Venture Concept No. 1

Flying across borders has become easier than ever before. With the world becoming a more inter related market place and with air travel becoming more accessible, the desire to experience and discover new places, new languages, new accents, new foods, and new ways of life has become significantly easier. Landmarks and sights that were only heard of and only available via photos are now easily accessible and gives people a chance to see them with their own eyes. Whether it be for fun and pleasure, or to attend conferences and meetings abroad, everyone aspires to travel more. If surveyed and asked people around the world on what they would do with their free time, traveling would be on the top of their list. I think it’s safe to say that the draw of escaping from their daily lifestyle is a huge turn on for most people around the world and is a major trend in 2016.
Now, the statistics I pulled up on travel was surprising, even for me. I didn’t expect the number to be so high but here you go. In 2015, U.S travel and tourism industry generated over a trillion dollars! On top of that, international travel to the U.S will grow by 4.3 percent annually through 2020. To me and my future business, this GREAT news. Why? In my opinion, growth is one of the most important factor there is when it comes to opportunities. If there is no growth, I believe it'll be hard to have viable business that profits year after year.

So what is my business?

Throughout this course, I stood firm on the idea of a travel agency that assists tourists with booking/reservations, translations, and sightseeing packages in the U.S. My customer base is mainly focused on tourists from Asia and accommodating to what they want and crave to see when coming abroad to the U.S. However, as the semester went by, I decided to tweak things here and there to make my business stand out even more and have more ways to bring in money. I realized that I should not limit my customer base to just Asian tourists and I should broaden the base to ALL tourists that are visiting the states.

Why will customer choose our service?

I want to make my agency a one stop shop for tourists. Providing everything from translation services, pick-up and drop off services, real estate, immigration, tour packages, and even a rental car service. Having all those aspects that international tourists look for most might entice them to pay for our services. In addition to that, having a top notch quality service can also create a customer base that is always willing to pass on to friends and peers.

In terms of our services, here are the list of things I wish to offer to customers. 

1.)    Travel and tour packages: Offer several destination around the states that customers can choose from. Major landmarks and sightseeing are on the list and as well as customized private tours since not everyone has the same travel destinations

2.)    Simple Pick up and drop off services: These will be like our taxi/Uber aspect of our business. Trusted and timely can take you to places on a drop off and pick basis.

3.)    Real Estate: Offering realtor services to foreigners wishing to invest in the U.S and buying up land, houses or whatever they need.

4.)    Immigration services : For those who needs help with immigration services can also reach us and we will try get our team to help.

5.)    Rental Car Service: This is something I put onto my list of services recently because I feel like not everyone wants to be driven everywhere. Some are adventurous and might wish to explore the roads on their own. And because I am the type to try everything on my own and experience driving on different roads.

Who are the competitors?  What are their possible weaknesses or vulnerabilities? 

There a lot of travel agencies out there at the moment but I believe that the weaknesses are that they are not as multi-faceted as mine. I will offer better services and MORE services than the others without losing the quality of those services. I also believe I will incorporate social media, and the drift of mobile devices to target a lot of people who are accustomed to doing business that way. Utilizing convenience, social, and spontaneity, I will try to beat out the competitors.

How would you organize a “business” to support the ongoing production of your new product, service, or process? How many employees? What roles are in the venture?  

I think the workforce/employee is the most important thing when it comes to my business. Because it is a servicing job that needs a human touch, training and recruiting those who excel in customer service would be preferred. I would have to start out with a decent size of employees to station everyone accordingly to each service area. I would say around 10 to 15 is a good number of people to start out with. Their roles would vary between the departments but I would stress that friendly service and customer service comes first.

What’s next for you? Assuming you launched, where do you want to be in five years with this venture? Where do you want to be, as an entrepreneur, in the next decade, and how does this first venture help you achieve your vision?

In five years, I would love to see this agency become a force in the travel and tourism industry. Becoming a staple for in terms of travel agency for the U.S. I think the company I want to compare my company to be something that is similar to that of Triple A. Covering everything from travel services to car insurance, the way triple A is, it’s a perfect comparison to where I would like my company to be like.

I think overall, this venture will help me get into many different aspects of business and when one service performs well, I can branch that out more and spin off to a whole different company.

Amazon Whisperer

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  Revenue Drivers for my company would be the service that my employees will provide to customers/tourists from around the world. From translating services to simply chauffeuring, the whole experience they will receive from our tour guides is what makes the revenues. Not only will my company provide travel packages, if needing a translator for a couple hours, I will provide a person who is able to help in your business meetings. In addition to that, I think luxury car rentals can be another driver I can add to the business later on down the road.
  
