How Drew Miller turned the apocalypse into a business opportunity

Retired Air Force colonel and Harvard Ph.D. Drew Miller found a business opportunity in the apocalypse. And you can get in on it.

Fortitude Ranch is a constellation of five survivalist compounds across the United States Miller founded about a decade ago with properties that could double as vacation rentals, he told The New York Times. Today, there are nearly 800 members and five compounds across five states: West Virginia, Nevada, Wisconsin, Colorado and Texas. They are available for recreational purposes for up to two weeks a year. The model is comparable to a timeshare.

The locations are spacious underground shelters encased with concrete, steel and wood that connect two residential buildings. The walls are stocked like a grocery store with cans of coffee, tuna and buckets of ready-to-eat meals. There is a locked armory, complete with assault rifles, crossbows and a 50-caliber rifle. There are two inert radiation detectors on the grounds which are surrounded by guard towers. You can also continue to conduct business in the underground living and meeting rooms.

The company generated $2 million in revenue this year with a gross profit of around $400,000, he revealed to the outlet.

“Prepare for the worst, enjoy the present,” is Miller’s tagline. And if you think this is just for people on the fringe, nearly 20 million Americans, or about 7 percent of all households, identify as “preppers,” based on a recent analysis of FEMA data, the Times reported.  

According to the results of last year’s National Household Survey on Disaster Preparedness, 57 percent of Americans had taken three or more steps to prepare for disaster. There had been a 15 percent increase in the share of respondents who “assembled or updated supplies” from the year before, FEMA found.

The prepper community isn’t new, and it’s a growing trend among many affluent Americans, including Steve Huffman, co-founder and CEO of Reddit, rapper Rick Ross and Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Meta.

Miller is thinking big. He aims to provide “an affordable survival option for the middle class,” by making a Fortitude Ranch membership within financial reach for the average American. But, of course, there are luxury options. A “spartan” accommodation is a bunk bed in a hallway. A “luxury” membership can provide a family of five with a more private space with a private toilet.

Members are expected to pay anywhere from $2,000 to $20,000 to join and another $1,000 per year per person in dues. What they get is a place to call their “home fort,” where they can retreat when catastrophe strikes.

Other companies have monetized the Doomsday industry. American Reserves offers prepper essentials like a 12-month supply of food ($2,799.99) and an emergency crank radio ($59.99). Fieldcraft Survival offers classes ($250) across the country on “traditional bushcraft and modern survival skills,” including setting traps and tying knots. Vivos xPoint in South Dakota offers “luxury bunkers” with membership fees of $55,000.

Still, like any business opportunity, there is risk. Miller said investors need sufficient cash “to build capacity for at least 100 members.”  However, he said 200 would make it “comfortably profitable” with positive cash flow. He estimated that it would take $1 million to turn a property into a Fortitude Ranch, depending on local conditions and regulations.

Despite the ability to scale faster, Miller is cautious about franchise licensing. “Anything can be franchised,” he told the Times. “That doesn’t mean you should, necessarily.”

—Christina Previte

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