Introduction
of Specialist Tour Guide
The business plan is a formally
structured document which is mainly written by the entrepreneur to describe the
nature of the business, represent marketing and sales strategies, financial
analysis and projections, and details about required human resources in the
business to execute all business activities. The present work is about the
start of a tourism guide business in Ireland by a local entrepreneur. In this
work, important information is stated for the assistance of Bob to initiate his
business with most suitable and possible business type. Furthermore, essential information
about the purpose and elements of the business plan are also provided.
Business
Type of Specialist Tour Guide
In the service sector, several business
types or forms are available to potential investors. For instance, business
owners can select a form or type of sole proprietorship, partnership,
corporation, and Limited Liability Company. In the case of bob, he can start
his business as sole proprietorship and partnership. However, in the beginning,
the business will be limited to a small scale market therefore Bob does not
need to initiate a corporation (Mitchell & Fontana, 2010). The following table
represents the possible business types or forms for Bob to start-up the
business of tourist guide in Ireland.
Business Type
|
Details
|
Sole Proprietorship
|
The very simplest business type
is sole preceptorship. In this business type, Bob will not need to have many
investors to make the investment in the start-up of business or promotion of
the business. As the single owner of the company, Bob will have the
responsibility to meet all obligations and manage all business activities. Moreover,
in this business type owner will have the liability to pay back any kind of
private investment or loan amount within the due dates to avoid legal
consequences (Nipun, 2020).
|
Partnership
|
A business based on partnership
type can be started with equal or a different percentage of investment in the
initial capital. In this business type, owners will have liability for
financial obligations and loan’s payback based on their percentage of
investment in the business. The partnership has four major types including
general partnership, public private partnership, limited partnership, and
limited liability partnership. Furthermore, to start a business as a partnership
type there must be two partners (at least). In this business type, partners
take decisions with mutual understandings to avoid conflicts. However, in the
case of bankruptcy, they are liable to pay off liabilities.
|
i.
Suitable Business Types for Bob of
Specialist Tour Guide
According to the case scenario, Bob
can start-up his business as a sole proprietorship and partnership. Analysis
suggests that the most suitable business type for Bob is a partnership. In case
of partnership with an experienced person, Bob will be able to execute business
operations in a better way. Currently, Bob is not well-familiar with the
requirements of a Tourist guide business. Moreover, Bob lacks funds to initiate
all required business operations in the desired manner without taking financial
support from the bank in the form of a bank loan. However, by involving an
experienced person in the business he can reduce his liability towards
financial obligations and risk associated with his decisions based on limited
knowledge about industry requirements.
ii.
Advantages and Disadvantages of
Specialist Tour Guide
The partnership business has some
advantages and disadvantages for Bob which need to be considered while deciding
to select an appropriate business type for Tourist Guide Business in Ireland. The
following table represents the advantages and disadvantage of partnership
business type:
|
Advantages
|
Disadvantages
|
1)
|
Simplest and relatively easy
business type to start-up (Nipun, 2020).
|
In this business type, Bob will
be obliged to pay back the loan and other liabilities in case of bankruptcy
or business loss.
|
2)
|
Two or more than two business
head can take better decisions for the business.
|
Chances of conflict increases as
the number of heads (owners) increases for business. There are chances that
they may do not have some kind of interest in the business.
|
3)
|
Bob will have limited liability
to pay back the loan to the bank (if they share bank loan amount or the
second partner comes with his/her own investment).
|
|
iii.
Legal Requirements for Startup
Bob will have to fulfil some legal
requirements to start-up his business as a partnership business in Ireland. First
of all, under company formation laws of Ireland Bob cannot have a partnership
with more than 20 financial partners. Secondly, the business name (trade name)
must be at least one of the names of the business members while registering the
business in Irish Trade Register. According to the Irish Partnership Act, business
owners must have to draw a partnership agreement with clearly stated terms and
conditions about the business operations, financial obligations, and level of authority
in the business (Irelandcompanyformation.com, 2020).
Following this Act, partnership
businesses have unlimited liability. The business owners are not a separate
legal entity from their business. Under the laws of Ireland, business and general
partners (formal partners with definite time duration or informal partners with
an indefinite period of time) are a single legal entity, therefore, partners of
business organization will have the responsibility of the outcomes generated by
the business operations. Additionally, while expanding the business to Slovenia
or another European country the business partners will have the responsibility
to contact the partners of company formation experts in Slovenia (or another
European country).
