Fancy running a MTB business in the Austrian alps?

Leogang

Hi Bike radar,
First of all apologies if I am posting in the wrong section :?

I work for a company which is looking for somebody who is very passionate about mountain biking who would like the opportunity to run their own business in the Austrian resort of Saalbach/Leogang, and I thought I'd join the forum to see if anybody is interested.
Ok, here's the deal; we are a ski company that has an amazing Chalet-hotel that lies dormant in the months from May to October, because the area is very popular with mountain bikers during these months it seemed such a waste.
To cut a long story short we are looking for somebody who would like to take on the chalet and fill beds during this time, and ALL profits would be yours! We could even source the staff and provide admin from our offices if needed, you can either live there or run it from the UK it's up to you.
I know what you're thinking.....what's the catch? Well, the rent for the property and running costs would have to paid by yourself, but we would pay half the rent for the first year to help you get started. After the subsidised rent and running costs have been paid all the revenue generated through room sales and guiding would be yours.
If you're interested or know anybody who would be then PM me and I'll get back to you with more information. Thanks guys

Leogang

I just though i'd mention at this stage that a sensible, negotiable financial commitment will initially be required from you to fund the rental for the summer and autumn months. I don't want to mislead you in any way, we want the people who take this on to be serious about making this a successful business venture and we feel that this would weed out the people who just want to live in Austria on the cheap.

bennett_346

If i was ten years older and not a wee 19 year old this would be tempting as hell

Leogang

bennett_346 wrote:

If i was ten years older and not a wee 19 year old this would be tempting as hell

haha ;-)

Rushmore

If its such a good business opertunity that can be run outside of the uk, why the hell are you not doing it yourself???

Leogang

Very good question.
We are a small company that specialises in ski holidays and we don't have the manpower or the Knowledge about the mountain bike scene to drive the idea forward. This is a more cost effective way for us as we wouldn't have to employ anybody.
We own the property and at the moment it is empty during the warmer months , we aren't being greedy about it, we are quite happy just receiving the rental for the property whilst someone generates a good income for themselves by renting the rooms and guiding etc.

gezebo

The way I read this is
a)You/your company has an under used property in the Alps somewhere.
b)You want it filled and paid for at no risk to yourself.

I'd have to ask the question if it is that great why you are not doing it yourself? Surely if it's full over the winter and you've identified a market, it would not be a huge step for you to fill or occupy during the summer and get mtb guides in as/when required?

To be honest it does sound greedy and I don't really see what the benefit is to anyone but you! You could easily (and people do) set up guiding holidays and move around using existing accomodation on an as and when required basis... and not pay rent upfront for a season.

If its that great, employ someone to take the idea forward.

cooldad

That's a bit harsh. Sounds like a possible opportunity for someone to make a bit of dosh half the year, and enjoy the other half.
If you can work the numbers.

gezebo

Harsh? Yep, probably. True? Even more likely!

I just don't see how it could work on a business level on the terms offered.

Good luck to anyone who gives it ago though :-)

cooldad

Why not?

bennett_346

Seems fine to me :?

Rival business are you?

gezebo

Just think about it...

Wouldn't say I'm a rival, the Austrian alps are a long way from the UK!

cooldad

You keep saying that but don't say why you think it. It's kind of normal for a business to pay rent.

paul.skibum

Rent property for X - rent all rooms out for 2X - You make X owners make X everyone happy. I dont think the OP is suggesting that the entire room rental revenue is paid to them - I think he is suggesting that summer rent will be an amount and you then decide how much to rent out the rooms based on your projected occupancy levels and your desired profit.

My mates run chalet business in France and lease/rent a couple of chalets each winter to fill with their guests. Pretty standard assuming rental rate is fair.

ddraver

Yeah, after my brief experience in France, the OP is suggesting something quite common.

The extra cash from the rent in the summer is probably small change to what they re making in the winter. Seen the cost of ski holidays recently? They re nearly double what my the small company I worked for used to charge 10 years ago. They need someone who knows the MTB business well to get started, otherwise they make a hash of it in the first year, loose loads of money and never do it again.

I'm not sure if the BR forum is the right place to ask, I'd assume that someone who knows the MTBing"scene" in Leogang would be their best bet, but it's free so who cares...

(Feck, my garp yah was 10 years ago! 10 flipping years!! )

oodboo

With redundancy looming once again this would interest me but I don't know the scene well enough to make it work. I'd probably lose all my money in the 1st year and end up a dole scrounger.

cat_with_no_tail

Just sounds to me like the OP could make money from this venture if they had the inclination to do so. However, it's easier for them to make a very small profit by sub-letting to another business for summer months. It also frees up the owners time to go and do other things. I know a few people who do similar things, winters at their properties in ski resorts, summer at their beach properties. You can't be in 2 places at once, and you have to remember that the summer MTB scene in these resorts is relatively new, so people already have other commitments.

