One of the things I’ve been quietly working on lately is developing Adventrepreneur - The best resource for adventure business owners who want to grow and develop their business to its full potential.  It is truly one of a kind resource.  There’s nothing like it out there.  It took me nearly 2 years to create it and I want as many people as possible to be able to benefit from it.

In fact, I've been helping adventure business owners like you develop winning strategies, become the leader in their category, and create a detailed blueprint that empowers them to build their dream adventure business since 2009 — and keeping detailed notes on every technique I use.

And now it's time to start sharing some of them with you.

 

Are you ready to grow and develop your adventure business the way top entrepreneurs do?

 

Today, I invite you to sign up for my Adventrepreneur course. Here are just some of the things Adventrepreneur covers:

• The uncommon roadmap to building a successful adventure business.

• The powerful model that all of the world’s leading companies follow.  

• The “Bold Move Strategy”: How to find the one move that will create substantial results.

• The most overlooked strategy to becoming #1 in your category.  

• The #1 mistake adventure business owners make when positioning their brand in the marketplace.

• How to get the extreme confidence of knowing exactly what you need to do, when to do it, for maximum results.

 

Take your adventure business to the next level in months instead of years

 

Again, the Adventrepreneur course is officially OPEN TODAY -- and it closes this Sunday, June 2nd, at 11:59pm. Don't wait to "figure it out" -- check out the details now.

 

Click here for the details:  www.Adventrepreneur.co

 

-Jonathan

 

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Gauging by the interest level our first adventrepreneur story generated a few weeks back, I'm willing to bet you'll also enjoy the incredible success story of California base adventrepreneur Cliff Hodges,  who, in the span of a few short years, was able to take his new adventure startup company Adventure Out from his parents' basement to franchising level.

Take note to Cliff's insights and learn how he successful brought the work ethic and business model of an MIT Engineer to the field to build a successful model for outdoor adventure companies...

 

Name:  Cliff Hodges

Company:  Adventure Out

Location:  Santa Cruz, California

Website:  AdventureOut.com

Twitter:  @cliff_hodges

Facebook:  Facebook.com/advout

 

 

 

BACKGROUND

 

1. Tell the readers a bit about yourself.  

I am 33 years old and live in Santa Cruz, CA – where Adventure Out is based.  We run programs all over California (and occasionally all over the US and internationally), but home and office are in Santa Cruz.  I live on a beautiful 7 acres of Redwoods and Live Oaks in the Santa Cruz Mountains with my amazing girlfriend Morgan, and our two dogs, Zaffy (the Corgi) and Enzi (the Rhodesian Ridgeback).  My greatest passions are wilderness survival and primitive skills, surfing, and rock climbing…oh hey, aren’t those 3 of Adventure Out’s activities?  Yep – fancy that.

2. How did you get hooked on the outdoors?

Growing up in Santa Cruz, I was always  a surfer and beach kid, and also loved hiking in the redwood forests of the SC Mountains.   But I still attribute some of my true “first romances” with nature to the summer camp I used to attend, then worked at, in Sequoia National Forest.  I spent most of my summers as a child and teenager amongst the giant sequoias – adventure and conservation were huge tenants of this camp.  Obviously that has carried over in to my adult life.

 

3. Why did you start your own company?

I just didn’t want to get a “real” job… Just kidding – I started Adventure Out to share with people what I felt was important in this world.  I’m a firm believer that you can talk to people about conservation until you are blue in the face, but if they don’t have any point of reference, any connection with the natural world, it just doesn’t mean anything.  But, if you can teach people to fall back in love with nature, the conservation, the “eco-smarts”, will logically follow. People will seek that out.  So in short, why did I start Adventure Out?  To help people fall back in love with nature.

 

IN THE BEGINNING

4. What was it like in the beginning?

Pitifully slow.  I lived at my parent’s house and ate a lot of Ramen Noodles.  It was slow going for sure.  I barely made enough to live, but I was committed to making every program amazing, every customer important, and I just never slept and never relented.

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Want to start your own adventure business? Need financial support?  Now is your chance!  Chile is willing to invest in you and help you make it all happen! 

The Chilean government, is conducting a global search for tourism entrepreneurs, adventure businesses, and investors interested in exploring development opportunities in the Tierra del Fuego area of the Magallanes Region of Chilean Patagonia. 

 

 

Why you should care

Because you can get US$40,000 of equity-free seed capital to help you get your business off the ground! 

$40,000 !!! 

And if that isn’t enticing enough, the Chilean government will pay for your trip to fly down to Punta Arenas so you can check it out for yourself.  Sounds like an amazing opportunity? You bet!

