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Old 06-02-2009, 12:15 AM   #4
FrostyEOD
Junior Member
FrostyEOD will become famous soon enough
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Alexandria, VA
Posts: 43
5 yr Member HT/PT Owner
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Can you get permission from the University to conduct for-profit activities (and Segway use by a tour company) on campus?

Seems like I'd get that answer (in writing if possible) before I spent a dime on getting hardware.

When you can get permission for both those items, then do your research on business licenses, taxes, etc., as well as try and get quotes for insurance (at the limits rerquired by state and local laws (as well as the University). get an idea of suitable locations to run the business out of (and find out average rental cost, as well as phone, electricity, water, and so on).

Get information on what your employee costs will be (wages), including having an accountant check your books (you don't want to screw up paying taxes, missing utility payments or forgetting tax withholding). You may have to cover the employees health care and so on as well (depends on where you are and how much they work - most good employees would rather get benefits). *you can do market research by asking similar sized businesses those questions, but be sure and explain that you are thinking of developing a business plan - don't tell them it is for a school project or something like that, they'll remember if you were less than forthright.

Find out what the cost of the Segways will be, plus helmets, locks, advertising, signage, credit card machines, licensing from Segway, cash register, money pouches, paper, pens, etc. (million more little things here)

You want to be able to realistically be able to figure out your costs, then figure out how many rentals you will need to make that much money. If the number is really big (i.e. lots of rentals daily/weekly/monthly) to break even, you'll be taking on more risk. Segway rentals are also very seasonable (dead of winter will see less rentals, if any, and in summer there will be less students but maybe more tourists).

I would try and get as much data as you can about establishing a business in your town (do you need a license? do you need to join a chamber of commerce or downtown business association?) Do you need approvals to establish the business at all? Do you need to hire a lawyer?

Segways are almost the least important part of the equation (I know - blasphemy on this forum, but I'm talking business) as far as your success or failure.

I'm not even scratching the surface here, look online or locally on how to write a business plan and that will give you more information.

Don't get discouraged, and good luck.

Chris



Quote:
Originally Posted by AggiePhil View Post
Howdy all. After an incredibly enjoyable Segway tour while on vacation in San Francisco, I'm wanting to explore the possibility of opening up my own tour business in my area. I live in a beautiful central Texas city with a major historic university that thousands of students, parents, and visitors trapse across on foot every single day. Without going into a bunch of flowing linguistics, it really is an IDEAL place for Segway tours.

So with that having been said, what are some of y'all's ideas and suggestions about someone who is brand new to the game looking to start a touring company? I realize that the overhead to buy a fleet of new machines will be considerable, and I'm assuming that liability insurance will also be considerable (though I don't know just HOW considerable). Perphaps that would be a good starting point for discussions...
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