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What is Snowtubing?
Winter sports are becoming increasingly popular. While skiing or snowboarding need professionally maintained slopes, downhill using inflatable tube does not require so advanced infrastructure. Snowtubing we are speaking of, is basically an improved version of the standard sleigh. Fun is granted by downhill the snowy or other specially prepared surface by the inflatable tire. For those interested in running a seasonal business it is a great possibility – large initial budget to start the business is not required and storage of equipment during the summer does not need too much space.
Where to start?
First we must consider what kind of services we want to offer.
Available choices are:
- city closed events,
- mountain areas with professional ski lifts,
- custom places with fairly steep slopes.
For city closed events just only tubes are not enough, you also need a construction to slide down. Price range depends on its size and is from a few to dozen or so thousand GBP. Don’t forget about construction transport and storage costs.
The most professional snowtubing tracks are equipped with a special lift for easy getting to the top of the track. Opening such lift for your own, the cost of its operation and space rental are really large amount of money. For this reason it is worth to contact with the popular ski resorts and see whether they need subcontractors to provide downhill equipment, leasing the downhill infrastructure downhill only.
These two variants described above are comfortable solution, because basically do not need any marketing campaigns to operate. When you are a subcontractor for such an event or lease of a lift, you do not need to worry about everything else – this type of attractions advertise on their own and you can be sure that there will be no shortcoming of customers.
The last option is to purchase the equipment only and renting it to organized groups or institutions. This option is the cheapest, but requires a lot of effort in looking for new customers. The potential market are corporate social events, winter camps and outdoor schools or you can also create an offer dedicated to organized groups of friends. You should have several places to offer for snowtubing, but you must also be open to new ideas raised by customers. Your task is then limited to delivery of the equipment to the right place and take it back after the agreed time.
Costs
The cost of one tube is approx. 10 GBP. You should always make sure that the purchased product has all appropriate certificates. Do not save on safety. The equipment must be safe and sturdy because in a typical season few hundred people will use it for snowtubing. Best tubes are made from good quality PVC. Number of tubes to buy depends on your business plan, for small operations approx. 20 tubes should be enough for a beginning.
Prices for the cheapest option – renting of equipment for events should always be agreed with the organizer depending on the number of people interested in snowtubing, place of event and time of rental. Prices may vary from 20 to even 50 GBP per person per one hour of snowtubing. For medium-sized group of people you can assume that the purchase of equipment will pay for itself after the first event ends.
For city closed events or near lifts additional costs of infrastructure should be taken into account, but the most cost-effective solution (both for you and your customers) will be charge for each downhill. You can offer vouchers for several rides at lower prices, etc.
You should also take advertising costs into account while determining budget. Assuming winter season lasts approx. 3 – 4 months, take advantage of marketing opportunities to the maximum. The average budget for advertising your company on Internet should range from 100 to 300 GBP. Also remember about creating a professional website and business cards, as well as the fact that the seasonal business need to take care of customers and clients. The company that invited you to cooperate during current season will probably invite your next year, if I you manage to comply with their expectation.