  Like mentioned above, I think the agency can branch into a lot of different things. It can provide chauffeuring services, luxury car rentals, translation services, passport/citizenship help for those who wants to become naturalized and maybe even incorporate Realtor services as well. I believe if I can provide tourists/immigrants with these kind of services and try to think of all things that people from out of the state will need while staying, I think I'll be able to cover a a lot of different bases.
  
  I think when it comes to loyalty and retaining customer base, it all comes down to the level of service and how accomplished we are as a business. If we are capable of doing a great job I believe my business will have no problem having and retaining customers.
  
  My idea of a travel agency is not found on Amazon!

Week 11 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations?  The one thing that stood out the most in this week’s reading assignment was about crowdsourcing. Before reading the article written my Gary Pisano, I was never introduced to the concept of crowdsourcing and did not know such thing existed. The idea of opening up your problems to everyone and inviting them to solve them and address certain issues seems like a brilliant idea that sounds very effective. It sure does sound faster, efficient and more creative problem solving. 2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. I think the part that was the most confusing to me the first time I read the article was in the section that mentions the different kind of innovations. The four that he listed are disruptive, technological, radical, and architectural innovations. The first time around, I found disruptive innovations as the most confusing out of the four because I thought a disruptive innovation was something that is totally new that is introduced into the market that “disrupts” the hell out of that field. However, after thinking about it more and reading more up on companies like Netflix and Uber, I understand more clearly what a disruptive innovation is. 3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why? I think if I had to ask Gary Pisano a question, I would ask him about Corning and how they were so good at reinventing themselves and being able to stay ahead of the game. I think mentioning how they hire and from where they get their employees can be a good question here as well. 4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

From reading this week’s assignment, I did not find anything that I disagree with. I think his points on strategic innovations are spot on and I really enjoyed reading this week’s assignment.

My Unfair Advantage

1.) Travel and tourism industry is a huge market and Florida drew a record of 97.3 million visitors in 2015.

VRIN: If there are no people, there are no customers. The increase in the number of visitors per year in Florida is a great sign of growth, which means that the market for travel and tourism is enormous. Capturing and mastering travel routes early before everyone tries to capitalize it is key. I see Orlando being one of the hottest vacation spots in the years to come.

2.) Knowledgeable about travel and tourism.

VRIN: Working as a freelance translator and as a travel agency gives me an edge over a lot of people due to the knowledge I’ve gained over the years. Knowing what works and what doesn’t also gives me a legs up on a lot of things many will have to do on trial and error. Being through that stage already is a huge plus.

3.) Network and connections in the Florida Area.

VRIN: Without knowing the hotel managers, owners of different tourist attractions, and great local restaurants chefs, it’s difficult to set up a good travel package. Discounts on prices and special attention from other companies are a huge asset that can’t be bought.

4.) Family Support

VRIN: Great support from family. I think it is very important to have a support that is always having your back and supporting you through trials and your efforts. In my opinion, having a strong foundation through family really puts me over the edge.

5.) Investment

VRIN: I think this kind of goes with #4. I have a family that is willing to put their money/invest in me and my ventures. Family is able to help me with the money and I am able to venture into things and try different ideas out to see what works and doesn’t work. I think having the financial backings is important when starting a business because it gives you room to work with. Without having some leeway, I find it challenging to try new things.

6.) Confident Mindset

VRIN: I am pretty confident in myself and my abilities. I think through years of working alongside professionals, I was able to sharpen my skills and abilities. Now, I see myself being able to complete and finish anything that comes my way. It is valuable to have confidence in whatever you do because if you lack self-assurance, you will be second guessing all the time.

7.) Getting a Degree from Univ. Of Florida

With UF’s undergraduate program being ranked at #16 among public universities, I believe getting a degree at UF will put me over a lot of other students around the world. Through networks in class, knowledgeable professors and students, it is a great place to learn and be a part of. It’s something not everyone gets to experience.

8.) Social/communication skills

Extremely valuable because tourism is a people business and knowing how to treat people the right way is the part of the whole point. Being able to effectively get your message across and being able to making them comfortable is a skill set not many possess.

9.) Been all around the world

I have been fortunate to be able to travel all over the world. Drove through all the States and been to Asia and Europe. I know what it means to be a traveler and knowing the other side of business lets you know what is needed and wanted in a travel agency. Seeing from a different perspective helps understand what to focus on. In my opinion, seeing and meeting new places and people is my most valuable resource.

Reflection:

I think out of the 9 traits, my most valuable is the last one on the list. I was fortunate to be able to see all around the world hence giving me a broader views on things. I think it really helps me in a lot of different ways and I think it is valuable because it really opens the eyes and helps me understand how much opportunity there is out there.