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I'm thrilled to share with you the first story of a new series on successful adventrepreneurs.  I firmly believe that much can be learned from those who have succeeded before us. I have searched high and low to find some of the smartest and most innovative adventure entrepreneurs on the planet to share with you their stories, challenges, and successes.

To kick things in high gear, I'd like to introduce you to Kjeld Schigt, owner and founder of Kalon Surf, a luxury surfing company located in Costa Rica.  I first discovered Kalon last fall while I was doing some research on adventure tourism in Costa Rica for an upcoming video project.  One of the things that struck me with Kalon was its amazing web presence.  As soon as I made eye contact, I got drawn in.  You should know, Kalon's marketing is extremely effective!  It can't be ignored...  Kalon just keeps popping up everywhere you look - which is precisely why you should pay close attention...

Name:  Kjeld Schigt

Company:  Kalon Surf

Location: Costa Rica

Website: KalonSurf.com

Twitter: @kalonsurf

Facebook: Facebook.com/KalonSurf

 

BACKGROUND

 

1. Tell the readers a bit about yourself.  

I am from the Netherlands, did 2 masters, lived in Zurich, London, Paris and even Africa while working for Heineken, Unilever and BP. I love surfing & food, making people (family/friends etc) happy, and need a challenge! We got married on the 1st of May 2012 in the Netherlands, and again on the 22nd of December 2012 in Costa Rica! We met on the 1st day I arrived in Costa Rica as she was my relationship manager at HSBC - she would not date me until she decided to quit HSBC to finish her MBA... she gave me a chance then and the rest is history!

Silene is from San Jose, Costa Rica, finished her MBA at TEC Costa Rica, worked for HP & HSBC and lived in Maine, US for some time. She loves dancing (performed in the national stadium of Costa Rica during its opening ceremony) mostly folklore, love sports in general, is extremely proud of her country and its food and loves her big family.

 

2. How did you get hooked on the outdoors?

We both have done a lot of sports, with Silene having performed at a semi-professional level in Costa Rica with Dancing. Her parents are both professors in physical education. Surfing was new for her when she joined me at Kalon, but now loves it and continues to push herself. I have done a lot of mountain biking in Switzerland (and Netherlands) while I was living there, and went for a surf trip in 2003 to Brazil - I got hooked.
 

3. Why did you start your own company?

When I was 29, I felt I was slowly losing the passion and felt that I was too young to just work for money. I decided to leave BP, had interviews with other multinationals and consultancy firms but it did not feel right either. A talk with my mentor (from BP), brought me to the idea of the 'Surf School / Hotel' - We figured I should put it on paper and see if it was a dream or a real business. It turned out to be a business and I prepared Kalon for over a year before coming to Costa Rica (which was my first time ever).

 

IN THE BEGINNING

4. What was it like in the beginning?

Difficult, exciting, frustrating, overwhelming - realizing that it was my own company and I was no longer working for a big one, the idea of not having a salary etc.  

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If you’re hoping for a change this year, the odds are not in your favor. 

According to a survey recently published in the University of Scranton’s Journal of Clinical Psychology, 92% of new year’s resolutions fail.  In fact, 80% of people who make new year’s resolutions have failed by January 20th.  Yet we comply to this silly annual ritual every year even though we know it just doesn’t work. 

So why do we even bother? 

Because… deep down, we know we need to make some fundamental changes to become more productive, profitable, and successful - but only a minority of people understands WHY resolutions fail.   Let’s take a look.

Here’s why new year’s resolutions fail:

• They are based on willpower, not systems.  Physiologically, your brain can’t handle resolutions because it largely relies on willpower.  The part of your brain that handles willpower is the prefrontal cortex (your forehead) and is an extremely limited mental resource.  It controls other neurological functions and is also responsible for staying focused, solving abstract tasks, and handling short term memory.    In other words, abstract goals (like resolutions) that are not tied to a specific behaviour are near impossible to achieve.

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*Update:  What happened to the daily updates?  The combination of lousy/unreliable internet and lack of a computer rendered the task of posting updates on the blog nearly impossible. I just got back home and trying hard to get back on top of things.  Thanks for your patience folks, I'll be adding new info shortly.

 

 

Trying to catch up on things here so bare with me as a I try to bring you up to speed with what happened over the last few days.  It's a bit of a blur...

 

Despite our best attempt at tackling strategies, a series of events and circumstances got in the way, including perfect water level to run Rio Pacuare.  The Pacuare is considered one of the top 10 rivers in the world for its pristine wilderness and natural beauty.  Hmmm..... What to do?  Work on strategies or run one of the most amazing rivers in the world?  Aside the wonderful, lush, rain forest, the river features great whitewater, a beautiful canyon, and an overnight in a remote camp perched up high on the mountain side. 

