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Old 06-01-2009, 10:05 PM   #3
AggiePhil
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: College Station, TX
Posts: 235
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Oh, I'm in no hurry to get things started. My wife and I currently have very rewarding jobs but we would love to cultivate a family business where we are our own bosses.

In short, as I'm currently envisioning it, I would offer tours of Texas A&M University which is the 7th largest American university with an enrollment of 48,000 students. The school's 130 year old main campus here covers 5,200 acres, to give you an idea of its size. So needless to say, there is a lot of history, a LOT to see, and a LOT of ground to cover. Parents and prospective students come to the campus all throughout the year to get a feel for things and see if the school is right for them (or their child). Also, with the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library & Museum and numerous other events related to the university, there are always a lot of visitors in town.

Currently, the only campus tour option is a free walking tour offered by the university. Honestly, the tour sucks and it certainly doesn't help that it requires lots of walking in the 100+ degree (F) Texas heat. About the only thing the tour has going for it is that it's free. Another thing that happens is that students who are going to be incoming college freshmen arrive all throughout the summer for New Student Conferences, which is essentially orientation. They come with their families and attend numerous meetings with advisors in addition to getting a feel for the layout of the campus. I speak from personal experience when I say that oftentimes the parents tend to skip out on the "getting to know your way around campus" portion due to physical factors (namely, mobility and endurance problems). When my parents came with me for orientation back in 2000, they had significant trouble getting around (dad's got bad knees, mom's hip gets to hurting her) and had to leave most of the exploring to me and my sister (who was also an incoming freshman). So looking back, if a Segway tour had been an option, we would have been all over it for a way to get a good look at the entire campus without wearing the parents out in no time.

Although our campus isn't a "walking campus" (meaning that no vehicular traffic is allowed inside the campus), there ARE a lot of buildings that you really just can't get to from a vehicle. And of course, the parking situation is a nightmare. So you're really only left with the option of walking or riding bikes. At least...currently.

Me, my grandfather, my father, my brother, my sister, and my wife all went to A&M. For that reason, I've got [what I consider to be] a great appreciation for and knowledge of the campus and its history. Although this will only help in starting a tour company, I think it's definitely a good first step.

So maybe that'll help a bit to explain some of the reasons why I want to offer tours here and why I think they would be a big hit with visitors and residents alike. Shoot, maybe college students will want to take their dates on tours. Or student groups that are looking for a fun outing and a way to learn more about their campus.

One thing that I'm really clueless about though is how much insurance usually runs for a Segway tour company. I would imagine that aside from the cost of equipment, insurance is probably going to be the largest expense. Florida, can you offer some insight into the insurance situation for Segway tour companies?
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