A private tour guide is a person who loves traveling, meticulous planning and helping others and likes to share knowledge and his experiences. If you are such a person, then consider becoming a tour guide and starting your own business. Especially if you live outside the USA in a beautiful, attractive area or a big city.

Becoming a private tour guide is quite inexpensive as a business venture. It is characterized by very low or skyrocketing initial costs.

Success largely depends on finding the right niche in a very competitive market, given the rise of direct online bookings for customers of booking sites. On the other hand, with the availability of travel and the ubiquity of air transportation, there is certainly a growing clientele of private tour guides. Tourists expect to know more and live more the customs of the people in the cities and regions they visit. Fast and superficial travel focused only on 'passing places' is no longer attractive. Exploring and experiencing are much more valuable.

If you want to be successful, you will want to focus a lot of effort on market research, personal branding and marketing activities. You'll need to know who needs your services know your target market and figure out what customers are willing to pay for and how much.

We have interviewed private tour guides in various cities and countries. Successful ones to get their advice on everything you need to start a tour guide business.

Private tour guide how to start a business. Create a plan

Make no mistake: No matter what industry you are in, a tour guide business plan or business model is essential. You may not need a formal business plan if you're not applying for a loan or investment funds for your business, but don't skip it. Instead, write a tour guide business model. You can do this in a few hours, but it's better if you spend a few days on the process. Writing a business plan is there to help you grow faster, so don't skip this step.

What kind of tour guide do you plan to be? If you plan to be a private tour guide. Do you desire to work for a tour guide agency desire to look for a host where you will basically be an independent contractor. If this is the type of travel business you would like to start, the business planning process should be fairly simple.

However, if you want to start your own travel business from scratch, you will face a much longer planning process, but you will also have more flexibility to build a business that is completely your own.

Arguments for starting your business early

When we founded Odyseos.com, we began our market analysis and business planning activities a full year before launching the company. During this period, we followed industry events and media to gain the most complete understanding in terms of what services were being provided to the market, who was providing those services, and who was buying them.

Starting the planning process early helps you establish a vision for your business. This will help you determine what your market niche might be, determine if you can compete in your existing market, and what it will take to be successful. Check it out and find out what direction you want to go in and how to adjust your business to best meet the needs of the market.

What type of plan will you need?

The type of business plan, business model depends on what type of financing you are looking for.

Are you hoping to eventually run a travel agency in the future and are interested in applying for a loan, or perhaps an investment from angel investors? You will want to have a formal business plan that includes all the necessary information about your business. Whether you are more interested in becoming a private tour guide, you value freedom and independence. Are you developing the business from your own savings, without seeking outside investment or loans?

Even if you are going to pitch your business idea to lenders and investors, you can start with a business model and fill in the rest of the information later.

Whatever your specific reason for writing a business plan for your travel company, the most important thing is that you write it, period. The travel industry is fragmented, and having a clearly defined niche and plan will help you stand out. Writing a tour guide business plan will help you narrow in on what your goal is and establish a clear, focused vision going forward.

Private tour guide how to start a business. Find your niche

What kind of private tour guide or travel agency do you plan to be? What kind of travel business does the travel industry, your local community, and the tourists who visit your city need?

When you start a travel business, the most important thing to do is to provide a valuable service. This means doing a market analysis to find out what kind of tour guide or travel company the market really needs. Is there a niche that can be filled? Perhaps there is room in the travel market for a guide that organizes weddings, adventure honeymoons for young couples who prefer backpacking to relaxing on the beach. Also think about the people in your local community do they need something specific?

In a saturated travel market, a local tour guide needs to differentiate themselves from more experienced companies right from the start. Be the tour guide that would remain relevant in an era when most travel-related bookings are made online. Specialize in the kind of customer experiences that can't be booked online adventurous trips to places that aren't mainstream, accommodations that can't be booked online or even by non-travel professionals and special experiences and access to personalities that would be impossible without personal connections.

