Two young travellers had a good idea in 1988 and acted on it immediately. Now they have a business that turns over $35 million a year.
| Entrepreneur |
Darrell Wade and Geoff Manchester |
| Company |
Intrepid Travel |
| Business type |
Runs "off the beaten track" tours |
| Founded |
1989 |
| Employees |
200 |
| Contact details |
www.intrepidtravel.com |
Key Learning Points |
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Motivation
Anyone can be successful - there is no set formula, but there is none for failure either. Understand your motivation for starting the business. Is it love for the product and service? Power? Money? Be honest - it will affect how you plan.
Partnership
Consider taking a partner. Partnership has worked well for Intrepid but make sure the partner has similar motivations and values.
Niche development
Find your niche and corner it. Get the product and price right: be aggressive in marketing and conservative in accounting. Keep improving the product.
Early movers
Act quickly on a new idea: be early - or first - to market. Intrepid Travel was first to operate group tours into Vietnam in 1993.
Market expertise
Develop a thorough knowledge of the product you sell and the market you sell to. Think big picture (not big time). Understand who you are selling to and do not try and be everything to everyone.
Customer service
Only promise what you can provide - and do that very well. Great service brings repeat business and new customers.
Trust building
Be generous and consider the interests of each of your main stakeholders, which for Intrepid are its travellers, partners and staff. Accept the fact that you know nothing. Be humble: ask for - and accept - help.
Patience
Everything takes longer than you want. Get used to it.
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The Intrepid Travel Story
Darrell Wade and Geoff Manchester, friends from university, were crossing the Sahara Desert in 1988 when the idea for Intrepid Travel was hatched. Wade, who was working in design licensing, says he and his friend were frustrated that travel agents offered so few tour options.
They decided to take people on more adventurous holidays, showing the good, the bad and the ugly of the countries visited - not just the sanitised perspective of mainstream tours. The small tours would offer all the benefits of independent, flexible travel without all the worries. When Wade and Manchester returned to Melbourne, they nutted out a business plan on a borrowed typewriter and began Intrepid in 1989.
The business was started with $30,000 of savings and superannuation contributions. It focused on middle-class backpackers who wanted to travel to Asia.
Intrepid arranged for the travellers to stay at local homes or small hotels, providing a real experience of the country they were visiting. It hired local staff to look after travellers and explain the local culture to them.
Intrepid’s first big mistake was to try and find enough customers in Australia to make the company viable. Wade and Manchester realised that they had to expand their market and were soon looking for clients in Europe and the United States. Clients included graduates, single women and retired couples.
By 1997, the company had grown to $6 million in turnover. Wade and Manchester spent several years introducing technology, new processes and training staff to be more professional - all of which reduced profits. But Intrepid continued to grow by extensive marketing and providing good, friendly service. Destinations were added including China in 1997, India in 1999 and Russia in 2000.
In 2001, Wade and Manchester opened an office in London - and that has changed the company. Now, there are two different marketing and reservation centres. Sales have increased: the UK business grew by 100% in its first year and the European business was up by 60%. Wade predicts that sales in Europe will continue to increase by 50-75% a year for some time. He says: “September 11 hurt sales, although we had a quicker rebound than expected and through operational efficiencies we made a record profit. The latest heartache is the Bali bombings but this is another reason to spread operations and marketing to reduce risk.”
Intrepid Travel has plans for more destinations and tour innovations in 2003: Egypt will be added to the country list and family tours will be offered. Wade says: “We will also continue to expand geographically, opening an office in the US in January. Our long term outlook is very good.”
How was Intrepid Travel developed from a start-up in 1989 to a business that turned over $35 million in 2001-2002? Wade says: “I am not intelligent and I am not competitive but I am successful. There’s a bit of luck in it.”