Thread: If you could... What would it be???

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Hey everyone!
I have been considering taking a big leap professionally and financially lately...

My recent thoughts, dreams and visions have brought me to some crossroads that are pushing me to create/establish a new business. This business could be a professional haunted house with an off-season prop builds and/or manufacturing/distribution.

I know its a big leap but I feel I have what it takes to create/own/operate such an establishment. This is my personal hopes and goals for 2011-12.

My question to you is: If you could create or establish a personal halloween dream or desired goal, what would it be?? Lets here it fellow HF family! Nothing is too silly or far-fetched as this can be our blank canvas of ideas here.

I wish you luck in attaining your goal, ter_ran

I'm intending to start up my own company doing shirts with dark designs on them sometime this year, hopefully sooner rather than later. I have a degree in graphic design, but can't find a job in that field, so I intend to make use of it somehow (I'd rather be my own boss, anyhow).

Originally Posted by Garthgoyle

I wish you luck in attaining your goal, ter_ran

I'm intending to start up my own company doing shirts with dark designs on them sometime this year, hopefully sooner rather than later. I have a degree in graphic design, but can't find a job in that field, so I intend to make use of it somehow (I'd rather be my own boss, anyhow).

Gartoyle, sounds like we do the same thing. I left the D a couple years ago with the same dilemma. I did Graphic Art, and started a small T-shirt screen printing compay out there. It only lasted about 4 years though...the big companies started printing for pennies and I just could not compete. I also did a horror shirt store (online) that did fairly well!!. Unfortunately, design jobs are few and far between right now.

ter_ran- You appear to be young, ambitious and talented. So if you have the guts, GO FOR IT!!!! I have often toyed with doing the same. I used to design theme restaurants, so I definately have the design ability. Additinally my husband is in the media biz, so he has lots of conections. In fact he much to his chagrin pays someone else to do haunted houses for him! But I simply don't have the confidence. Plus I think I might be getting too old to start a new/risky venture.

I wish ALL the luck to you bro, and hope that if you do this it works out great. I agree im sure you would be very good at it,for one because of your love for Halloween. I would love to open a seasonal Halloween store, yearly,that would be my thing for sure if I could, that to me would be awsome,and the Haunted House thing would be as well, I swear I thought about that last month loll I thought damn it would be so awsome to open a pro quality haunted house.So those are my 2 things, maybe someday ha ha!. But again good luck to you ! let me know if you end up doing it

My dream/goal is pretty simple: just finish all the props on my list for this year and be settup a week before Halloween.

Originally Posted by Scatterbrains

My dream/goal is pretty simple: just finish all the props on my list for this year and be settup a week before Halloween.

LOL, for me that falls into the realm of total fantasy!!!

It's ok to hope and dream. Just be realistic about the approach, or the dream, not to mention all your money, can fall apart. Nice little read here, in case you missed it-

http://www.hauntedhousestartup.com/h...raycliff-manor

Since you ask, each halloween I realize my dreams that haunt my brain for 364 days prior, like some kind of teasing, unrelenting ghost. Plans come and go during this time. Ideas formulate and crystalize. Money gets invested. Things get built. Sleep gets lost. Exhaustion gets found. All leading up to my grand dream for the year- my haunted display at my home. It grows ever bigger and more awe inspiring. More people come and get a thrill and a chill each year and mostly, they just have a great time visiting about the only home in our whole area that gives them an extreme halloween. This dream is as far as I care to take it. Four years ago I considered what you want to do. But, I realized that the key to hanging onto my love for doing halloween this way is to keep the scope home grown. I've made businesses out of the things I love and I ended up hating it after a while. So much work, no time for fun. My dream is to keep halloween fun and manageable and yet, keep it growing too. Each year I have somewhat of a blank slate to build upon and by golly, I do it and it remains fun. That's my dream, and each year it gets realized.

If you have what it takes and the means to do it, then go for it and very best of luck. But remember the old saying- be careful what you wish for. Just be responsible about it and consider the risk you put others in your life at too, financially speaking. At the moment in this economy, I don't know how anyone can contemplate starting a major business, nor how established ones keep the doors open. I mean this sincerely- best of luck making your dream a winning one. If it's all you want out of your professional life, then you'll simply have to make it work!

Dan

Last year, I talk on KIJIJI to a professional haunter that was doing a haunt for almost 10 years, all year round, and he got sick of it all and was trying to sell everything off. He said he loved it at first, but the more and more, he started to find it too hard, too much work and not worth it at the end. I was surprise to be honest, for myself, doing a haunt all year round is a dream of course, like so many people here. It's all depend also, do you have a good location? Would you have enough clients all year round? Also, if in a relationship, this could be hard on it too.

Good luck!

As the saying goes: "Do someting you love, and you will never work a day in your life!"

My childhood dream is to own and operate a large Haunted Attraction. As most of us have done, I have spent time observing those that already operate. Through my obervations, I have seen many common threads:

1.) It is NOT a get rich quick plan: Many people jump into this bussiness with little planning and preperation hoping to reap high rewards and fail to realize the overhead and other costs assosiated. Do your planning and homework!
2.) Location, Location, Location: Poor locations that are hard to access can hurt your attraction. Oh, and did I mention... advertisement?
3.) Fly by Night vs Steady: Of the many haunts I have seen and visited, those that last and return year after year are run by truly passionate Haunters who invest in people, relationships with the community, and their Haunts.
4.) It's very hard work! (enough said)

I have taken great advise from others and I plan to take my time to carefully put togather what will one day be my dream job. The best advise I heard was: "just about every idea has been done to some effect, it's how well you put yours togather is what will make you successful."

To awnser the question, I plan to open a Haunted Attraction / Park with different Haunts that are detatiled and tied togather by a common story line. I just want to approach with caution as we have heard of many people who jump into this only to end up broke and worst of all, broken hearted.