Travel…A single word has a power to bring smiles on number of faces as everyone loves travelling..Right? But who makes them happy? Only their travelling experience or the entire service right from their start of travel to the end of journey and the answer is very easy. Of course, the service that they get which makes their entire travel journey a memorable experience for them. So if anyone among you, who wants to bring smile to their faces with your best travelling service and start your own travel company then yes you are at a right place. Here is a quick guide that will take you through few important points to be considered to start your Travel Company.
1. Market study: Being a part of travel industry is not an easy job. As so many competitors have already set their mark in the market. But of course, they must have been in a same situation as yours sometime, when they started their business. So your job is to do the complete market research of the travel industry like, who are leading in the market, what services they are offering, what are their USP’s, What kind of customers they are serving, what additional services they are offering, what are the latest trends in travel industry and so on. This thing will set your path about what will be your goals as a part of this industry.
2. Customer Problems Research: Now giving enough attention to whom you are going to serve is equally important step because without understanding customers/travelers problems, you cannot offer them the best solution. Try to find out what are the customers basic requirements in this field. What they seek from travel companies to make their travelling experience the best experience ever. For Ex. With ticket booking facility there are number of services that any customer would like to have like, Transportation Management, Hotel booking service, Payment methods, Management of best food and so on.
3. Planning: After you are done with market and customers study, it’s your turn to pull up your socks and start Planning…Yes, Planning….Planning and Planning. Without planning nobody can build a milestone as planning is the very core step to start any kind of business. First you need to decide what was your drive behind your decision of starting a Travel Company. Build a complete strategy of your company i.e. right from your objective, services, company location, company structure, fund management, number of employees, brand name, marketing strategy, customer approach, and many more. So let’s take a tour to all these key points one by one.
4. Services: Now after you have made a firm decision about starting a travel company, it’s time to decide what services you are willing to offer to the customers. Services can range from providing different Travel Packages (Domestic/International), Passport/visa assistance, Ticket booking facility, Transportation Management, Hotel booking service, Arrangement of meal during entire journey and so on. Now it totally depends on How big/what kind of Travel Company you want to set up. If you are a travel company which offers online ticket booking facility to customers or either a travel company which will do that part for customers like company itself will book tickets on the basis of information provided by the customers. You may start initially with just offering packages, ticket booking facilities, Transport management, then once you are on board, you can join hands with suppliers to provide other services.
5. Choose a Location and hire employees: Next step is to choose a perfect location for your company. You would need to have an office that you would register in the company that you form. Location selection can be based on the infrastructure that you will find easily to satisfy your basic needs. Location selection can also be based on the amount you are willing to pay for particular location. Hiring employees is the next step. Decide how many employees you want to start your company with or how much you can invest initially on employees this will give you the clear picture.
6. Funds Arrangement: This is the vital part of entire process as without it, you can’t execute your plans. As already discussed, funds may vary with the type of company you want to set up. The basic cost that needs to be considered is location rent, electricity bill. Internet charges, employee’s salary etc. Cost may increase eventually with Brand marketing both online (online advertising, building company’s website) and offline (hoardings, flyers, television advertising), once you raise range of your services, make a tie up with suppliers, etc. So numbers of resources are available for funds arrangement such as, personal bank loans, venture capital funding etc. Think what suits best for you.
7. Name Your Company: Decide a perfect name for your company. Think twice as name is the only factor which will create your unique identity and will make you stand out.
8. Register Your Company: Once you are done with these elements it’s time to consider some legal factors. Register your company. This could be a Private Limited Company, Limited Liability Partnership, One Person Company. Setting up your business as a Private Limited Company is most widely used and recognized forms in India. It is for entrepreneurs who plan to offer their services online using the power of the internet. Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) or One Person Company (OPC) are the entities ideal for entrepreneurs who have plans to slowly build the business and / or do it on a part-time basis. On the other hand, OPCs is ideal for entrepreneurs who are establishing their business as a single individual. If entrepreneur wants to have a unique brand name, they can go for proprietorship’s with a trademark that is unavailable to be registered with the Ministry of Company Affairs – due to the naming guidelines. You also need to do tax registration for your company.
9. Marketing strategy: Last but not the least is your Companies Marketing Strategy. Marketing strategy will take your companies brand to the customers. Only starting Travel Company will be useless until you are promoting your brand. There are number of methods that are available for Business promotion. Online/Offline marketing. Online marketing includes Creating Company’s website, marketing with the help of digital media like running ads on Google and other platforms, marketing through social media like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and many more. Offline marketing includes running ads on television, hoardings, flyers, radio ads, newspaper ads etc. Interact with your customers through social media, understand their problem and try to solve their problems with the best possible means. Interacting regularly with your customers will increase the credibility of your company among them.
10. Smart Work: Once you have set up your company, now it’s time to act smart. As Bill Gates said “Software is the magic thing whose importance only goes up over time.” So make use of multiple tour operator software’s specially meant for Travel Industries to manage tasks easily and hassle free. They provide effortless management of customers, suppliers and daily activities of your company.
Enough said...It’s time to wrap up now. Hope, this article will be helpful for all those who are willing to start their Travel Company. These points are enough to focus on and start your Travel Company effortlessly.
