Owner flexibility hedges against challenges of lake businesses

by Ashleigh Behlmann

SBJ Contributing Writer

sbj@sbj.net

Recreation-centered businesses often face myriad issues, including intense competition, and a short selling season followed by a sharply defined off-season.

"The seasonal traffic definitely makes it interesting when you try and make a budget you have to learn to live within your means for 12 months when you really only have income coming in between Memorial and Labor Day," said Kelly Swanson, who owns What's Up Dock and Port of Kimberling Marina with her husband, Randy.

This combination of factors means recreational businesses have to have their operations fine-tuned.

Horny Toad

Valerie Altergott owns several Lake of the Ozarks properties with her brother, Merlyn Vandervort, including the popular Horny Toad Restaurant.

" If you do what you say you are going to do, you can make a great business for yourself here," Altergott said.

Altergott and Vandervort purchased the Horny Toad in March 1999. Altergott left her career in Kansas City, where she worked in property management and marketing, to start the business with no experience in the restaurant field.

"The first year was pretty rough on us. We started out with a fine dining establishment and the Horny Toad which at that time was a completely outdoor hamburger shack," Altergott said. "At the end of the season, we found that our little hamburger shack had outperformed the fine dining establishment by far so we remodeled and combined the menus and created the Horny Toad Bar and Grill. Our second season, business was up 350 percent."

Bringing a sense of summer fun to the restaurant through clever name is a tactic in which Altergott believes strongly. Her other Lake of the Ozarks businesses include The Frisky Frog, Pecker's, Jeremiah's Cantina, Seven Mile Mini Mart and Millenium Realty Group.

"The names really work," Altergott said. "We give our restaurants off-the-wall names as a tactic to get people in the door. Once they are in there you can impress them with the quality of food and service, every year we have been up 25 (percent) to 35 percent," she said.

The pair found that a casual atmosphere with the option of fine dining was what appealed to their clientele.

"Everybody is wowed because what you expect and what you get are two different things. You can get a burger and wings, or you can get filleted oscar or lobster linguini," Altergott said. The Horny Toad operates year-round, but in peak season it employs approximately 135 people. The establishment offers entertainment seven days a week in the summer months and on weekends in the winter.

What's Up Dock

Kelly Swanson attributes her companies' successes to a trend toward vacationing closer to home.

"Our revenues were very good; we had the largest July and August I have ever experienced," said Swanson, who owns What's Up Dock and Big Buoy's Cafe. "People have re-evaluated how they spend their vacation time (due to world events). They want to stay closer to home but still have a nice time with their families." Most of Swanson's customers are from within a 600-mile radius.

Swanson's businesses meet a variety of boaters' needs, including fuel, storage and rental. The facility offers 141 camp sites, and 1,100 boat slips.

Regardless of their seasonal tribulations, Swanson loves her work.

"I love my customers," said Swanson. "People on vacation are always in a good mood, and they are happy to be here."

Lilley's Landing Resort & Marina

Phil Lilley, an avid fly fisherman and owner of Lilley's Landing Resort and Marina, has operated a business with a quieter appeal since May 1983. Lilley searched for two years to find the ideal property for his business.

"We decided Lake Taneycomo was the best place for us to buy because of the stability of the winter fishing. Our location is off of the (Highway 76) strip two miles, so we are easy to get to. But we are at the end of a dead-end road, with College of the Ozarks across the lake from us and a farm that they operate on our other side, so we are very secluded."

The resort offers guided fishing, fly tying and other topical clinics, and has one- to four-bedroom units equipped with full kitchens.

Lilley said that the quality of coldwater fishing at Lake Taneycomo offers his business a buffer from the stark drop of business many other lake businesses experience in the winter. Lilley said his resort is 100 percent booked through the summer months and 65 percent booked through the winter. The business' 2003 gross revenues were just under $800,000.

Orleans Trails Resort and Marina

Orleans Trail Resort and Marina on Stockton Lake is expanding in the hopes of attracting more winter and community business. Jennifer Plymate has owned Orleans Trail Marina with her husband since 1992, and the couple has partial ownership of the Orleans Trail Resort. The marina has 500 rental slips, a campground, boat rental, a convenience shop with bait and souvenirs, and Grand Mariner Yacht service and a boat dealership offering Hunter, Elan and Beneteau boats.

The resort will soon be renovated to include a 300-person meeting room that will operate year-round and 80 rental units. "The winter is when we get time to do construction and repair; the resort will be marketing itself differently to get business in through the winter," said Plymate.