The Ultimate Adventure Business Planning Guide

The Ultimate Adventure Business Planning Guide

Congratulations, you made it! 2022 is almost here meaning 2021 is almost in your rearview. Now is a great time to reflect on the past year and start planning for the year ahead. Reading this Adventure Business Planning Guide is a great place to start. It will help you process the last year so you can analyze the impact it had on your business. Plus we are providing you with some material to help you start creating your 2022 business plan and reach those goals!

How was 2021 for you?

For some this year probably flew by, featuring you as the firefighter running around putting out fires. From managing employees to figuring out how to manage your cash flow, to having to constantly find out when you can open and prepare to close again. You were hiring seasonal employees, promoting new tours/trips and getting customers and sales all while implementing new health and safety protocols. To call it a marathon would be an understatement unless that marathon was an ultra-marathon that you had to run continuously for over a year straight through the worst possible terrain and weather. 

You’ve played the Waiting Game

For others this year has been a long one. Borders are open one minute and not the next. You may have been told to put down your favourite thing to do, provide incredible experiences, and now all you can do is wait. Maybe you weren’t told to shut down but your regular customers are not coming through the doors (or borders). It has not been fun, but be glad that this year is almost over and that you are not in the third group of those who did not make it. 

You Gave it Your All!

For a few, you gave it you’re all. Be proud of that. Honour your effort and know that you tried your damnedest to dodge every unexpected curveball 2021 could throw at you. Unfortunately, it may not have been enough. It sucks to put everything you have into growing a business into something you are proud of, only to be sucker-punched by Murphy’s law (over and over). 

No matter what group you are part of it’s been one hell of a year. You’re likely ready to get some semblance of normality back in your life. Let’s be sure to take time now to look back, identify what worked and what didn’t, learn from our mistakes and old habits so we can make sustainable and lasting changes. This adventure business planning guide will help you identify some possible places you may have shortfalls.

Why Adventure Business Planning is Crucial for Your Operation

Covid-19’s impact has serious and long-lasting effects. Major problems going into the future are ahead for businesses that don’t try to get ahead of these major shifts.

Statistic about adventure industry.

Planning can seem daunting, especially given the current climate but it’s important to keep this routine alive in your business. Carve out some time, create an agenda and sit down with yourself.

It’s time to put on your CEO pants get your map, a compass and reset your bearings. There are two phases for your 2022 adventure business planning; 2021 review and 2022 planning. This is a pretty hefty project but worthwhile since it should really help you evaluate and re-calibrate your business. This is why planning is so important. You learn when to recalibrate your business and what changes you should make.

What did your adventure business learn from 2021?

Question asking people what they learnt in 2021.

2021 was a great reminder that mother nature is always in control and that you never know what lies ahead.Even when it continues to influence things 18 months later… No matter how much certainty you may think you have. A global pandemic that shuts down the entire world and grinds economies to a halt, ya… that’s probably pretty hard to predict.

It’s here, it happened and it’s happening still. The impacts will reverberate for many years to come. Things will be different, a business will not be as usual, and your industry’s cash flows will be reduced for a while. All of these negative side effects don’t have to be a net negative for your business. There are always more opportunities out there. If you are willing to subjectively look at your situation, process the impacts the last 18 months had on your business and take deliberate action in mitigating and/or eliminating the potential of these problems having an impact in the future. 

By doing this you are building your business’s line of defence against things you now know are potential threats. You don’t want to be burned by this same scenario twice. Try and think of what other problems may arise now that covid is part of our world and how these problems would impact your business. Using this knowledge, you can further insulate your business against threats. 

Ready to Review the past year?

Below are the basic actions you should be taking now to pull together all the data so you can review it and use it to guide your new year’s decision-making processes.

  1. Gather and analyze 2021 Metrics – website traffic, social media, sales etc. 
  2. Review the customer experience and sales system – map out your customer’s journey from cold to close. Is it easy for them to ‘know, like and trust’ you enough to buy your service?
  3. Inventory your business systems – meaning review all operational procedures and note any that need updating or identify which ones need to be created
  4. Inventory your team – do you need to hire in the following year? Who needs more training? Where can you outsource more? Will you need to lean down the team?
  5. Review the finances – were there any financial surprises? Any expenses to cut next year? What investments can be made?
  6. Check-in on your 2021 goals – did you reach them? Did they get away from you?

11 Lessons 2021 Taught Us All 

While preparing this post, we came across a tweet with this image, and thought – yeah, that’s it! It resonated so much with us we wanted to share it with you all.  Below are 11 things we learnt.

11 truths of 2021

Grow sustainably

Deliberate and sustainable growth is what we all need. We are all hearing it could take a few years to reach pre-covid revenue levels, let’s not rush back there. Let’s be deliberate, take one step at a time, and intentionally make our way back to the summit. Why not aim for a different summit altogether? A summit with healthy profits but also a healthy environment. 

Accept Help

Ask when you need it most! You’re not in this alone!! There are communities of people gathering to brainstorm, share ideas, provide support to businesses etc. All you have to do is get involved.

Accept the Ups and Downs

We cannot change the cycles of nature, the economy or the weather, we just have to accept them. Taking time to understand the cycles you’ve lived through, can help you be better prepared for future cycles down the road. Learning will help you mitigate the downs and amplify the ups. 

Letting go takes time, but don’t wait too long

Let’s not bring any of the negativity from 2021 into this new year. Yes, we need to hold on to the lessons but we all need to practice letting go so we can move on with our lives and businesses. 

