When Shropshire’s Jerry Dolan left behind an exciting career in the Army, he could not abandon his love of adventure and challenge.
In 2021 he was working with the Silverpreneurs® team to turn his passion for the outdoors into a successful business.
The former member of the Special Air Services spent two years in charge of an adventure centre for the British Army in the Canadian Rockies and recognised that there was a market for offering the same kind of experience to would-be adventurers.
He had already spent several years running similar expeditions on a part-time basis before his retirement from the Army four years ago.
So it was a logical step to set up his own full-time company, GoAdventure1, working with military specialists to offer the adventure experience to a wider audience.
Now GoAdventure1 offers expeditions and adventure holidays for families and individuals to destinations such as Norway, Bengal, USA and Thailand. They’re led by a team of outdoor guides and instructors drawn from Army Physical Training Corps and Royal Signals officers, who have commanded leading Ministry of Defence outdoor centres.
The courses, which are suitable for all levels of experience, cover mountaineering, climbing, orienteering, survival skills, kayaking and canoeing. So far the core of the business for 65-year-old Jerry, has been with public schools.
But the pandemic and lockdown in 2020 and 2021 brought the business to a near standstill and Jerry knew that he had to expand his customer base to develop an all-year-round income for himself and his team of a dozen freelance instructors.
I met Vernon Hogg from Silverpreneurs® and I knew that the experience of the Silverpreneurs® team would help me develop the business.
I signed up to Silverpreneurs® in the autumn of 2021. It’s been a bit difficult as I’ve been out of the country a lot since I joined the programme. But even in the time I have had with the Silverpreneurs® teams I have been given really good advice on how to expand into a new market and how to develop the business.
What has impressed me most has been the way Silverpreneurs® has opened up a network of contacts and businesses that I can work with.
Jerry
“They have been really pro-active in keeping in touch with me and making sure I know what is on offer from Silverpreneurs®, even though I haven’t been around to attend all the sessions. “I would wholeheartedly recommend Silverpreneurs® to other founders. I know that all that specialist support is there to help me develop my business. All the fruit is there, I just haven’t gone to the tree to pick it yet,” he said.
More information about GoAdventure1 can be found at the website: https://www.goadventure1.com/