Do you love travelling? Do you wish to do something so that you could visit a lot of places and help people at the same time? Well, if you are a little bit of a planner, opening up a travel agency business might be something you could consider. Opening up a travel agency is not that of a headache as people can start with a minimum capital as well. The secret of success here lies in the fact that how well do you know the places and how good a deal you can get for the tourists. Let’s have a look at the basics of the beginner’s guide for starting up a travel agency-
- Plan properly:
Having a business plan works as a foundation for any kind of business. Travel agencies are no exceptions. Even if not for the sake of attracting investors, a basic business plan is necessary to understand the goals and strategies in a better way.
In order to do that, it is necessary to understand what kind of travel agency you want to build. Big or small, independent or sharing the equity with someone else- depending on all those factors the business plan should be written.
- Think through the funding process:
The biggest pro of starting a travel agency business is that the basic funding margin is really low and it can be done with some simple things and a small space for office. However, for marketing and arrangements- some funding will be required. Funding is also important if you want your business to grow in future. That is why; it is important to consider all the funding options available- starting from angel investors to venture capital.
- Mandatory market research:
Market research is very crucial in case of travel agencies because the competition is pretty tough. Thus, it is absolutely necessary to stand out from the crowd regarding everything. The best way to do that is to look at the loopholes of other agencies and try to fill them up. Market research is also important to know where to take your tourists and how to give them the best service possible.
- Take care of legal matters:
Although the legal issues are pretty simple in case of travel agencies sometimes proper license is necessary because of the local rules. The basic necessary legal steps are-
- Having a license
- Determining the business structure
- Giving a brand name to your agency and getting it registered
- Applying for Tax ID
- Exclusive locations:
Locations are the most important factors in case of travel agencies. Depending on the people of your target you need to determine whether the locations should be exclusive or popular. On top of that, it is must to ensure that tourists get best kind of treatments no matter what the location is.
Apart from all these taking care of making up a brand value of your company and marketing it properly are also pretty important aspects. However, these are the basics anyone interested in opening up a travel agency must consider first.
