Now that I have returned to the tourism industry as a tour guide, I wonder how profitable it is to do business on your own, based on what I see and notice.
No doubt, it is better to work for yourself than to do nothing, but one has to assess the marketplace, as in what you choose to sell, just where to establish your business, who are your potential clients, as well as who your competitors are.
You need to establish, especially in the tourist trade and if your products are unique, the cost of retail, as well as the volume of traffic on your route and assumed clients.
We have a habit of just doing what others do, selling what the others sell well, and setting-up next to each other and in so-doing we end-up having plenty people selling the same items, at the same price, and competing for the same clients, for the same dollars — and all of a sudden, you have hundreds of people trying to eke-out a living from mainly competing with each other.
The established tours have selective stops; the general taxi drivers choose friends and people they are acquainted with to stop by and the fact that we are in a dog-eat-dog society which means everybody cares only for themselves.
Sometimes prices are too high, some people can only deal with cash purchases, some have no packaging or contact or information about the product or show consumers the origin of the products they peddle and all that causes some people to survive, while others to struggle to make it.
These days, at every street corner or stretch of road is another salesman or woman and sometimes the environmental conditions are not conducive for the chosen products, and the weather patterns are unpredictable and can cause some days to be very bad for business.
Some people are well stocked, some are understocked, some have inventory that takes a lifetime to get rid of, and some are owing many merchants to secure their goods and have loans and borrowed cash to repay.
My point is maybe it is better to acquire a skill that can sustain you in the on and off season.
Maybe your location can be wrong, the idea of only catering for visitors can limit your sales opportunities and doing whatever every other person is doing can be the wrong choice of business.
Then there is the problem of sub-standard goods, unavailability of certain items the market demands, as well as general support.
If we have thousands of persons all dealing with the same items and using the same sales pitch, in the end it is really man-better-man.
If there were separation of items, or people selling different commodities, just maybe there is a survival means for everyone, but to follow like sheep and not think outside the box can lead to unpredictability and sad circumstances due to your lack of proper planning and choice of items for sale.
The country’s employers can only absorb x-amount of persons and you ought to have some sort of skill or expertise but not being skilled and only dependent on the occasional sale can leave you frustrated and all your efforts can be in vain.
Some people are great hustlers, some have the talent to convince customers to purchase, and some have the business but do not have the skillset or lack business sence. I urge you to do your research, assess the marketplace, watch the trend, study your competitors and the marketplace, and tread carefully before you choose what business to invest in, or spend your hard-earned cash on, hoping to make a profit.
Not all businesses will be successful, as there are many good and bad stories, so think before you leap, and invest wisely before you jump into the fire.
Do not follow blindly or assume that all self-employed people are doing well. Do your inquiries, discuss with people in the business, ask them how their business is doing in the peak times and the lean moments, and find all the unknown factors.
Weigh the pros and cons, and think of being skilled in case you need to find alternative employment, think long-term, think other-investment, don’t put all your eggs in one basket, have a vision and think long-term, as well being ready for the unfulfilled dreams and the changing times and all the uncertainties that come with time.
We are living in a time full of uncertainties and for those who choose to sell perishable items, it is better to reduce prices than to hold firmly to your choice prices and end-up having to throw the produce away because you cannot stand to lose. Better break even than lose because of your firm policy.
Just food for thought – and I hope you cherish the good advice, because it seldom comes for free.