The tourism and hospitality sector is growing rapidly, with more and more people looking to the sector for new start-up ideas. While there is great potential in starting a new tour guide business, this is not something to be taken likely. Consider the following essentials before you get too deep in the process: 

Do your research first.

This is obviously not something that you want to jump into before you have done a great deal of research. You’ll want to spend time examining what other tour-related businesses are doing to get a feel for what works and does not work in your specific market. 

Take your geographical locations into account.

It’s essential that you size up your geographical area and tourist attractions to understand why it is that tourists come here in the first place. For example, if a particular town is well-known for its traditional music scene, you’re bound to find more people interested in evening tours of several small, local pub and music venues. Likewise, for a village located on the edge of dense woodlands, guided hikes in the forest are going to be more popular.

Don’t cheat on the business plan.

If you believe that you have settled on a viable business idea, then the next step is to get started on your business plan. This is an essential step that far too many would-be business owners believe they can gloss over if they wish. Not only will a business plan help you make wise decisions while you are getting operations off the ground, it may also be the deciding factor when you apply for financing from the bank. 

A good business plan includes the following items:

• An executive summary that thoroughly covers your business idea, including the competition that it will be up against
• An explanation of the funding and assets needed to start the tourism business
• A description of your target market as well as the competitors that you will be up against (a market analysis)
• A description of your business strategy that includes details regarding how you will market your business and price its services 
• A financial description outlining the expenses and income that you expect your business to incur

Consider the periphery expenses.

It’s easy to get caught up in the big picture of your tourism business and forget about all of the fringe equipment and considerations that will be necessary to keep it running. For example, a business that leads tourists on hikes through the mountains or countryside will probably need to supply customers with waterproof jackets from Trekwear or a similar outfitter, as this is not the sort of thing that all tourists are going to travel with. While these are not major expenses, the entire set of them add up considerably and often go unplanned for.  

Develop your product.

Developing your product is all about understanding your target market along with the general demand for your product or service. In the course of this step, you’ll set up price points, seek out sales channels and do your best to fill in a sales void. 

Choose your staff wisely.

Your small tour guide business may be owner operated, but you are still going to need to hire staff to help with certain. It’s virtually impossible to run even the smallest-scale tourism company without help from staff. Be shrewd in determining exactly how many employees you are willing to hire, as well as what sort of compensation and benefits you can provide them with. Remember that your human resources needs will most likely be seasonal.

Trekwear is a UK-based business specialising in providing outdoor clothing. Know more about waterproof jackets from Trekwear at trekwear.co.uk.