Opinions On Possible Business

[Disney Family]

Hi all. I, like most of you, am a complete disney nut. So much so that I am find myself helping out other family and friends with their vacations(with great enthusiasm). I do study everything disney and have much experience with all of my many trips as to what there is to do, where money may be saved, and just offer my expertise into Disney World. That being said, I have toyed with the idea of starting up my own home business in helping people get set up with there Disney vacations(since I think this is where my niche is). I thought maybe I could start by offering to set people up by booking their flights, booking transportation to their hotel(possible car rental), purchasing their park tickets, arranging priority seating, and maybe sending them and information folder via email or hard copy of park times, extra magic hours, important phone numbers, and confirmation numbers and priority seating times(just to name a few). This is just some of my thoughts and I would like your opinion. I know that travel agencies do offer some of these services, but not in a way that I think I can provide(at least in my experience). I welcome any suggestions you may have to offer(possitive or negetive). Other people opinions matter to me and if you think this idea is too far fetched, let me know. Thank you all. Moderators......I did not know exactly where I could put this post, so please move it if you have to. Thanks.

[pogo]

Howdy neighbor ! (I live just down the road from you near Elmgrove Road.)

It is a wonderfull thing to do, but you need to figure out how you are going to turn an idea into $$$$$$.

It is a lot of hard work starting a business, especially a Travel Agency. Maybe one of the ladies from Magical Express can chime in.

I wish you a lot of luck !

[DizneyRox]

While I know there is a market for this, there is another service I think called Ask Mike or something, I think you might not understand the enormity of what you might be under takening.

Advertising will be your biggest problem. In order to make any money you will be spending a bunch to drum up business before you even make one dime. And just starting out will be tough to get your name out there.

I would suggest talking to some advertising agencies to see what it would cost. I don't feel it's something that someone should do on their own, most folks just don't have a clue. You'll also need to speak with a web designer to setup a web site, which also won't be cheap. The advertising agency might be able to handle that as well.

The problem with planning for friends and family is they aren't paying customers. They normally don't ask a lot, but get pretty personalized service. When someone starts paying for something they often feel a sense of entitlement (which is fair I think) to 100% accurate information and that there are NO PROBLEMS AT ALL. You would be assuming a pretty large risk in that you will be to blame for any problems with their trip.

I do photography and videography and have stayed away from making a business out of it pretty much for this reason. While I could make a ton of money, I just don't want to deal with bridezilla. So think about it before you get too far into it. Once you make the investment you want to stick with it to try and recoup your money.

Do your research...

[imaprincess!]

Perhaps you could try starting out as a travel agent to get a feel for the industry. I've seen an agency in my area that will do on-the-job training.

[pook@wdw]

My DH has offered his services as WDW tour guide for anyone in exchange for a free trip!

[Tick-Tock]

I've seen a lot of people on Intercot asking about Magical Journeys and how they get paid, concerned that they might have to pay a fee. I think to be successful you'd have to be able to get the commissions that Disney pays travel agents, as consumers generally don't want to pay a travel agent themselves.

[Bethanymouse]

I have actually thought about this myself and have booked many a vacation and helped plan for others in the family and many friends. My payback- a beautiful souvineer from disney....the problem is this, there are going to be some people willing to pay to have everything taken care of by someone they know and trust and the rest will go to a travel agent or book themselves.

I think to make a go of it you will have to start a website, advertise advertise advertise! Perhaps start within your community. Start off small, as a side job then see how it goes. Best of luck to you! I hope it works out!

[CleveSJM]

I remember a similar post awhile back. To really make some money, I think you need to make this a bi-lingual service where the customer pays you extra. Learn German or Japanese, get connections with foreign travel agencies and you'll be doing what you love for $$$ in no time.