Okay, I am new to the business of Haunting, but I am not new to set construction and working various positions within a few different local haunts. I am searching for anyone who would be willing to give me a little insight on what is actually needed when and before you open, things such as insurance, what kind I need to be looking at and some slimple things that I need to put into a buisness plan. I grew up loving and participating in them and I finally would like my own and have decided to go into getting my associates in Buisness just to learn how to financially run it and be successful and perhaps work with the other haunts in my area? any suggestions are helpful! :) Thank you.
Help and advice needed and very much appreciated! (5 posts)
Haunted Attraction Forum » Home Haunt Discussion
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Posted 8 months ago #
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I highly recommend attending one of the smaller conventions, HauntCon,MHC, NHC, or WCHC. All good shows, the last one is mine. (shameless plug!) No seriously though, get with like minded people and pick their brians for ideas, take classes, go to workshops. Learn the fire codes in your neck of the woods where ever that might be.
Best of luck to you, let me know if I can help.
Ed Roberts
West Coast Haunters Convention!
Posted 6 months ago # -
i recomend picking up a book from hauntbook.com... so u want to be a haunt...and the cd rom.. i just orderd it last week and answerd all my questions...get the cd rom...great tools on it...
Posted 6 months ago # -
Also, like any business, take advantage of your local Small Business Administration for a lot of the basics in your area: http://www.sba.gov !
Posted 5 months ago # -
First, make sure you really do your homework...there is no shame in not 'jumping' into business in the first month or so. If it takes you a year or more before you take that leap, it probably means you are much better prepared.
I agree with going to the conventions, you can learn a lot from them, especially the classes at such places like http://www.HalloweenUniversity.com. You have a lot of conventions to choose from, there is the WestCoastHauntersConvention.com, MidwestHauntersConvention.com, NationalHauntersConvention.com and HauntCon.com see what is closest or most appealing for your neck of the woods.
Another great thing is that make sure you subscribe to the magazines...for what you pay for a magazine, just 1 really good article saves you more mone than the subscription. Haunted Attraction Magazine articles are wonderful, and pick that up if you don't have it already, and if you haven't seen it yet 13th Hour Magazine is one hell of a magazine as well. You can find them at http://www.13thHourMagazine.com You can never have enough magazines, and even look for back issues. You would be amazed at some of the information you can learn and mistakes you can avoid!
Finally, make sure you have a solid business in place....the most common now for protection is an LLC (Limited Liability Corporation). When you get to that point, that's probably the best thing for a new business.....there are other times you will want an 'S' corp, but your accountant will tell you when you are ready for that.
Hope that helps some,
Robert Kocher
The Village of Darkness
http://www.TheVillageOfDarkness.com
PS - and don't ignore the quality of your website.....you would amazed how many people do.
Posted 5 months ago #
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