Internet Entrepreneurship - Term Paper Example

Introduction This is business proposal for Internet based business. The proposal is being put forward to a potential group of investors. The unique and futuristic model of sustainable tourism will be combined with the reach and extent of the Internet to create an ever-growing business and profitable business. Sustainable tourism not only caters to the needs of present world but also ensures viability for future world by minimization of negative impacts of tourist activity and maximization of its positive impacts (Weaver, 2006). “Sustainable tourism minimizes impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate income, employment and the conservation of local ecosystems.” (Californiagreensolutions.com). The threat of global warming and impending environmental disasters has lead to the evolution of the ‘eco-friendly tourism’ and no corporation has yet realised the hidden potential in exploiting the model of international eco-tourism through Internet. “Sustainable tourism is becoming so popular that some say that what we presently call alternative will be the mainstream in a decade” (Fien, n.d).We will briefly discuss the business proposal and lay out its road map, revenue model, estimated costs (fixed and non-fixed) to the development of successful company. The Company This Internet Company will be called ‘Worldfarer.com’. It will provide the best tourism services without the collateral damage to the environment. From the business perspective it will have two heads: A. Development of Client Base. B. Hospitality and Tourism The company will use its sources to develop the client base (A) and use the hospitality and tourism facilities of its alliance partners (B). The website Worldfarer.com will have to sections: 1. Tourism 2. Sustainable Merchandise. A Brief Overview Worldfarer.com is intended to cash on the impending boom in the sustainable and eco-tourism sector. To begin with the company will explore client potential from the UK and the rest of Europe. The company will be using a mix of tourism potential and Internet interface to promote eco-friendly and sustainable tourism. The company would be developed in phases. In the first phase eco-friendly tourist destinations in India would be used as the operational area. Subsequently with the generation of revenue, the operations will be expanded into China, South-east Asia, Australia, Africa, and Latin America. Right now, we focus on the development of the first phase. Cost and Profit Centres The three cost centres of the company would be (i) The Portal (ii) The Staff (iii) Head office and Representative Offices. (iv) Promotional and Liaison Expenditure (v) Warehousing The three profit centres will be the: (i) The Tourist Fees (ii) Commissions from strategic partners (iii) Commission from sales of Artefacts on the Web. The Business Model The business model will have two important operational areas: the Tourist or the client end and the Hospitality end; both will have a common interface on the Worldfarer.com. The third section will be of development self-sustainability of the tour through e-commerce. Self-sustainability of tours will make Worldfarer.com will lend a competitive advantage to the company. 1. The Tourist End Worldfarer.com is based on a unique model of tourism and Internet entrepreneurship. Potential tourists will log onto the website. The visitor can undertake virtual tours, visit galleries and gain information to select tour destinations. The visitor (the potential tourist) will have the option of tailor-making his or her own tour according to individual budget. This stage onwards the tourist would be required to submit a fee to the Worldfarer.com through online facility. The staff at Worldfarer.com will release a blue print of the tour mentioning modes of transport, lodging, food, stay and the tentative cost to the tourist. Once the tourist gives the go ahead to the plan, the alliance partners; hotels, cabs, airlines, and guides in India would be given a green signal. The tourist makes an online remittance of the Total Tour Fee accounting for transportation, travelling, boarding and lodging, sight-seeing. Worldfarer.com will deliver the customer specifics like tickets, details of stay, food, lodging, telephone numbers and the itinerary. The tourist will be handed a Worldfarer Eco-kit, a list of all do’s and don’ts, precautions, emergency numbers and tour insurance. 2. Hospitality end Through active liaison, Worldfarer.com will develop tourism alliances with tourism companies, hotel owners, cab operators, camping service providers in India. The destinations chosen will be located away from the places that witness heavy tourist rush The destination will include jungle locations, sea-coasts, islands, heritage spots, mountains and valleys, and National parks. Worldfarer.com will develop alliance only with neat and clean and budget hotels and stay away from high profile multi-national chains. Such hotels would be encouraged to get ISO: 14000 green standards accredited. These hotels would provide all the amenities and comforts within affordable budgets. The cab and tour operators to provide vital linkages, logistics and transport will be local entrepreneurial businesses chosen through a strict system of vendor development and benchmarking. They will be made payment on customer to customer basis by Worldfarer.com, on successful completion of the activity, thus eliminating all financial interfaces between the tourist and the hospitality entrepreneur. Quality checks, benchmarked process standards and constant interaction through survey sheets submitted online would keep a tab on the operations quality of the tour. Arrangements will also be made with medical and health agencies to provide immediate help in case of emergencies. Cottage tourism can also be promoted by motivated householders to rent out a part of their homes for tourists. 