Business
Plan of Specialist Tour Guide
i.
Purpose of Specialist Tour Guide
In general, the objective of a business plan is to guide and provide the
entrepreneur or business owner with a direction that he can follow to build a
plan. It serves a blueprint for how the person is going to operate the
business. Another important objective of the business plan is to gain investors
to obtain loans for the company. Although it is important for getting loans, it
is also an effective mean of defining the steps and goals which are required
for reaching them. After all, it determines the vision and objective of the
business. It also serves as the resume of a business as it explains the
objectives of the business to employees, partners, and investors. It is quite
important to note that without a business plan, it is not possible to carry out
business activities. The main reason is that it serves as a backbone of every
business as it not only identifies and explains the current goals but also the
future goals.
It is actually an irreplaceable tool which is required for starting a
business project, regardless of the size and the industry. It serves to answer
a number of questions about a business such as: Where? How? When? Who? And
which markets? All of these fundamental questions are answered by a business
plan. A business plan acts as a business card for the introduction of business
to others such as public bodies, institutions, investors, and banks. Normally,
it acts as both a management and a planning tool. As a management plan, it
serves to provide both financial and economic projections, improves the control
and monitoring of the businesses by following the results which are acquired,
gives an analysis of the demand and supply, reflects the marketing policy and
commercial strategy, determines the guidelines for human resource management,
and analyses the key points or factors of risks and success of a business. As a
planning tool, it serves to provide bot quantitative and qualitative
information, orients processes of decision-making, and dictates the fulfilment
of economic commitments.
As it has been explained above, the development of a business plan is
important because it serves to provide an international analysis of the
business and it also facilitates the management of business. There are some
important components of a business plan which will be described in the section
below.
ii.
What Should Be Added?
Following are the essential components of a business plan:
Executive Summary of
Specialist Tour Guide
A business plan should begin with the entire overview or summary of the
plan. Even though it is the first element of the plan, it should be written
when the whole business plan is completed. Otherwise, the executive summary
would not be accurate. This section should take only a page and it should
include the mission statement of the tourism business. In addition to it, the
executive summary should also include the fundamentals of the business along
with an explanation of the services and products. A short description of how
the business will be grown in the coming years should also be included in the
executive summary. In general, this section of the business plan is considered
essential because it allows the reader to save his time. For instance, if there
is an investor who does not want to read the whole business plan because it is
quite long, then he can just read the executive summary because it has all the
necessary information it which is required for getting an overview of the
business.
Business Description of
Specialist Tour Guide
Actually, this is the section in which you need to elaborate on what you
should be doing and the service or product that you are offering. It should
also explain the customers that the business is serving and why the business is
different than the competitors. This section should be thought of as an
extended pitch which will aid readers in understanding why and what of the
business. In this section, what is done by the business should be explained and
how that would satisfy the need of customers in the market. The specifications
of the customers and the competitive advantages which will be achieved by the
business must also be explained in the business.
One of the most important parts of this section is the mission and vision
of the business. It is necessary to note that every business has a specific
objective that it wishes to accomplish. There is also a vision which is to be
achieved by the business. In this part, both the objective and vision should be
detailed as they provide the direction to the reader and tell about the
business. They guide the reader about the business such as what the business is
aiming to accomplishing and what does it really want to do. All of these things
are explained by the business objective and the vision. Even if the business
has more than one objective, all of them should be listed in this section.
Market and Situation Analysis of
Specialist Tour Guide
One of the most important sections of a business plan is situation and
marketing analysis. Although situation analysis and market analysis are
included as two different sections. In this case, it is important to merge
these two analyses because situation analysis is often performed by existing
businesses. Since this business is yet to be developed, these two sections are
combined. When it comes to the situation analysis, the present situation in the
sector must be explained. For instance questions such as: What is the condition
of section? What is the future in this sector like? What are the factors which
identify and determine failure or success in the sector? In what way is the
business different from competitors? The opportunities, strengths, threats, and
weaknesses of the business should also be identified. In order to determine
these elements, SWOT analysis should be performed. SWOT is an internal analysis
and it is often performed for analyzing the business. Therefore, in this
section, SWOT analysis should be performed. Although there are a number of
other analyses which can also be performed for analyzing businesses, SWOT
analysis is preferred because it an affordable and simple method.
