Start A Food Tour Company - Business Ideas

Updated: September 15th, 2022
Start A Food Tour Company

Please note that the data provided in this article are estimates and may vary depending on various factors, and should not be considered as perfect or definitive.

The food tour business involves guiding travelers through a tour of food from various restaurants and cities. Food tours are a unique avenue for foodie travelers who want to explore the cities they are visiting. The good thing about starting a food tour business is you have different niches to choose from. Besides, you can concentrate on a particular location and define your work schedule.

Food tour businesses make money by introducing discerning customers to unique restaurants, vineyards, and breweries for a fee. Alternatively, the food tour company can earn commission from the restaurants they refer customers to, based on a pre-arrangement.

Starting a food tour company requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.

If you're interested in how to sell food tour , or selling food tour online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.

Key Stats

market size
$540B
revenue (monthly)
$31.7K
starting costs
$18K
gross margin
90%
avg product price
$65
time to build
180 days
growth
SEO
business model
Software
time investment
Full time

Startup Costs

Min Startup Costs Max Startup Costs

Employee & Freelancer Expenses

$151

$252

Website Costs

$223

$7,015

Business Formation Fees

$600

$4,700

Vehicle Expenses

$0

$10,000

Retail Business Expenses

$1,250

$6,650

Advertising & Marketing Costs

$75

$3,986

Software Expenses

$162

$2,720

Office Space Expenses

$0

$100

Specific Industry Expenses

$0

$500

Total Startup Costs

$2,461

$35,923

Successful Businesses

Business URL Rank

Local Food Marketplace

localfoodmarketplace.com

202,810

Campbell Soup Company

campbellsoupcompany.com

290,367

David's Been Here

davidsbeenhere.com

311,660

The Peach Truck

thepeachtruck.com

344,388

McCormick & Company, Inc.

mccormickcorporation.com

384,582

Modesto, CA

modestogov.com

409,946

Johnsonville

johnsonville.com

416,083

Domino Sugar

dominosugar.com

497,907

Taste Vacations

tastevacations.com

504,030

Fjord Tours

fjordtours.com

511,061

Aurora, IL

aurora-il.org

620,731

Pros & Cons

Pros Description

Little startup costs required

The cost to start a food tour company costs significantly less money than most businesses, ranging anywhere from 62 to 35,923.

Rewarding work

Starting a food tour company can be really rewarding work. After all, you are solving an immediate issue for your customer and you're working on something you truly care about.

High customer retention rates

Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer.

Pick & choose the clients you work with

Food Tour Companyes have the ability to choose the clients they work with. You have the freedom to work with only a few loyal clients or with hundreds of clients!

Control of workload

With starting a food tour company, you have the unique ability to choose how little or how much you want to work. You also have the freedom to decide which projects you want to work on, and can turn down the ones that do not interest you.

Gain exposure and experience

This career allows you to gain experience working for multiple different businesses - which will benefit your resume and also keep things interesting for you!

Cons Description

Motivation of employees

If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees.

Longer Sales Process

A food tour company can be a big time and money investment for your customer, so it's important you plan and predict a longer conversion funnel and stay in communication with potential customers.

Work can be inconsistent

As a food tour company, the amount of work assigned to you and schedule tends to be more inconsistent, which may make your income less stable. It's important to set boundaries and budget accordingly based on the amount of work you plan to have.

Lack of benefits

With a food tour company, you are typically self-employed and responsible for finding your own insurance, which can be quite costly and time-consuming.

Taxes

As a food tour company, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it.

No safety net

Typically, as a food tour company, you do not receive a consistent pay-check and instead earn money based on your transactions each month. During the slow periods, you typically take away less since the job is based on commission. It's important to budget accordingly for the slow times.

Marketing Ideas

  • 1

    Affiliate Program

    Affiliate marketing is a great way to bring in a new revenue stream, especially when you don't sell products or services.

    Simply put, an affiliate program is an agreement where a business pays another business or influencer ("the affiliate") a commission for sending traffic and/or sales their way.

    The affiliate typically gets a unique link where clicks and conversions can be tracked.

    Learn more about affiliate program ➜

  • 2

    Direct Sales

    Direct sales strategy implies a direct contact between a seller and a consumer without the involvement of any third party. Direct selling is popular in sectors where sellers communicate with their clientele personally. The sales technique occurs at non-store locations which include at home, work, or online.

    For direct selling to succeed, hire a few (or many) salespeople to support the sales conversion process. It's critical that you assign them specific roles and responsibilities to nurture the client and provide excellent support.

    Learn more about direct sales ➜

  • 3

    Word of mouth

    Word of mouth is when a consumers reflects their interest in a company’s product or service in their daily dialogues.

    Therefore, word of mouth advertising is essentially a free advertising triggered by the customers experience.

    According to Nielsen, 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family.

    Therefore, in today’s hyper-connected world, a single recommendation through a word of mouth can have a huge impact to your business.

    Learn more about word of mouth ➜