Just over a year ago Daniel Smith set up Tours4 Ltd, a company which organises sporting tours across Europe, with business partner Sam Jennings. He tells Startups why his first year in business has taught him to 'work smart' and what the company has in store for the months ahead.
How has your business been getting along since we last spoke?
When we first spoke to Startups we had only been trading for a couple of days but now, 12 months down the line, Tours4 ltd (www.tours4.com) is going really well and has exceeded all our expectations. We have mainly focused on the sports tour side of the business, as this is what we enjoy the most, but we have had time to expand into other markets and launch new services.
Tours 4 Students is gaining in popularity and really starting to grow as more university groups learn about our student tours. We have launched three ice cricket tournaments in Tallinn, Estonia with the Estonian National Cricket Association, which are proving very popular. We have also launched StudentPaintball.com which saves students £19 per person on paintball at over 75 UK Paintball sites.
This time last year we had two tours confirmed and six tour requests. We now have over 25 tours confirmed and around 150 requests to deal with for 2007.
What do you feel you have learnt about running a business and yourself in this time?
The most important thing that I have learnt is not just to work hard but to work ‘smart’. We set up Tours4 on a very tight budget so we knew it was going to be hard, but in the early days I was working up to 18 hours a day. Of course you have to work hard to get a business off the ground, especially in a competitive market, but I was working too hard. I needed to focus more on what our priorities were as a business and start taking some time off.
We took on a huge task starting a tour operator from scratch but with some good advice, quality research and plenty of patience I am now confident in almost every area of the business. I have learnt a lot about business in the year that Tours4 has been established and will keep learning as the company grows.
What about being your own boss, has it turned out how you expected? What have been the main down and up sides?
I spent almost six months researching and writing the business plan so I knew what I was letting myself in for, but you can’t prepare for every eventuality. We knew what most of the downsides would be when we were starting out so we were able to deal with them, but we’ve had a few surprises along the way.
Running Tours4 ltd is challenging but ultimately very rewarding when groups come back from a tour having had a brilliant time. On a personal level the job is everything I wanted it to be, no two days are the same and I get to go on tour with some of the sports teams and student groups. I was also able tp travel round Europe this summer to research new destinations.
I enjoy talking to people and managing the tours but being your own boss isn’t so great when there is admin to be done or VAT returns are due. Still, it all keeps me on my toes and makes me more focused on what I really want to do.
What do you feel has been your biggest achievement since starting up?
Initially, convincing HSBC and our insurance company to believe in a couple of graduates with no business experience was our biggest achievement. Since those early days every group that we have sent on tour including schools, universities and sports clubs has given us great feedback. Managing a tour is demanding work so when sports teams come back from a tour and call us straight away to say what a great time they’ve had it really gives us a buzz and gets us motivated.
It was also great to get some recognition for all the hard work and long hours we’ve put in when we were nominated regional finalists in the Shell-Livewire Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards last May. We hit our business plan targets after nine months and we’re on target to treble our turnover if this year carries on the way it has started.
