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Hunting Guide Outfitter

Real-Life Activities

Real-Life Math

You've just started an outfitter business. Now comes the fun of planning a budget.

You have been assigned an area 237 miles from the nearest airport. Luckily, this area already has two small cabins that sleep four people each. There is a shared outhouse, with a wood burning stove and running water in each cabin. The tenure, or rights to guide on the land, will cost you $100,000.

You will be offering two-week trips at a cost of $350 per day, all-inclusive. You have budgeted a cost of $25 per day for meals and coffee for each customer. You will cook the food yourself. You will also provide the necessary licenses and permits for each person, which cost $220 per trip.

You must provide the guns and ammunition, if the hunters wish to use them. You figure the actual cost for this and the replacement costs per season will average $150 per trip per person, plus an initial $2,500.

Transportation will cost you $0.33 per mile for gas and wear on your van. The cost of the van, including insurance, will set you back $30,000. You will be picking up and dropping off your customers from the airport.

It does tend to get fairly cold at night, so you will invest $2,000 in bedding, quilts and basic toiletries. The replacement costs for these will be approximately $25 per person per trip.

You'll want to carry at least $1 million worth of liability insurance per year, which costs about $500. You have also budgeted advertising and phone book listings at a cost of $1,700 per year.

You will need an annual membership to your region's Guide Outfitter Association that will cost $50 per year. And your own hunting licenses and lodge tenures will be approximately $2,000 for the year.

Assuming that you fill 7 out of the 8 vacancies per trip and run 6 trips this year, prepare a projected budget for your first year of operation.