Be it the passion for travelling or to help others travel, if you have come up with an idea for a new travel start-up, you have clearly stepped into a saturated and well developed business arena. With brand new travel ventures booming here and there every day, it is quite a domain for new companies, requiring a considerable amount of strategies to succeed. However, there is no such unachievable goal given the right set of factors and fervent dedication.
There are several aspects of consideration that should be assessed by any and every online travel entrepreneur. Choosing to serve a B2B or B2C market, identifying your niche and choosing a travel startup product are some of the key factors that need straightening up before you jump off for the successful landing.
Today, through this article, we will discuss five tips and techniques that are bound to give you a positive strike to your brand new success story.
Identify your niche
The online travel market is a big one and unlike the fixed area of earth, it is an ever expanding space full of both opportunities and pitfalls. Hence, one of the first things to determine for your brand new travel startup is the definitive market to target.
Do you want to create a travel startup that such as HolidayMe.com who helps with booking or finding good deals? Or do you want to create a startup such as worldtravelguide.net that focuses on giving travel advices and helps with planning. The options are endless while success lies on specialization.
In the current market, there are all-rounder travel companies like Expedia, Travelocity, and Priceline which provide from general services like hotel bookings down to as personal services as holiday activities. The niche you have selected will work to determine your Travel Startup Product; the value that you are going to provide to your customers.
Serve consumers or businesses
Next comes your business type; is the travel startup going to be B2B or B2C? Whenever we think of “travel service”, we immediately imagine those beautiful beach woven images on a computer screen. While B2C businesses are the face of online travel industry, B2B occupies a huge part of it, engulfing more competition and smoother ways to profits.
To guide yourself towards this decision, concentrate in your expertise, simply put – what you do best! What you do best will develop your unique selling proposition and hence tell you which sector to choose between B2B and B2C.
Mobilizing
Researchers proved that there are more mobile users than desktop users today. Tabs and mobile phones and other handheld devices are becoming way more popular than desktops or laptops. Therefore, it is a must for any business, especially travel business, to go mobile before it’s too late to enter the arena.
Now that we have tackled which side to take, it time to discuss a few outgoing tips for all travel entrepreneurs.
Attending Industry Events
Events such as workshops, seminars, conferences are places where people from all over the industry gather along without having to compete head to head. No matter how big of a corporation there is in the world, it might just get the perfect learning from a new company to grow even bigger. Hence, attending Industry events with an open mind and sharing of ideas arealways a good idea.
Don’t let the competition drive you
There are two sides to this tip. One is not letting rejection get to you and the other is not letting your competitors get to you.
Let’s tackle the first aspect first! On your way to building a successful online travel company, rejection is deemed to happen every now and then. Moreover, some rejections actually bring positive things for your business; like opening new and better doors. To be more precise, consider a scenario where you need an investor to fund your idea, may it be a completely new business or a new step within an existing one. It might just lead to a negative response just like Apple, WhatsApp, Uber and other big names when they had just started off.
For the second aspect, don’t let your competitors get to you. Competition is the core of an open market economy. However, it should not be the reason to be successful. In the real world, different founders have different aims, goals, and dreams about their businesses, making everyone’s journey a unique one. Hence, the best competitor of your business is your business itself. Challenge yourself every day to be a better company while keeping track of your competitors.
Finally, it’s the dedication that should be an entrepreneur’s arrow of success. However, considering the above tips and techniques should definitely make you a better thinker in the travel industry and get your name on the top list.