Sounds like a reasonable deal, depending on what you stand to make from the rental agreement. At the least it should be a good way to spend a full season out there all expenses paid. Remember, you don't HAVE to offer guiding, that's just another way to make money.

Mccraque

I think that some of the comments above are unreasonable. It's the opportunity of a business venture and a subsidised first year to help ease the start up.

Unfortunately it's not for me right now...but I'd love to get involved in running such a venture. Although I would most certainly want to be involved for the winter season!

cooldad

Yup, I'd love to look into something like that, unfortunately for the next few years still have an evil grasping ex and a son (not evil or grasping) at a rather expensive school. So a guaranteed income is a bit important.

Leogang

Hi guys, thanks for your comments.
Could I just make clear what is on offer as I think there seems to be a bit of confusion.
As an analogy just think of the Chalet as an office (albeit in an amazing place) that you want to run your business from. We will rent the office to you at a discounted rate for the first year to help you get started (with continued support). The type of business and how you run it is completely up to you, ALL money taken for rooms etc is yours, after all it would be your business.

gezebo

The more I think about this, the more I feel that the OP has everything to gain and nothing to lose, whereas the 'partner' for want of a better word has everything to lose and not much to gain from the deal.

If its location is such great a place to be I just don't understand why the 'Company' doesn't market their chalet to other organisations, or market the accommodation to people during the winter months stating its availability during the summer.

As I said before it would be much simpler to hire accommodation on a as/when required basis and then not incur the overheads of hiring a chalet/office. If you were to run a full business which needed an 'office' then only having an office available for a few months of the year seams daft, and the time/resources required to move etc would be a further waste of money.

I'm sure you could if you had the inclination make a wage using this arrangement but I can't see much of a profit being made.

If I were the OP I'd be looking to market my unused chalet to existing providers if there is a market for it, or employ someone to take the idea forward if they are a company.

Anyway that's my view on it, I'm sure others will see other ways of looking at it!!

cooldad

Are you this guy?

gezebo

cooldad wrote:

Are you this guy?

Er no. You've asked why I don't think its a good idea and I've told you. I'm not stopping anyone who thinks its great from having a go or enquiring further. Good luck to them.

cooldad

I'll take that as a yes then.
Good of you not to stop anyone.

ddraver

gezebo wrote:

If I were the OP I'd be looking to market my unused chalet to existing providers if there is a market for it, or employ someone to take the idea forward if they are a company.

Anyway that's my view on it, I'm sure others will see other ways of looking at it!!

Realistically I think that's what he's doing, and I assume that he's looking elsewhere too. But why not post it on on a bike forum for free anyway?

paul.skibum

gezebo wrote:

I don't understand

To summarise Gezebo's position on this matter.

gezebo

paul.skibum wrote:

gezebo wrote:

I don't understand

To summarise Gezebo's position on this matter.

As someone who runs a business I do understand and I've no doubt that it could work for the OP (My position is that I don't think its quite as prosperous for the investor as the OP makes out). Instead of your funny little cut and paste jobs why not put your money where your keyboard is and prove the doubters wrong? :-)

cooldad

Without any specifics you are just sucking random words out of your arris.

paul.skibum

I wrote a whole long reply but it seems to have vanished somewhere - cant be bothered doing it again. SO lets assume your scepticism has been crushed and you are won over by the whole Leogang bike venture. OK?!

felix.london

gezebo wrote:

paul.skibum wrote:

gezebo wrote:

I don't understand

To summarise Gezebo's position on this matter.

As someone who runs a business I do understand and I've no doubt that it could work for the OP (My position is that I don't think its quite as prosperous for the investor as the OP makes out). Instead of your funny little cut and paste jobs why not put your money where your keyboard is and prove the doubters wrong? :-)

You quite clearly do not understand? As above, you have said as much.

I'm not sure what type of business you run but the first rule of any successful business is that you need to be passionate about what you are doing so a mountain bike forum would be a very good place to look for someone enthusiastic to take this opportunity and try and make a go of it.

Plenty of businesses are run this way where I am. From chalets/restaurants up on the pistes to hotels in the villages.

kammybear

If I didn't have a solid career and wasn't a n00b at mountain biking, I would jump at the chance.

It's a new market a chance to make it their own.

End of the day, teh hotel/chalet is left dormant and not generating a profit...why not just rent it out! Sounds simple to me!

Just out of curiosity, how many rooms are there and want would you be asking for in rent?