff sometimes (they dont always work out for the season), but unless you are lucky enough to be mortgage free, you still have to sometimes be able to suck up running at a loss some weeks. Chalets can be expensive (2 staff, heating, water, electric, mortgage...), our chalet runs at pretty much zero profit after this - but we live on the chalet (all food heating etc is covered). We make spending money from also being qualififed mountain guides. Also bizare as it might sound, you want to make no profit if you run a French company and live here, as the tax/social system costs are so high. I wouldn't go into the idea of of running a small to moderate (we have been running/owning a chalet and 3 star 19 bedroom hotel and restuarant and guiding business), with the thought that you are going to be able to afford a nice car and have spare money... You must enjoy it because your investments/company assets might only be released when you actually end trading and sell up. We have had success in setting up in an area that is growing and was little known. I am not sure that the big areas are the best plan (competition is nuts). We are thinking now of trying out a more know area, but as I study it it seems to be much less profitable.

Best of luck, its fun but very hard sometimes

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Starting a ski Chalet Company.

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