In 2014, my wife and I, along with our two-year-old, one-year-old, and another baby on the way, embarked on our dream of owning a campground. Our journey began with setbacks; two previous parks we had under contract fell through for various seller-related reasons, and we faced challenges securing financing for the third park due to its financial situation and lack of records. Ultimately, we succeeded, but on my first night in our new RV at the campground, being kept awake by rowdy campers, I couldn’t help but question whether we had made the biggest mistake of our lives. While we had previously owned other businesses, we had never ventured into campground ownership or RV life. We invested everything we had into this endeavor without the backing of family or friends. Throughout the journey, we experienced numerous highs and lows, learning costly lessons that shaped our experience. We had envisioned passing this dream down to our children and grandchildren, but after seven seasons, we ultimately decided to sell the fruit of our blood, sweat, and tears for over six times our original purchase price.
It wasn’t an easy path. It cost us significant time, money, and emotional energy. However, now looking back, we feel it was well worth it and we are grateful for what we accomplished. After spending some time reconnecting with my family, I've come to realize that I have valuable experience, knowledge, and insights to share with both prospective and current campground owners. Throughout our journey, we longed for connections with others who had traveled this path before us. We joined industry groups, attended conferences, and participated in online forums, yet we rarely encountered anyone genuinely invested in our success. Advice was scarce, and we were eager to learn. Nowadays, I engage in several online groups, frequently answering the same questions time and again. Running a successful RV park requires more than a brief conversation or consultation; the challenges are unique and ongoing. Almost every obstacle we encountered as owners necessitated learning on the fly, and we often lacked someone to turn to for campground-specific insights, let alone another owner who had faced similar challenges.
After connecting online with a young couple seeking their own park, my initial advice on park evaluations evolved into guiding them through the entire purchasing process. The highs and lows of my own personal journey came rushing back to me, and I was eager to share the wealth of knowledge I had accumulated. Each conversation sparked more topics I wanted to discuss, and while I may have overwhelmed them at times, my intention was to alleviate the daunting burden of RV park ownership—not through a one-time consultation or even a season of due diligence, but through a lasting relationship.
For me to help an owner save hundreds of thousands of dollars and thousands of hours of time (both of which I guarantee to do), it is best accomplished through a relationship. That, my friend, is what I have to offer you. Let me use all of my life experience and many costly lessons that I gained from purchasing, redeveloping, expanding, and selling a campground to help you find success in achieving your dreams. Let me be the person that I longed to have; just a phone call or email away when I owned or wanted to own a campground.
Every topic on this website reflects my deep familiarity with the field, having spent hundreds of hours researching and thousands of dollars to better understand what works and what doesn’t. These topics are organized by phases of ownership, but there is definitely overlap, and the list is by no means exhaustive.
Please reach out to discover how I can advise and mentor you on your journey to success.
"Brian has been absolutely instrumental in helping us navigate the purchase and renovation of our campground. His knowledge spans everything from evaluating campgrounds for sale and determining a fair purchase price, to creating practical renovation action plans, to helping us avoid costly mistakes by sharing lessons learned from his own experience.
What makes Brian especially valuable is not just his knowledge, but the way he shares it. He is incredibly patient, thoughtful, and supportive. He offers different options and perspectives while still giving us the space to make my own decisions. He has saved us countless hours, stress, and thousands of dollars along the way.
We jokingly call him our “fairy godmother of campgrounds,” but honestly, it’s not far from the truth. His guidance and generosity have made an enormous difference for us."
- Scott and Jess Larkin