This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Hey there, what's up? I hope your new month is starting off well, wherever you are in the world, whatever you're working on. I hope you're taking some time for yourself. I hope you're trying to take some time to think about your ideas and how you can move forward with them in the midst of, no doubt, a busy life, all right? Now, today we're gonna talk about walking tours, or actually I've got this listener question from, I believe, Antonio in Barcelona.
And I love walking tours because whenever I visit a new place and I'm looking for a way to experience more of the city, especially through the eyes of someone who lives there, a walking tour is a great option, okay? So if you happen to be traveling at some point and you're like, how can I get to see the city, not just go to the usual places, not just go on the typical tourist experiences, but still be safe, can still do something easy, just Google the name of the city and then walking tour. I've had some great experiences in places as far field as Jakarta or Johannesburg, many others. And so today's caller is a tour operator, I believe from Barcelona, as mentioned, who hosts visiting Americans and other tourists. Now, of course, travel has been off and on over the past couple of years.
It's got him thinking, how can he diversify his income specifically? And maybe not just diversify, but how might he earn recurring revenue? That's what we're gonna talk about in this episode coming up in just 30 seconds. [Music]
Hello, Chris, this is Antonio and I started listening to the show last year. I live in Barcelona and I have been slowly starting a tour business for visiting Americans and some Canadians.
Of course, travel is not nearly what it was a few years ago, but I'm in it for the long term. My hope is that in a year or two, I'll be positioned to grow into a larger service. However, as per dad, I'd really like to be working on some kind of recurring revenue. Operating a travel business during COVID has made it even more clear how important it will be to know I have a certain amount of money coming every month. Still, it seems a tour business will be difficult to turn into a subscription, right?
Can you think of anything I could do to be less dependent on the cycle of incoming travelers? The revenue also varies because of the seasons in addition to whatever else is happening. Thank you for your help and I hope you come visit us in Spain soon. [Music]
Antonio, thank you so much for listening in Barcelona. Beautiful city.
I haven't been in a very long time, but hopefully I'll come back at some point and take a tour. All right, listeners, why is recurring revenue so smart? Well, it's because it's predictable and sustainable. The benefit is in the phrase itself, recurring revenue, revenue that reoccurs. The tricky part is not every business can have recurring revenue.
And sometimes it's just not really built into the logical order of the business model, like a walking tour of a city. I think for most walking tours, the customers themselves are one off in the sense that they don't necessarily want or need a subscription. When I went to Jakarta, I really enjoyed my walking tour, but I also didn't have any immediate plans to return. After I left Indonesia, I went back to Hong Kong. So some kind of membership model where I could take as many tours as I'd like or whatever, it just wouldn't work well.
That's why I think don't try to force it. Recurring revenue, yes, of course, it's great and wonderful, but not every business is going to have that kind of model. So I would say, you want to have more predictable income, you want to increase your income. Let's think about that. What if there's a way for people on one tour to purchase a discounted tour for someone else, perhaps sometime in the future.
Also focus on what else you could sell to people taking a tour without trying to sell too much, but like what other needs do they have? Are they traveling elsewhere in Spain after visiting Barcelona? Maybe you can arrange something in other cities. Like I don't know exactly what it is, but I would say, at least with this particular business, don't think so much about recurring revenue. Think about ancillary revenue or upsells or cross-sells.
What else can you sell to people who are interested in a tour? I think that's a better answer than how can you get them to commit to a membership or a subscription package. That's my two euros, at least. Antonio, thank you again. Listeners, if you've got a question, come to sidehustleschool.com/questions.
We will continue to feature them throughout the year, along with all of our other segments, updates from listeners as they grow their projects, stories, case studies, tips, and so much more. I am thankful for you. You can subscribe or follow wherever you like to listen. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the Onward Project.
