Tips For Starting a Storm Tour Company

[Jeremy Den Hartog]

I'm in the beginning/planning stages of starting a storm tour company with my Wife and I. I'm pretty sure several people here have either participated in a storm chasing tour or run their own storm chasing tour. What I'm looking for are some tips/suggestions for running our own storm chasing tour and also have a few questions I'm hoping someone can help me out with.

- Do you own or rent your chase vehicles? If you rent (which is probably what I would have to do to start out with at least), do you tell the company you are renting from what you intend to use their vehicle(s) for? Also, say you get some nice softball sized hail while chasing with the rental vehicle and the hail damages the vehicle, do you have to pay for the damages or how exactly does that work (I'm assuming insurance covers it)? Any other tips/suggestions when it comes to using rentals for storm chasing?

- As far as paperwork, do you have customers sign some kind of waiver stating you are not responsible for injuries, etc that may happen while chasing? If so, is it something I should have a lawyer write up or is it ok for me to do this myself or doesn't it really matter who writes this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

 

[Jason Foster]

You'd better be a damn good chaser, with a reputable and well known name associated with the group, with lots of insurance and business licenses and experience in leading other fellow chasers to good targets, whether in the field or through now casting.

Secondly, you'd better be a pretty savvy business person, familiar with the ins and outs of licensing, the tour group industry. You'll need to know about marketing, accounting (get an accountant), and be sure to get a lawyer....you will need it for way more than just writing up a waiver form (yes...you'll need one). You'll need to learn about e-commerce and have a good website to show proof of your (or your chase guides) talents. That site and your business will need to be able to accept payments in many forms too. Also consider the taxation and such of the business. Also remember you will be operating in many states, and will need to research the various laws and licensing requirements for each state you operate.

Third, have you considered writing a business plan with all the various aspects laid out for you to follow and such, Remember that you will likely have employees and contractors that will support you in your business. Everyone from tour guides to nowcasters, etc. People aren't going to do it for free these days! Everyone wants a cut of the pie.

Just to start a chasing tour for the sake of profit, it'll be a loosing game. While I think it's interesting that you are looking into it, just be sure to keep a realistic view that it may not be practical.

Also be sure to check out the other threads on the site about tour groups.

As to the two specific questions, I can't comment directly (not having been part of a tour group directly), but I'd say you are best to just call the other reputable companies directly and ask them.

 

[Derek Weston]

No problem asking for business advice. (of course, you probably shouldn't expect competitors to be quick to divulge secrets) People in all areas of business do this. This is common place in the business world -- learning from others.

Pizza making is a hobby of mine... I read a pizza forum where all kinds of individuals inquiring about starting a pizzeria business can come in and ask questions... and there are plenty of responses from people with background in the business.

Business side is different from skill side -- maybe you have a great pizza recipe, great success with family and friends... but porting that over to a money making venture is an entirely different ball game.

Same with a storm-chasing company.

 

[Skip Talbot]

Jeremy, as for your original questions which have been largely ignored...

I'm going to say that you'll probably have to own the vehicle. There are probably limits or conditions that would be exceeded by trying to use a rental for a storm tour, like driving the vehicle intentionally into damaging conditions and trying to run a business out of that vehicle. You can purchase insurance on the vehicles when you rent them, but the rental company is going to quickly learn to hate you when you bring the van back each time with a fresh set of dents.

Yes, you will need a waiver. Do pay for a lawyer to write it up. You'll probably also need some sort of contract that your guests will have to sign. Also have the lawyer write that up.

I'm not the best person to answer these questions as I've never run a tour company, but I'm just trying to steer this thread back on topic.

 

[David Wolfson]

Waaal.... Here's the thing as I see it. If you're asking these sorts of questions with respect to 2010 without even a web presence yet, you're way behind the curve.

I'm not a tour operator (and never want to be!) but have taken several. I think your best bet is to a) book a tour yourself and take good notes; and b) simulate running a tour, with just you and your Wife. Keep a detailed daily diary of your trip and study it critically post-mortem with friends and family.

