How do I find out if a campground depends on one long-time host or manager?
Ask who handles reservations, opens and closes the park each season, deals with guests, and knows where the shutoff valves are. If most of those answers are one person’s name, the business depends on them. Then ask whether that person will stay, in what role, and what is written down.
Begin with a simple exercise: ask the seller to describe a normal week in peak season and name who does each task. Listen for the person who is mentioned most. Then ask the staff, politely and at the right stage, what they would do if that person were away for a month.
Look for knowledge that lives only in someone’s head: guest preferences, which regulars need a certain site, how the water system is started, which supplier gives a break. Ask whether any of it is written down. Check whether guests ask for the manager by name and whether reviews mention them.
If the manager plans to stay, discuss a written arrangement, such as a defined role and a handover period. If they plan to leave, ask for a documented transition. Consider their relationship with the owner, since a long-time host may be family or hold informal promises about pay or housing. Ask openly whether any such arrangement exists. Whatever the answer, plan your first season around the possibility that this person leaves sooner than expected. Ask other staff how they would cope, and write the answers down for your own planning.
Key takeaways
- Ask the seller to name who does each task in a peak-season week.
- Check whether guests and reviews mention the manager by name.
- Find out what the manager knows that nobody has written down.
- Ask about informal promises on pay, housing or ownership.
Related reading
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Due diligence
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Sources
This answer is checked against primary sources. Links were last confirmed on the dates shown.
- 01Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentHow to conduct due diligence when buying a business
- 02Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentHow to reduce employee turnover
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