What niche do you fill? Start by checking and researching the travel market in your city, province and country. Find out who the major players are that you will be competing with, identify who your ideal customer is and define what they want.

A private tour guide on how to start a business. Build your brand

Once you've determined what the market looks like and what niche you'll fill, it's important to go into the finer details of creating a strong tour guide brand image.

Because the travel industry is so competitive, having a well-developed tour guide brand will help your business stand out. How do you want your customers to feel when they visit your website, view your ads or use your services? For example: At tour Rzema we have specialized in cooking, pilates, painting, photography and language vacations in Italy for a decade. Our vision is to create a brand that gives guests a true taste of Italy in a language they understand and taking into account their individual needs. I use this as part of my branding because I want to see myself as an expert in all things Rome and Italy.

• Why should clients use a private tour guide in Valencia instead of simply booking a tour themselves?
• What experience can you offer that others can't?
• Do you offer unique tour guide services, such as partnering with locals in places that clients wouldn't otherwise have access to?
• Is your advantage the ease with which someone else can plan your trip for you, down to the last detail?
• Do you care about personal touches and great customer service?

Private tour guide how to start a business. Legal form

In most cases, starting a tour guide or travel company is fairly simple. There is not much legal red tape when it comes to becoming a travel agent and starting a travel business. Check to see if you will need a license. In most places, you don't need any specific licenses or certifications, but licensing requirements will vary by province and country.

Choosing the legal form of the business. In addition to specific licenses, there are general licenses you may need before starting any type of business. However, which business structure you choose will largely depend on your plans for the business and how you intend to finance it. For example, if you plan to seek outside investment, you may want to consider starting your business as a company.

Name your business and apply for a tax identification number. You'll also want to formally name your business, even if it's just you, becoming a tour guide. You will also need to apply for a tax identification number,

Private tour guide how to start a business. Financial strategy

How are you going to finance your new tour business?

Fortunately, your start-up costs should be fairly low: you don't need to buy expensive equipment, and you don't need an office where you'll take clients. Prepare a plan on how you can get funding. You'll need funding for marketing materials at a minimum; both online, such as your business website, and offline, such as flyers, posters, business cards, maybe sound equipment. Your initial budget will also likely be for branding or advertising. The vast majority of businesses are created based on an investment of your own money.

A private tour guide on how to start a business. Location

Next, plan the logistics involved in opening a tour business. If you are starting a private tour guide business then you do not need office space. This section is more important than if you plan to work as a home-based travel agency. How many employees do you want to hire? In the beginning, until you decide to expand your business, you may not need any employees. Consider hiring remote workers.

Choosing a location. While foot traffic probably won't be your primary motivator when choosing a business location, you'll want to choose a place that accommodates your space needs as well as reflects your desired brand image.

However, as with employees, you will find that a physical location is not always an absolute necessity.

A private tour guide on how to start a business. Marketing efforts

Marketing will likely be what you spend most of your initial budget on. Because this is an important area to focus on when you become a private tour guide and start a tour business. In fact, it is a good idea to develop a marketing plan as soon as possible.

At times, you may find that your Google Adwords budget can single-handedly determine your success when you start out in the tour guide market. Don't make the mistake of thinking that all your advertising efforts should revolve around paid advertising. Put plenty of your attention into social media marketing and guerrilla marketing tactics.

Your marketing strategy, like all aspects of starting a travel business, will largely depend on your specific niche, the customer demographic you want to reach, your budget, and your bandwidth as a business. That said, combining both paid advertising with other guerrilla tactics (both online and offline) will likely serve you well.

A private tour guide on how to start a business. Summary

Insure your business. Especially if you run it as a business. Remember, in such a situation you are liable with all, I emphasize all your assets, including real estate. Compensation for damage to your health can reach hundreds of thousands. General liability insurance, because of the amount of risk involved in adventure travel. This is difficult and sometimes expensive insurance, but it is obviously very important.

Work with passion. Become a private tour guide.