This is article #4 in a 5 part Start up series for tour and activity travel businesses. In working with travel start ups a consistent theme I come across is the lofty sales expectations the founders place on themselves and their start up at launch. I believe this to be a huge mistake that reduces your overall chances of success. Money gets spent frivolously on activities that focus on attaining a large number of sales at launch and you spend four times as much time doing things that are unnecessary chasing an unattainable sales goal. The biggest challenge in a travel start up is actually starting, meaning doing business, making a transaction. In the early stages of your start up you should focus on a conservative and attainable number of tour and activity sales. The key is to have success coming out of the gate. Out of the gate its initially not about how many you sell but… -that you are selling. -what you are learning from your initial sales. -what kind of experience your client had purchasing and attending your tour and activity. -that you are making a profit on every sale. In the Travel Business Academy- Start up and Growth Program a professional online home study course and membership based website we teach entrepreneurs a start up business strategy and philosophy called the Power of 100™ that establishes your initial sales goal of 100 sales. The start up strategy prepares your tour and activity business to sell 100 bookings, trips or tours. By knowing where you want to go in the beginning and simplifying your sales goal to 100 sales you can build your business more efficiently and spend your valuable time and money marketing and advertising your new tour and activity business with an accomplishable sales goal in front of you. If you sell 100 tour and activity trips you’ll most certainly be on your way to building a successful travel business. Your next steps will then be to structure a business strategy to sell 250, 500 or even 1,000 trips. As part of your overall start up strategy look to scale down your initial sales projections. Focus on a sales level that is accomplishable. This will ultimately save you money from spending foolishly, make your start up more efficient and help you succeed in the initial stages. Matt Zito is a veteran travel industry entrepreneur, consultant and founder of the world’s first ever, Travel Business Academy, a professional member-based, home-study program that teaches entrepreneurs globally, how to start and run a travel business. To learn more visit the Travel Business Academy or email matt@travelbusinessacademy.com