 

So much for getting work done!  

 

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For any adventure business owner, it's unrealistic to think that you can put everything on hold while you choose to work "on" your business - the show must go on!  That's currently the case for Jim at the moment.  While he is putting a lot of efforts into developing a plan to grow his business, he's also having to continue to run the business.  To get a truer sense  of the Esprit experience and allow greater flexibility, Jim and I agreed to meet in Pozo Azul which happens to be a place where his guests stay on some of his trips.  It's a great spot to hang out while we work on our stuff. 

 

After a walk through of the property, we eventually find a super cool covered lounge area on the edge of the rain forest and settle into a couple of rustic rocking chairs.  Much like an old couple reminiscing about the past, we review what we've done so far and focus our attention to the task at end: setting 5-7 medium to long term goals for Esprit...

 

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For some people the mission and vision are easy to identify. For others , it takes a little more time. 

 

Jim is pretty clear about his purpose and the "why" he's in business. The mission part then came relatively easy - at least conceptually.  We are still trying to find the right wording and weighing the implication of a few variations of the same mission. 

 

The vision, on the other hand, is proving to be more challenging.  In our conversations, I asked Jim what Esprit wanted to be when it grows up.  He gave me a strange look and said;  Well! Esprit has been in business for 20 years - it's like you're asking someone who's 45 years old what he want's to be when he grows up!    In other words, Jim feels Esprit is a "mature" company and has already become what it wanted to become.  Esprit has fulfilled its vision!  And that's precisely why it is so critically important to identify a new vision for Esprit.  Esprit needs to set its eyes on a new horizon in order to move forward and drive success.  Otherwise, Esprit risks to lose focus and become complacent.   In business, you either move forward or backwards - There is no such thing as standing still.   It think Jim gets that, but still, it isn't an easy question to answer on the spot.   We're moving in the right direction but we're not there yet.

 

Next up:  Values.  For Jim, that's an easy one.  Esprit has always had a strong sense of values, though even Jim admits that they perhaps haven't been clearly or explicitly stated.  Right up at the top of the list are:  "Caring", "Being Courageous", "Generosity", "Honesty", and "Fun" among a couple other ones.  These are the "raw" answers.  We need to tweak and better define what those values mean for Esprit but the hard part is done.  As a side note, it is interesting to note how most of these values are so altruistically oriented... 

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Whoa!  Somebody pinch me!  I'm in Costa Rica.  I woke up this morning to howler monkeys and unfamiliar sounds you would expect coming from a rainforest jungle.  It's 6:34 am and the strange thing is that it's been light out for hours already.  I know this because I've been awake for a while in anticipation of what's coming today.  I'm nervous, excited, and looking forward to getting started. 

 

My first task is to learn more about Esprit so that I can get a greater understanding of what's really going on in the company.  I've spoken with Jim on the phone numerous times but now it's time to dive deep into the details. 

 

Shower. Coffee. Breakfast.  I put some clothes on for decency but really, I'd rather be naked.  It's warm - not hot. Just amazingly comfortable, especially considering its November and that I barely escaped the first snowfall of the season back home merely 48 hrs ago.  

 

Ok, now we're ready to roll!

 

I ask Jim to give me a run down of the last 20 years that he's been in business.  He doesn't spare any details and opens up completely.  I then ask him to give me a snapshot of his current situation and share some of his challenges...

 

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For those of you that like the behind the scenes content, you're in for a real treat. 

For the next 10 days, I'll be giving you the absolute best play-by-play that I can here via the blog, on facebook, and on twitter.  It's a huge challenge while I'm working long days and trying to pack a lot in a very short amount of time, but I'll give it my best shot.   

I've been informally surveying many readers for the past 3 months about what kind of content you want, and what I have heard loud and clear amidst all the talk on growing adventure businesses, strategic planning and the general tourism industry; you still want as much of the core that this blog was founded on - the best, real life, applicable, adventure business development advice that I can give.  I asked if you preferred that I polished the content for easy digestion, and you told me that if it was between getting it polished in 6 montths, or getting it raw right away-you'd take the latter any day.  So that's what this will be.  Could work out, could flop.  Either way, aiming to share some stuff and have some fun along the way. 

Jim Coffey from Esprit Whitewater has given me the green light to bring you along as we create a precise step-by-step plan to develop and grow Esprit.  Not too many companies have the guts and courage to completely expose themselves to the world so that other adventure companies around the world can learn from this experience.  Big shout out to JIm for opening up and letting you in on this.  But then again, that's why Esprit is so different and in a class of its own (as you will soon find out)...

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