When it comes to market analysis, the industry should be explained in
detail. For instance, in this section, the details and explanation of the
target market should be provided including purchasing trend, needs,
demographics, forecasted rates of growth, and historical rates. In addition to
it, the market share should also be explained which is targeted by the
business. In order to analyze the industry, there is yet another analysis which
should be performed. This analysis is PESTLE analysis and it is considered an
external analysis. In contrast with SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis is performed
for analyzing the industry or the market. For instance, it helps in analyzing
different aspects of market such as environment, technology, and economy etc. In
simple words, this analysis should be performed when it comes to the description
or analysis of the market. There are a number of other analyses as well which
can be performed for describing the industry or market. However, PESTLE
analysis is one of the simplest and cost-effective tools which can be utilized
for performing an analysis on the market.
Competitive Analysis of
Specialist Tour Guide
In this section, the competitive landscape of the desired or target
market must be assessed. For instance, the weaknesses and strengths of the
competitors should be identified. It should be determined what objectives are
they after and how they are seemingly marketing their business to achieve
success? In addition to it, all the hurdles and barriers should be identified
which need to be overcome for taking the advantage of opportunities in the
market. This area should be utilized for formulating a strategy which will help
the business in gaining a competitive advantage in the market and standing out
from other businesses.
In general, there are a number of ways in which competitors can be
analyzed such as conducting research on them, asking customers about them, or
conducting a SWOT analysis on the competitors. SWOT analysis is again quite
helpful in the determination of strengths and weaknesses of a competitor. As
explained above, it is quite a time-efficient tool and can be utilized in this
case as well.
Management and Operations of
Specialist Tour Guide
Another important section of the business plan is management and
operations. In this section, it should be discussed how the business will be
operating including the structure of the organization, information about ownership,
management team profiles, and number of employees recruited by the business. This
section should be detailed and it should include the responsibilities of each
and every person. Background information should be provided of the key or main
players in the firm. It should be explained in this section how work efficiency
will be achieved once the business begins to function as it will help in
determining the strategies that will be considered and utilized by the firm.
Sales and Marketing of
Specialist Tour Guide
In this section, it should be explained how the business will create and
fine customers by explaining the sales and marketing strategies. In case of
marketing, communication strategy should be explained and it should also be
detailed how the message will be shared with audience. In case of sales, it
should be explained how sales will be managed and what strategies will be
utilized for the conversion, attraction, and identification of leads. Under the
heading of marketing, marketing mix should be used. Generally, it helps in
explaining the services and what type of specifications are being targeted by
the business. For instance, it includes price, people, and place etc. In
people, it should be explained what type of people are being targeted while in
price, it should be explained what types of strategies will be utilized for the
attraction of customers.
Financial Summary of
Specialist Tour Guide
The business plan should be ended with information about the financial
future and health of the business. For instance, expected gross income can be
included in the financial summary as this is quite a good place to insert
different type of financial information. In addition to it, balance sheets,
cash flow reports, and income statements can be included. If loans are
necessary, this section is considered essential for persuading investors. It
is, however, important to note that this section has to be accurate and
current. Although projected income cannot be completely accurate, it should be
ensured that it is at least close to what the business can really earn in the
coming years. Financial summary should also include a bit of description about
the figures. It will serve to facilitate the understanding of readers and they
will not face difficulty in comprehending it (McKeever, 2016).
1.
Research on Irish Tourism Market
i.
Tourism Market Growth of Specialist Tour
Guide
It would not be wrong to say that in recent years, the growth of tourism
has increased significantly in the recent years. For instance, it has been
determined that in 2018, approximately €5.6 billion for Northern Ireland and Overseas were generated by tourists
in the Irish economy. This is comparatively higher than the past years and this
figure rises to more than €6 billion in 2019. When fare receipts to carriers
are included in the amount, the figure increases to €7.3 billion. This growth
has been noted by the government and that is why it seeks to have a competitive
and vibrant tourism sector which is capable of making a significant
contribution across the whole country and is environmentally, socially, and
economically safe (Pope, 2019).
ii.
