Start A Surprise Travel Agency - Business Ideas
Are you looking for a scalable side hustle idea and one that allows you some flexibility? A surprise travel agency is a good option that will enable you to choose a friendly niche market. Besides, a surprise travel agency lets you gain exposure and experience while it is an opportunity with unlimited income potential. If you love sharing travel recommendations and always find the best local spots when you visit a new city, this will be ideal for you.
Starting a surprise travel agency requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.
If you're interested in how to sell surprise travel agency services, or selling surprise travel agency services online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.
Want to learn more? You can check out our full guide on how to start a surprise travel agency ➜
Key Stats
Startup Costs
| Min Startup Costs | Max Startup Costs | |
|---|---|---|
|
Office Space Expenses |
$0 |
$7,000 |
|
Employee & Freelancer Expenses |
$151 |
$352 |
|
Website Costs |
$223 |
$7,215 |
|
Business Formation Fees |
$5,600 |
$20,400 |
|
Equipment & Supply Expenses |
$66 |
$700 |
|
Software Expenses |
$162 |
$3,094 |
|
Advertising & Marketing Costs |
$75 |
$5,286 |
|
Specific Industry Expenses |
$0 |
$300 |
|
Total Startup Costs |
$6,277 |
$44,347 |
Case Studies
•
$15K/mo
•
$450K/mo
•
$40K/mo
Successful Businesses
| Business | URL | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Bureau of Land Management |
blm.gov |
47,861 |
|
|
PHP Travels |
phptravels.net |
145,842 |
|
|
FlySFO |
flysfo.com |
179,800 |
|
|
Fly to China |
flychina.com |
266,737 |
|
|
Fresenius Medical Care |
fmcna.com |
274,388 |
|
|
The Official Site for Tourism of Cambodia |
tourismcambodia.com |
407,785 |
|
|
Shadyside Travel |
shadysidetvl.com |
451,479 |
|
|
onefinestay |
onefinestay.com |
453,008 |
|
|
Travel Carma |
travelcarma.com |
493,889 |
|
|
Pack Up + Go |
packupgo.com |
509,550 |
|
|
Egyptian Tourism Authority |
egypt.travel |
532,215 |
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Description |
|---|---|
|
Flexibility |
You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own. |
|
Ability to start your business from home |
It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning! |
|
Scalable |
With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers. |
|
Meaningful business connections |
You never know who you will meet as a surprise travel agency. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity! |
|
Pick & choose the clients you work with |
Surprise Travel Agencyes 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! |
|
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 |
|---|---|
|
Longer Sales Process |
A surprise travel agency 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. |
|
Security Issues |
With any Saas business, data loss and security issues may arise throughout your process of building your product. It's critical that you understand exactly what you're responsible for and how to avoid potential issues down the road. |
|
Taxes |
As a surprise travel agency, 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. |
|
Niche Market |
A niche business is not necessarily a bad thing, in fact, it can be the key to your success. However, it can be more challenging and time consuming to find the perfect niche market and target audience. |
|
Churn |
In this business, customers can cancel their membership or subscription for your services - which can make revenue forecasting challenging and unpredictable. It's important to focus on your churn rates and trends so that you can prevent this as much as possible. |
|
Time commitment |
With starting a surprise travel agency, all responsibilities and decisions are in your hands. Although this is not necessarily a negative thing, work life can take over at times. This can place a strain on friends and family and add to the pressure of launching a new business. |
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.
-
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.
-
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.
Hey! 👋 I'm Pat Walls, the founder of Starter Story.
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