Running head: FINAL BUSINESS PLAN 1

Business Plan Review

November 11, 2018

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Executive Summary

This business plan is for the establishment of a private company in the tours and travel

industry by the name Travel Today. The company, as a startup, will offer tours and travel services

to clients on the east coast of the United States. Travel today has goals to create a customer-

centric lifestyle experience that will be relevant to guest across all tiers and to become a

successful company in every aspect of its operations.

Marketing Plan

Travel Today, as a startup, will focus on the tours and travels market of the east coast.

The target market was established with the understanding that a startup company is required to

comprehend the basics of operations in a new market in a small-scale even after conduction of a

feasibility study for a larger market (Jansen, 2009). After a few years of operating in the market,

the company aims to establish a target market of the larger United States with the establishment

of branch offices in the different states of the country. In the long-term, however, after 15 years,

the company aims to target North America as its primary market of operation (Wang, 2018).

Nonetheless, since the company is to operate on the online platform, it aims to serve clients from

all over the world in the unlimited destination, of course depending on the realized growth and

development.

As a marketing strategy, the business will ensure to maintain good relations with

customers by catering for the many needs that they may have as they tour and travel as bonuses

for opting to deal with Travel Today (Chang, 2010). Such would involve policies for some free
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services for underage clients as well as the elderly, internet and entertainment provision among

others.

As a company that bases the foundation of its operations online Travel Today will ensure

to have a heavy presence on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram among

others for purposes of reaching potential clients. The social media sites offer a good platform for

advertisement (Kincy, 2011). Also, the company will have a main website wherein it

communicates it is services and overall position to all stakeholders in the industry. As a means of

promoting the website, Travel Today will engage in collaborative work with bloggers and other

major players in the internet use businesses for promotion. There will be clear and eye-catching

displays of pictures and videos at the site to appeal and establish good communication nations

with the stakeholders (Sung, 2013). Clients will also be offered platforms of offering feedback or

testimonials about their experiences in their dealings with Travel Today. Such would serve to

ensure that the company goes a long way to ensure they offer the best service to the clients. The

firm will also make significant investments in television and radio advertisements, which reach a

large client base of the locals in the state and beyond.

Operational plan

As indicated before, the overall conduction of business will heavily rely on the use of the

internet and associated tools and procedures; all other involved assets will be fully company

owned. It is well understood that the establishment of online-based businesses involves costs that

are easily manageable for startup companies (Nguven-Duc, Dahle, Steinert, & Abrahamsson,

2017). From this perspective, the company will have the unlimited opportunity of reaching and

dealing with people from all backgrounds as it aims to offer them a wide range of activities that

are associated with the hospitality industry with little expense. Nonetheless, the company will
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ensure that all services are offered with reliability and quality assurance in accordance with

market standards (Sipe, 2018). The business’ involvement in organized activities will also aim to

build strong and lasting relationships with clients, which will serve to ensure the company grows

and thrives in the market.

Competitor Assessment

The next step is to assess the competition within the travel industry as this will strengthen

the competitive advantage of the business since the tours, and travel agencies in the business

environment tend to offer same services similarly. It is well understood that startup firms remain

very much limited regarding gaining customers if they engage in the same measures of service

delivery as their competitors in the market (Laval, 2018). It is for this reason that the company

will ensure the clients realize a sense of value for their money. Additionally, the pricing of the

company will be slightly lower in comparison with the competitor is the market for the short-

term after the beginning of the business (Chang, 2010). There will be offers like offering a free

booking in cases where clients book as a group of five or more. Travel Today will also provide

both local and international quality traveling services for its clients; enabling it to accommodate

the divergent needs of its clients and potential clients.

Market Analysis

According to data collected and analyzed by the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association,

the
cruise industry is the fastest growing category in the leisure travel market. Since 1980, the
industry has experienced an average annual passenger growth rate of approximately 7% per
annum. The other opportunity that exists is that there are few companies that provide travel
packages specifically geared towards different festival around the world. ("Florida-Caribbean
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Cruise Association"). The company will target clients who love to all around the world. The
clients will come from all over the world with different destinations, hence the need for
branch offices in all the states. The company will target both local and international travelers.
The clients will have various needs from just traveling to tourism. The company,

depending on their needs will cater for all their travelling needs.

Financial Plan

The initial capital for the startup of the business will be from the equal contribution of the

owners. Each one will contribute $5,000 to a total of $20,000. A bank loan may also be sought

for any more required money that may be needed. As a means of strategy, the overall capital will

be managed on bases of an overall operating plan for the year and quarterly budgets (Amadeus,

2018). Special focus will be on maintenance of the assets and management of the business

online. Outsourcing will be done regarding the establishment of the online platforms for

conduction of business at a reasonable cost. The company will employ the services of an

accounting firm to manage its financial matters. One of the founders will, however, work with

the company in this regard, albeit with separate books. The company will ensure to maintain

steady cash flow projections that will be compared with the actual returns of revenue. The

projections will show not both aspects of revenue and expenses. Such information will be well

maintained in the books of the companies; which list all assets and liabilities (Inisghts, 2018). In

specific terms, nonetheless, information regarding the assets and liabilities of the firm, as well as

its capital and net earnings will be kept in an updated balance sheet. The company will also, and

on a periodic basis engage auditors, who will serve to furnish the books and offer reliable

accounts records for decision-making on matters that involve finance or profitability for that

matter (Amadeus, 2018). Without any doubt, the plan will come in handy for the management of
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the company on matters that relate to overall strategy and policy making. Aggregate and

redundant important data for decision-making will also be avoided.

References

Amadeus. (2018). Bridging the Funding Gap for Travel Startups. Retrieved from Skift:

https://skift.com/2017/11/30/bridging-the-funding-gap-for-travel-startups/

Chang. (2010). A Network Perspective of Digital Competition in Online Advertising Industries:

A Simulation-Based Approach. Information Systems Research.

Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2018, from

https://www.f-cca.com/downloads/2017-Cruise-Industry-Overview-Cruise-Line-Statistics.pdf

Insights, C. (2018). The State Of Travel Tech: The Startups, Investors, And Trends Shaping The

Future Of Travel. Retrieved from Research Briefs:

https://www.cbinsights.com/research/travel-tech-report-expert-research/
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Jansen. (2009). "Twitter Power: Tweets as Electronic Word of Mouth." Journal of the American

Society for Information Science and Technology.

Kincy, J. (2011). Advertising and social media. ABA Bank Marketing.

Laval, Z. (2018). Increased competition in the travel industry means more focus on consumers.

Retrieved from Sociable: https://sociable.co/technology/increased-competition-travel-

industry-focus-consumers/

Nguven-Duc, A., Dahle, Y., Steinert, M., & Abrahamsson, P. (2017, November). Towards

Understanding Startup Product Development as Effectual Entrepreneurial Behaviors.

In International Conference on Product-Focused Software Process Improvement (pp.

265-279). Springer, Cham.

Sipe, L. (2018). Emotional Value in Memorable Guest Experiences: Insights from Dining,

Lodging, Events, and Attractions. Journal of Tourism & Hospitality.

Sung, J. (2013). Mobile Marketing Communications in the Retail Environment: A comparison of

QR code users and non-users. International Journal of Mobile Marketing.

Wang, S. (2018). Environmental knowledge and consumers’ intentions to visit green hotels: the

mediating role of consumption values. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing.

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