We started Boho Camper Vans as friends…

but it quickly turned into a partnership. When we came up with the idea in March 2018, we knew (in every fiber of our being), that renting camper vans in Arizona would be successful. The problem was we didn’t have the money saved to purchase a van, let alone the money for materials needed to turn the van into a camper.

Most mentors or successful entrepreneurs would say something like, “put together a business plan”, or “start saving a little each month”, but that’s not the approach we took. The excitement of bringing Boho Camper Vans to life had overcome our thoughts. It was now our purpose, and we weren’t going to wait.

So what did we do? We went to the bank and took out a credit card with the largest limit they’d offer. The next day we went ahead and bought a van to transform into a camper, and charged the entire purchase.

The intro offer on the credit card gave us 15 months no APR, which became the “deadline”.  We needed to purchase a van, build it, rent it, and make enough money to cover the credit card expenses in full before the 15 months was up, or the interest would compound and the business idea would crumble. It was a risk we were willing to take.

The first van was affectionately named “Stevie” after we heard Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide on the radio immediately after firing up the engine to drive it off the lot. Stevie was a 2005 Ford E-Series with 89k miles on the odometer; not the typical image of what a new business should be using as their ticket to jumpstart success. But at this point, we trusted the vision of what Boho Camper Vans could be even, with a high-risk “loan”, high-risk old van, and all the other risks that come with starting any new business.

While working on the conversion, Stevie was listed for rent and started seeing rental bookings roll through. And then more came through. And then even more.

Six weeks later, Stevie hit the road on its first rental trip, and we had already recouped over half our investment (ie. our credit card debt). 4 months later we were out of debt, and even had extra income to purchase a second rental van to convert into a camper.

Fast forward 4 years and Boho Camper Vans has built hundreds of camper vans, appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank, has been mentioned on The Joe Rogan Experience, and Boho is established as one of the largest camper van manufacturing facilities in the world.

So what’s to learn? When you feel that overwhelming sensation to move forward on an idea, an inspiration, or a calling…..that’s the universe telling you “YOU’RE READY!”

Risk, fear, failure are all part of the process, but they’re all so much better than regret.

We hope you enjoy our vans!

- David & Brett