Give your big decisions the time and attention they deserve

As we continue down the path of recession, try your best to be very calculated with your decisions, hold onto cash, and focus on plugging any leaky areas of your business (and personal life). 

Thrive on progress, not perfection

Small wins and daily actions are more important and sustainable. People struggle with this every, single day. Katie has been wanting to do Youtube for a while but was scared of the time it would take to make perfect videos. Let’s not let thoughts like this hold you back.

Gratitude is like eating your veggies

Do more of what makes you feel good.  Veggies make us feel good and so does being grateful. Both of these keep us in a positive headspace. Possibly more important than all the rest is our mental wellbeing. Take 5 min every day to jot down 3 things you’re grateful for and post them on your fridge. Then, eat some veggies too!

Do more of what you are good at

By focusing on what you’re good at and delegating out the rest, everyone wins. Surround yourself with those who support your mission and give them ownership over their parts. Provide guidance and support but focus on what you do best. 

Stay connected to those who fill you up

Let’s take the time to come together as a community, collaborate, share ideas and understand our common purpose is sustainable travel and transformative experiences. It’s connecting people to the planet they live on. 

Embracing flexibility helps you reach your goals

We think the word here is ‘pivot’? Flexibility is hard, we mean have you tried to do the splits or wheel pose recently? You don’t just become flexible overnight. Flexibility takes practice. By taking the time to identify your goals and set milestones and plan for alternate routes, you can stay focused and flexible on the way towards those goals. 

Saying ‘no’ often is how you stay focused

We all know we can’t do it all but we continue to try. Saying no isn’t selfish, it’s sustainable. 

What will 2022 look like for adventure travel?

As you work your way through this workbook, keep in mind that 2022 will not be the same as 2021 but there will be some similarities. Here are some things we already know;

There may be more lockdowns/borders closed in the upcoming year.

This is because even if restrictions are lifted in your area, they may not be in another area. Your neighbouring states/provinces may be on lockdown but yours is not, or vice versa. If your business used to rely heavily on international tourism, you will be waiting for other jurisdictions to allow travel.

A vaccine is here and it’s not going anywhere.

The vaccine has rolled out worldwide and many people are receiving it. Some countries are starting to make it mandatory or force people to quarantine if they are unvaxxed when entering their country. We could talk about the contentions this may cause between governments which might further drive down international travel but at the moment things seem to be changing daily. Things you should be thinking about. How do you plan to handle questions like: are your guides vaccinated? Or are others in my group vaccinated? Will you provide information for people to stay and quarantine before they visit you?

Customers are expecting very high standards around health & safety.

Cleanliness, physical distancing policies, mask use, increase food handling safety, and small groups and the like. You can review the ATTA Covid-19 guidelines for activities here. 

Your business is at the mercy of federal, provincial and municipal governments.

They are constantly adjusting their regulations as the situation unfolds. This is already exhausting so brace yourself for the ongoing turbulence.  

Customers in the 50+ category will be hesitant to travel too far from home.

This is 80% of the travel market…aged 45-64. For health reasons, they may prefer to travel only within their home area. This is the group that will likely be fully vaccinated before they travel to a destination and will possibly shift to financial reasons. These are the folks with all the time to travel and financial means to do so a.k.a. the bulk of the travel market.

Quarantining requirements

Quarantine in people’s home countries will keep them from going abroad. The people who are still working are not likely to go anywhere if they have to quarantine for 2 weeks when they come home. Most people only take holidays because it’s paid time off and do not want to or can’t afford to take 2 more weeks unpaid just to quarantine. If people have to quarantine in a hotel before they arrive how will that impact them financially? Suddenly the price of the trip just dramatically increased in time and length.

Travel insurance will be tougher to get and will also increase in price.

Depending on the provider it may or may not cover covid. You can support your clients with this by learning about https://safetywing.com/. This may work for many of your younger travellers. 

Quote about the importance of travel insurance.

Flights and overall tourism services will have increased prices

Due to lack of demand or forced smaller group sizes and fixed costs. Are you seeing prices rising? Staying the same? Decreasing?

Tourism businesses keeping deposits (providing vouchers) will deter travellers from booking in the current climate.

Having a flexible booking policy will be critical in 2022. 

Travellers will want custom, greener, lower-impact adventure options.

Think hiking, cycling, food, culture and wellness with short or no travel days and locally sourced experiences and food. These tailor-made options will need to be targeted to small groups and families. 

Here are some reports you can review to help you plan for 2022. 

Adventure Business Planning Process 

Block off 2-3 days to yourself (and your business partners) so you can focus just on this project. Now you’ve reflected on the past year and considered the potential risks and ongoing challenges, here’s what you need to do next in your Adventure Business Planning;

A guideline of smart goals.
  1. Set S.M.A.R.T goals for the new year and rank them based on their importance. 
  2. Quarterly planning – identify which quarter you will work on each goal.
  3. Determine milestones – actions you can take each month to march towards those goals. 
  4. Add goals your goals – Master Metric Tracking Sheet
  5. Map a revenue plan – how much do you need each quarter/month and what does that look like in # of sales?
  6. Monthly planning – a quick note about monthly content themes, what you’ll focus on selling, and what other activities are happening each month. 

Join the Conversation

We would love for you to join our Business of Adventure Facebook group. This is a collaborative space for business owners or freelancers in the adventure travel and tourism space. The focus here is to share best practices and tips about online presence and digital marketing (front end) and online systems (backend) so you can establish a rock-solid foundation for your adventure business. If this is something you could benefit from, please join!