If you don't have the money for a), then you really will be doing yourself a favor with b), because chances are pretty good IMHO (short-form answer) you would have had to come up with that much money or more to balance the first year books anyway. By simulate, I mean manage your own chase trip as if you had six clients in tow. When you book for the night ask if they have seven rooms (no room = very cranky client!); check-out at a reasonable hour and don't skip both breakfast and lunch; take at least 15 minutes for each rest and fuel stop. Record a briefing each morning for your imaginary clients that sounds like you really know what you're doing. See how you do. Would your clients who paid $250/day or more have been pleased or would they (the ones who survived) have hung you from the "Oklahoma -- The Sooner State" road sign ? My observation is running a successful tour is a lot tougher than it might seem to the casual observer.

Once you're confident you can deliver a good chase experience for clients, then and only then sharpen a pencil and run out some numbers. Vehicle amort or rental, insurance, gas and upkeep for at least 500 miles per day plus 1000 more miles r/t from the Alley to MN. Several thousand per year for equipment and website. How many clients do you need to break even? What if you don't get the clients?

Some things to chew on, anyway....

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

It's good to ask questions, but I doubt you'll get much real info from Storm Track -- you are, essentially, trying to become competition in a fairly tight market and you've come to the place where all the market players hang out. It's very much in their interest to not help you.

 

[Jeff Hawkins]

I can offer comment from the consumer end, since I've never paid for a storm chase tour but have looked into it.
Bottom line, I'd hesitate to pay you, since it's your first year as a tour company (assuming 2010 would be the first year you offer tours), and I'd hesitate to pick you, as there are multiple other more established tour companies out there I would rather go with, since they have a track record.
My only suggestion instead, would be to start as a volunteer tour operator, asking only that riders help pay the costs of gas, hotel, food, etc. while you go chasing. And if there is a day without good storm weather, that you defer to the group's conscience for that day as to what to do (implying they will pay their own way, less gas costs).
Hope those comments are helpful.

 

[Chris C Sanner]

I can offer comment from the consumer end, since I've never paid for a storm chase tour but have looked into it.
Bottom line, I'd hesitate to pay you, since it's your first year as a tour company (assuming 2010 would be the first year you offer tours), and I'd hesitate to pick you, as there are multiple other more established tour companies out there I would rather go with, since they have a track record.
My only suggestion instead, would be to start as a volunteer tour operator, asking only that riders help pay the costs of gas, hotel, food, etc. while you go chasing. And if there is a day without good storm weather, that you defer to the group's conscience for that day as to what to do (implying they will pay their own way, less gas costs).
Hope those comments are helpful.

I think you hit on something important there Jim. Here are a few more things you may or may not have thought of:

1)Your competition is largely a bunch of guys on here who have had numerous successes for a good chunk of years. As a consumer, unless you have that same track record I'm not spending $2,000+ to chase with you, especially in today's economic climate.

2)Since you don't have the same chasing track record as most, if not all of your competition, you'd have to offer some sort of an incentive to set you apart. Most likely, I just don't see anything practical that's available.

3)You will have to definitely have not only a waiver, but a pretty good insurance policy on top of that, not only on the vehicle which you will have to own but to protect yourself because people will still sue you for just about anything. I'd definitely be consulting a good lawyer for this, because there are interstate commerce rights, passenger laws, etc. which you will have to take into account, among other things. That's an unfortunate fact of life.

4)You have absolutely zero chance of getting this done by 2010. David gave you an excellent piece of advice, just go chase with your wife this year on a simulated vacation. It doesn't sound like you have chased all that often on long road trips, it's a lot different than just chasing locally. You had better make sure you are up for just you and the wife chasing before branching out.

5)Last but not least, I do wish you luck. But you had better be ready and willing to accept that in an increasingly crowded marketplace, you are going to have to be able to offer something to compensate for a lack of a track record, be it superior price or something. If you can't, especially in today's economic climate, it'd be more cost effective to just chase on your own and forget about the hassle of dealing with customers

 

[Robert Edmonds]

Wow, cut the guy some slack. If you don't want to share your info, just don't share it.

While I have never run a tour company, the main thing I have wondered, is that I believe you have to be registered in each state as tour operator to do this legally. This is what I have deduced from my limited searching around. However, I dought that the tour companies do this. Could be wrong, but that seems like allot of red tape to cut through, if you're going to visit a very large number of states.

