Niche Biz: A Giant Sandbox
A few years ago, Ed Mumm bought a piece of property in this stunning ski town and rented an excavator to clear the land.
Scooping dirt by the ton, tossing boulders like pebbles, Mumm had an epiphany: This was fun. And then another: People might pay to do this.
Three years and $500,000 later, Mumm, 42 years old, spends his days draping orange vests around wealthy thrill-seekers at Dig This, which he bills as the first, and only, heavy-equipment playground in the U.S.
On a 10-acre plot of dirt, framed by distant mountains, Mumm guides his guests to a fleet of Tonka toys come to life — a skid-steer loader, a 115-horsepower excavator and Caterpillar’s D5G bulldozer, 10 tons of glinting muscle.
“I wanted to create a place where people could come and play — relive their sandbox days, but for real,” Mumm says.
Play time isn’t cheap: Hoisting, digging and razing costs $280 to $650, depending on the machine and the number of hours spent aboard. Even at those prices, Mumm doesn’t expect to turn a profit for at least another year — he’s had about 90 paying customers so far. But he feels confident that he’s tapped into an underserved corner of the American psyche.
Photo by Matt Slaby.
Angela on August 4th, 2008 12:48 pm
I don’t know how effective his business will be, or if it will become a success, but it sure does sound like fun!
I am wondering how he’s handling safety concerns, though. I mean, working with machinery of that sort comes with danger and potential for fatal mistakes.
Winning Startups on August 4th, 2008 1:31 pm
If people are paying to stay on a farm and feed animals and do chores for people, they might pay to haul dirt. Interesting idea, good luck to him!
cassy on August 4th, 2008 5:12 pm
This is a nice service, although its tiring coz you are operating a heavy equipment.
Machine-fan on August 5th, 2008 12:26 am
There are lots of people interested in heavy equipment (like me..), and then if somebody lets you drive them, many men re-convert into children…:)
Curt on August 5th, 2008 1:18 am
that looks really fun
Leave a Reply