Thread: And now the big question.....

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....do I "go pro"?

Im seriously considering going pro next year. Amazingly my wife has signed off on the idea.

Part of me wants to take it to the next level but part of me enjoys the whole trick-or-treat part.

I have a few months to decide.

Anyone here "gone pro"?

Anyone also consider this?

I think it would be awsome to be able to open up a professional haunted house. I know that its a big business, buts its also expensive . The first few years would be tough. Having to make the props, advertise, etc, but if your up to it and you have the funds, go for it.

I'm kind of in the same boat.

We're pondering doing a haunted trail next year for the general public.

I need to rest a few months before I even consider that though.

From my experience...when you go pro it stops being fun. You are under lots of pressure to get enough customers to pay your expenses. A couple of bad weekends due to rain can put you out of business.

Just the legal issues as far as permits, insurance etc etc would be too much of a headache for me. The other thing is props....do you really have enough stuff to start a pro haunt...

Originally Posted by dawn408

From my experience...when you go pro it stops being fun. You are under lots of pressure to get enough customers to pay your expenses. A couple of bad weekends due to rain can put you out of business.

Have you started a pro-haunt? Id be curious to hear more about your expience.

Luckily, being in sacramento, ca pre-halloween rain is very rare. But I know what you mean. The stakes are obviously alot higher.

It becomes a full time job and it's hard to have two of those...

If you were going to go pro, I'd guess you'd look at doing DMX for your various props, as well as possibly real actors to add a certain excitement to it? DMX props I would guess would be quite expensive. Heck the life sized non-DMX based ones are in the hundreds or more.

Originally Posted by Scatterbrains

Just the legal issues as far as permits, insurance etc etc would be too much of a headache for me.

Luckily that kind of stuff doesnt bother me. Ive grown businesses from the ground up before and never minded that type of activity.

Originally Posted by Scatterbrains

The other thing is props....do you really have enough stuff to start a pro haunt...

At this second? No. But I have a year....

Originally Posted by andjarnic

If you were going to go pro, I'd guess you'd look at doing DMX for your various props, as well as possibly real actors to add a certain excitement to it? DMX props I would guess would be quite expensive. Heck the life sized non-DMX based ones are in the hundreds or more.

Props are an interesting thing in the haunt business. The pro-haunt I worked a bit at around here has ZERO animated props. And they are the largest sac haunt. Most of the static props they do have are stuff they bought used from hospitals, flee markets, thrift stores, etc and are not halloween or haunt related at all.

I go to quite a bit of pro-haunts and most out here in california are pretty light in animimated props. I think in the midwest and parts of the east there are higher expectations from haunt customers for animated props and detailed set work, its interesting.