If you find out, I'd be interested to know... of course your welcome to keep the info to yourself.

 

[Jeremy Den Hartog]

Thanks for the tips guys...I do not plan to start anything until 2011 at the earliest and will likely not do so for even a couple years after that (its never to early to start planning though and deciding if its realistic to do a tour company). I realize that very few, if any, would pay me $2000 for a tour knowing there are other chase tours with track records but as was suggested there are ways around this to help with getting started. Anyhow, again thanks for the tips as I hope to be able to take my passion and turn it into a career some day...

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

I'm sort of betting competition won't be a deal breaker for brand new tours right now. I bet after this season's "Storm Chasers" on Discovery there will be plenty of demand to go around for tours. I think it would motivate me to get things lined up and ready to go for 2010 if I was considering doing such a thing in the future. Get while the getting is hot.

Surely the show this year will once again make chasing look more fun and active than it is(unlike the previous seasons were able to do). At least compared to what all us mortal chasers are able to nab.

 

[JeffGonzales]

I think one thing Jeremy that could help is to Stream live video of your chases to your chase tour web site if ur not doing that already. That way people who may be considering your tour can watch and say " Ok this guy is seeing some good tornadoes, i want to go." Just something that i think that could help build credibility, trust, and a preview of what people can expect. Just an idea, hope this helps.

 

[Scott Weberpal]

• You're better off purchasing your own vehicle(s) to use. If you rent, and they find out you are using the vehicle for storm chasing, you are essentially breaking the contract and will be liable to any damages to the vehicles.

• Covering your arse involves more than just a waiver, you'll need fairly good liability insurance (not cheap) in order to cover any potential issues that may be considered negligence. Waivers DO NOT cover negligence, and if someone were to happen to a guest, the last thing you'd want is a jury deciding whether the injury was due to negligence or not (even if it wasn't).

• Make sure you put out plenty of pictures of chases from former years. If you don't have good tornado intercepts going back 10 or more years with pictures to back it up, chances are people will look elsewhere.

• Understand you will be a business and will have to fully comply with all self-employment taxes and laws. You'll probably need to hire an accountant to keep track of and prepare your taxes and talk you through what you can write off, etc.

• The storm chasing tour market is already highly saturated. I imagine many of the bookings that well established tour companies get are return customers. If you do start a company, don't expect more than a few - maybe a dozen or so at most over the entire season in your first year.

 

[Joshua Nall]

My first job was with a mowing outfit and I thought to myself, "this is what I want to do for a living" But instead of starting up a business then, I went to college at the insistence of everyone else and got a degree. Ended up deciding to mow for a living anyway... just wasted four years. I'm saying do what you want do.... try it anyway. Starting up any kind of business is a lot of hard work and you have to be dedicated and willing to sacrifice some things starting out. I think the market is good, there is more interest with people I meet than there has ever been before, just with tornadoes and sever weather in general. Presenting a good atmosphere by web presence, blog, even over the phone when folks call to ask questions is just as important as having a good track record intercepting tornadoes. Much more important in my opinion, but that is just me. People want to experience severe weather, have fun and be relatively comfortable at the same time. Just like a tour through Yellowstone is not all about seeing that one lone Grizzly bear, doing a tour on the plains is not ALL about the tornado intercepts.

Josh

 

[Benjamin Rock]

Ive been on several tours and chasing for 16+ yrs. In my opinion, good luck.. Every business started with one client and that client was the first. I know some tours started kind of by accident.. I won't mention their names, but most of us know them.. What I mean is, I have a van and some friends and we decided to go out chasing together as a group. They told their friends and the word spread by way of mouth as to what they saw. Some vids and pics were tossed around here and there. Then the website came with a log and pics and vids from several people who could account for what was seen. Now we have a second van because we have several other people who want to check out the action. You sit there and figure that you can charge a little for gas and maintenance and rooms for the night. The company is born. This takes place over SEVERAL years though. Now your name has gotten around and people recognize it. They see your website and inquire about taking a tour. Wash, lather, repeat.. This is based on a few conversations I had with some of the tour owners. Just to clarify, I am not a tour operator, just a rider..