Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Eric Kelch, CEO and President of Outdoor Ambition LLC., located in Sevierville, TN, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Outdoor Ambition LLC is a real estate development company in the outdoor hospitality arena. Hyper-focus on resort subdivisions, RV resorts, and glamping resorts allows us to give the attention required to develop these complex and detailed properties. We break our services into three separate groups: consult, design, develop, and we can partner on a project at any stage of the process. Our ideal clients are large corporate organizations and high-net-worth individuals that are looking to build long-term relationships working through multiple projects year after year. Building these relationships through honesty and integrity requires unparalleled time investments, thus the reason for clients with large or growing portfolios.
Tell us about yourself
I have been in the outdoor hospitality market my entire life. Born into the RV park and campground business, I was a third-generation KOA franchisee owner. My grandfather started the first KOA east of the Mississippi in 1965, and when we sold it in 2016, it was the oldest family-owned KOA in the system. Having grown up operating and building the family business, I decided to expand out, and in 2004 I started a construction company that quickly blossomed into a real estate development company that was comprised of vertical construction, excavating and grading, construction waste removal, and real estate sales.
In 2009 I had the opportunity to join Kampgrounds of America, Inc corporate staff and retired from there in 2022 as the Director of Real Estate Development for the company's portfolio of owned assets across the US and Canada. In 2014 Outdoor Ambition LLC was started with a hyper-focus on camping, glamping, and resort subdivision projects. Today our efforts go into working with our clients on their projects or one of our owned projects.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Being able to put all of our knowledge into an organized process to help others grow and succeed at a faster pace while creating a better ROI at completion. This mindset of paying it forward has proved to build a successful business, strong relationships, and the ability to provide for our families.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
One of the hardest things I have faced is not being able to take on "every" project that comes at me. Taking the time to assess every new client and project to stay within the organization's bandwidth means turning down clients and projects, and that has been hard!
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Starting a business - Be passionate and committed. Have a written process and procedure built for today but expandable to fulfill your vision.
- Running a business - Pace yourself and take time away, define working hours and honor them, and keep family first.
- Growing a business - create goals annually, and follow your vision.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://outdoorambition.net/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/outdoor-ambition-eric-kelch/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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