Jeremy Den Hartog
It was before geocities through a local ISP if I remember right...
It was before geocities through a local ISP if I remember right...
Lanny Dean
EF5
Look Jeremy, bottom line is: do the homework. Thats the easy part. The hard part is putting all of it together. I do not agree with Dan on the aspect that there is not enough business out there...the supply and demand thing.
I have had years where we were turning people away (hence the REMOTE TOURS) which is also the reason for bringing the likes of Shane Adams, Chad Berryhill and David Moran on board.
The business is there. You just have to go get it.
It would be ignorant for me to lay out any kind of a business plan or the like for you, there is an obvious reason for this.
Will you get rich? NO!
Will you make additional income or even be able to survive year to year? Possibly.
Is it a bitch to get everything together? YES!
I started with the idea back when there were only 2 main tour companies around....and I didn't get "off the ground" until 2006. Of course, the show I did for TruTV (Tornado Hunters) helped as well as 4 storm stories for The Weather Channel and the National Geo. special. These helped to promote my name in a public light.
It takes so very much hard work not to mention $$$$$$$$.
I have had years where we were turning people away (hence the REMOTE TOURS) which is also the reason for bringing the likes of Shane Adams, Chad Berryhill and David Moran on board.
The business is there. You just have to go get it.
It would be ignorant for me to lay out any kind of a business plan or the like for you, there is an obvious reason for this.
Will you get rich? NO!
Will you make additional income or even be able to survive year to year? Possibly.
Is it a bitch to get everything together? YES!
I started with the idea back when there were only 2 main tour companies around....and I didn't get "off the ground" until 2006. Of course, the show I did for TruTV (Tornado Hunters) helped as well as 4 storm stories for The Weather Channel and the National Geo. special. These helped to promote my name in a public light.
It takes so very much hard work not to mention $$$$$$$$.
Chad Berryhill
EF1
James,
Lanny is not belittling Jeremy. He is just being real.
Jeremy,
Lanny is just telling you how difficult operating a tour business will be. Not that it's impossible, but it might be impractical attm.
Since Lanny has brought me on board, I have seen first hand the difficulty of running a tour business. If you don't have gray hair now, you will !
There are a lot things that can/will go wrong. I'm not telling you not to start your own tours. I would hate to see anybody put their savings into starting a tour company, and loosing everything.
Tyler Allison
EF5
I've gone with CoD a couple times and if running a tour company is _anything_ like what Paul Sirvatka goes through before/on the trip as the "lead" for the group I don't want any part of it. I don't know how he doesn't have an ulcer or two already. He's a nervous wreck nearly the entire time.
Justin Wiley
EF1
It kinda looks like some people don't want anymore competition in their field...
mikedeason
EF5
Awww, now come on...gopher was great for getting the word out on all the tour companies out there before the breakthrough of the WWW and the marvelous graphical capabilities of Lynx!
....
BTW, the above comment is completely facetious. So please no lectures to someone who has been online for over 20 years now.
mikedeason
EF5
However, the prudent Average Joe/Jane will probably do some research on the options out there before plunking down thousands of dollars.
Putting what I know and my biases aside, I would certainly look for several things. I'd want a tour with a group that is "credentialed" (experience credentials, not necessarily academic), has a proven track record of success, a good record of safety and above all, honesty.
Danny Neal
EF5
Can you blame him?????
Jeremy Den Hartog
James,
Lanny is not belittling Jeremy. He is just being real.
Jeremy,
Lanny is just telling you how difficult operating a tour business will be. Not that it's impossible, but it might be impractical attm.
Since Lanny has brought me on board, I have seen first hand the difficulty of running a tour business. If you don't have gray hair now, you will !
There are a lot things that can/will go wrong. I'm not telling you not to start your own tours. I would hate to see anybody put their savings into starting a tour company, and loosing everything.
I hear you...and I very much appreciate the advice that Lanny (and others) have offered
Jeremy Den Hartog
This is probably true. However, I would be willing to guess a majority of these people look at nothing else besides for cost and available dates for the tour. There is the 'offline' market to consider as well. Also, a well written 'sales page' and well designed website should help convince those who may have doubts...this is where my marketing experience may help make up for some of my inexperience or lack of as much of a track record that other tour providers have. Of course, I won't know though until I launch the tour company. Since I won't probably launch for at least a couple years yet, it should hopefully give my wife and I some time to 'think outside of the box' in regards to how to do the tour, marketing, budgeting, etc...
Also, 'prudent' would probably not be the best description of a LOT of Americans out there (no offense as I am one myself). For example, look at what happened in the housing market. Sure the banks were shady on how they handled things by convincing people they could afford more then they really could. However, if the people taking out the mortgages were 'prudent' and actually read and researched what they were about to sign, they probably wouldn't have signed it...and that was not just a couple thousand, thats hundreds of thousands of dollars. Point being, many people tend to be lazy and compulsive.
Does that mean I intend to run my tour company like those shady/greedy banks? Heck no, I want to be as legit, trustworthy, honest, etc as I can possibly be.
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Lanny Dean
EF5
Again, one more reason why IMO newbe's should not be allowed to post in the advanced area.
Jeremy Den Hartog said:
Jeremy, on a serious note...you should be fine if you keep that attitude. Thinking outside the box is a wonderful thing.
And again, before I take any more heat from newbe's who do not have a clue...please note: As I have said, the business is there....you just have to go get it.
Good luck!
Shane Adams
Couple 'o things...
(1) There's plenty of business for everyone out there. People on ST seem to be forgetting that for every one of them that is born, there's probably a few dozen people who decide that chasing is a neat idea on a novelty level....and these are the kinds of people who will actually pay for something chase-related....unlike this lot.
(2) I agree that newbs should be biting their tongues on here instead of just throwing out opinions that, quite frankly, don't mean d*ck without a resume to back them up. I understand (and accept) this place is tailor-made for the wet-eared enthusiast, but I can't sit around and read boisterous comments by people who aren't out there chasing year in-year out regarding people who are.
Especially when it comes to making money.
mikedeason
EF5
There are no newbies on Stormtrack. Everyone on here has at least 15 years chasing experience. Kinda like that kid back in high school who had the Canadian girlfriend.
Jeremy Den Hartog
Thanks for your help...and to anyone out there (including noobs), Lanny and I maybe (or maybe not) got off on the wrong foot at the beginning of this thread - likely because of misunderstandings. In any case though he has stepped forward and offered some great advice which is something he did not have to do. Clearly he is not 'afraid' of competition or he wouldn't offer this advice and is definitely not someone who should be disrespected in any way. In other words, if you can't be respectful please do not post in this thread...
Justin Wiley
EF1
Definitely not. Just a general observation.
Can I ask what your definition of a "newbe" is?
I'm sorry if I came off a bit brash, but it was just a general feeling I was getting throughout the course of the thread. No, it didn't add much substance to the discussion, but it was just an observation. And because it was an observation you didn't like, you think people shouldn't be allowed to post in here?
Wow.
Shane Adams said:
I agree that there's plenty of biz out there for everyone so that's why I was wondering why there was so much discouragement to starting up a company.
Shane Adams said:
Again, what's your definition of a newb? Is it based on their ST join date?
Why do I need to have a resume to make a comment about reading something on a message board? I'm sorry some of you are taking that comment so defensively. I'll try to not post my opinions so much anymore. Afterall, this is only a discussion board.
I'm sorry for my general observation. I guess I haven't earned enough respect to disrespect people around here yet.
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