Number of People Involved
Actually, tourism is among the most significant elements of the economy
of Ireland as it seems to employ over 300,000 people and it generates billions
of euros in revenues. It also swells the tax coffers by approximately 2 billion
euros on yearly basis. In addition to it, numerous third-level students are
recruited on a seasonal or part-time basis in the industry of tourism. Generally,
the income which is earned from this employment of peoples helps significantly
in meeting their living costs and expenses involved in third-level education.
Moreover, the interaction between people employed in the tourism sector and
overseas visitors is quite critical. It serves to create a positive link
between Irish qualities as a place and the qualities of its people. Therefore,
it is believed by the government that the service offers to visitors should be
of the highest quality possible. It is the objective of government to empower
and strengthen the capacity of individuals working in the sector of tourism so
that tourists can get exceptional experience.
Therefore, it would not be wrong to say that a large number of people are
involved in the sector of tourism.
iii.
Value to Irish Economy
As it has been explained above, in 2018, approximately €5.6 billion for Northern Ireland and Overseas
were generated by tourists in the Irish economy. This is comparatively higher
than the past years and this figure rises to more than €6
billion in 2019. When fare receipts to carriers are included in the amount, the
figure increases to €7.3 billion. In addition to it, the positive image and
perception of Ireland serve to support the activities of government in other
areas and aspects of economic development. Tourism contributes significantly to
the Irish economy and it would not be wrong to say that it is an irreplaceable
part of the economy as it provides the government with the necessary revenues
that it requires for investing in other areas and ensuring the better
livelihood and living state of its people. At both domestic and international level,
tourism is considered more than just a little important. The main reason is
that it provides a lot of revenues to the government and that helps in creating
a positive image of the nation and ensuring that a better place is given to its
people (Gov.ie, 2020).
2.
Conclusion of Specialist Tour Guide
Overall, it can be said that Irish
tourism industry is appearing to be quite broad and there are various
opportunities to grow in it. As it has been explained above, in recent years, the growth of tourism has
increased significantly in the recent years. For instance, it has been
determined that in 2018, approximately €5.6 billion for Northern Ireland and Overseas were generated by tourists
in the Irish economy. This is comparatively higher than the past years and this
figure rises to more than €6 billion in 2019. In addition to it, it has been
determined by the government of Ireland that in the coming years, tourism is
expected to grow exponentially.
Therefore, it is a good decision
to begin a specialist tour guide business in Ireland. The tourism industry is
expected to grow significantly in Ireland and it presents opportunities for
entrepreneurs to start their own businesses and target all the tourists that
visit Ireland on yearly basis. This would have been a poor decision if the market
would not have any opportunities for new businesses. However, in this case,
there is nothing like that as the industry is growing significantly and at an
exponential rate. In fact, the revenues are expected to grow even more year by
year. The government is also aiming to take steps to promote the growth of
tourism. Thus, it presents numerous opportunities to entrepreneurs to start
their businesses in this industry. It is, however, important to know that Bob
must take careful steps in planning the business. One of the major and
important steps in starting a business is to define a proper business objective
and the required and sufficient budget to run the business. Hence, it is
critical for Bob to ensure that he defines the objective of his new business precisely
so that all the processes and procedures can be aligned with to ensure the
achievement of success.
References
of Specialist Tour
Guide
Gov.ie, 2020. Tourism. [Online]
Available at: https://www.gov.ie/en/policy/3fcc3a-tourism/
Irelandcompanyformation.com,
2020. The General Partnership in Ireland. [Online]
Available at: https://www.irelandcompanyformation.com/the-general-partnership-in-ireland
McKeever, M., 2016. How
to write a business plan. s.l.:Nolo.
Mitchell, P. &
Fontana, P. K., 2010. Choosing the right legal form of business: The
complete guide to becoming a sole proprietor, partnership, LLC, or corporation.
s.l.:Atlantic Publishing Company.
Nipun, 2020. Top 3
Forms of Organization | Business. [Online]
Available at: http://www.economicsdiscussion.net/organizations/top-3-forms-of-organization-business/25401
Pope, C., 2019. Irish
tourism in 2019: Choppy waters ahead. [Online]
Available at: https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/ireland/irish-tourism-in-2019-choppy-waters-ahead-1.3738219