3. Sustainability of the Tours—A unique proposition This is the most unique aspect of the business model of worldfarer.com. While on the eco-friendly tours, the tourist will be acquainted with local lifestyles. The tourist (as per choice) would be taken around in communities working on making sustainable objects, wooden artefacts, ornamental objects, pottery, yoga centres, herbal and natural products, organically farmed agricultural products. The tourist as per the tour plan can spend as much as time as he or she wills, to learn the traditional arts and crafts. The tourist can attend camps to resuscitate body and mind through meditation, natural therapies, and yoga practices. The tourists can natural products for personal use and merchandise purposes. Arrangements with the logistics and freight operators will ship the objects to the tourist’s home. The objects bought for merchandise will be moved to the nearest warehouse for storage. The product specifications, pictures ingredients, the use, viability and importance to futuristic living will then be uploaded on the Merchandise section on the Worldfarer.com. The customer can buy any product for personal use but for merchandise purposes, the tourists will be given a list of most tradable and profit making objects. They will be put on sale through e-commerce at a price that covers the costs paid by the tourist, freight and shipping charges. The selling price will also have a small profit component for Worldfarer.com. The traditional artefacts, handicrafts, and natural products produced by artisans in India will be available to the buyers throughout the world. It is hoped that due to their eco-sensitivity, art and labour involved, and ornamental value they will fetch remunerative costs. Online bidding for these objects can also be started at worldfarer.com. On the sale of these traditional products, the amount would be passed on to the tourist. The sale pf products will partly or fully (depending on the size of the consignment) make up for the money spent by the client on the tour. Aggressive and tactical sourcing and selling of the products can help to rake up high profits for the customer and the Worldfarer.com. Since tourists will have the option of joining naturo-therapy, meditation and yoga camps, they can first learn these techniques and later set up their own practices in the hometowns. Worldfarer.com can help the client get certification for running these practices can be obtained from the Governments concerned. On successful completion of the first phase, the operations of worldfarer.com can be extended to China and South East Asia and rest of the world. Target Clientele: The target clients will be the average but environmentally enlightened European. However, high spending tourists will also be motivated to adopt eco-friendly tourism practices and can increase our clientele significantly. Training: The Company will organise seminars, discussions, and talks on eco-friendly and sustainable tourism practices. Competition: As of now, the worldfarer.com will not have much competition because most of the tour operators thrive on high spending, high energy consuming luxury tourists. There is no company that promotes custom built tours to India working on sustainable models. The unique matching of tourism, and merchandise through web interface lends Worldfarer.com a cutting edge. Brief Discussion about Costs: Like any other business, the Worldfarer.com has two costs: Fixed and Variable We tentatively affix Fixed Costs and make enlist all the variable cost centres. It is to be noted that as the business grows, variable costs will grow. Turnaround Time: The turnaround time in business is low as revenue will start ticking in as soon as the first tourist submits for the tour processing. Fixed Costs 1. Domain Name and Web Hosting Charges : £ 50 (Annual) 2. Web Development and Maintenance Charges: £ 1000 (Annual) 3. Staff of Three to be based in London : £ 3500 (monthly) 4. Office expenditure including Rentals : £ 750 (monthly) Variable Costs: 1. Promotional Activity (Advertisement online, newspapers, and audio-visual means). 2. Seminars to be conducted about company policy in some major cities of Europe 3. Liaison, Logistics, and Communication costs with Indian alliance partners. 4. Reconnaissance visits to India to ascertain areas with maximum potential. 5. Identification of saleable products. 6. Miscellaneous expenditure for development of alliance partners, vendors, warehousing and supply chains. It is to be noted that variable costs will vary significantly with the intensity of business operations. Since it is intended to begin operations at modest level the variable costs can be kept low. Auxiliary Revenue: As the visitorship to worldfarer.com increases, it can also attract companies like Google, Yahoo, Msn and others to run their banner ads thus making the website itself a revenue earner. But this revenue can take a few years as it may take a few years to improve to become popular and improve its web-rankings. Add on features like blogs by users, tourists, online content about tourist places will help improve the ranking of the website. Conclusion To conclude Worldfarer.com is a win-win proposal for investors, stakeholders, and hospitality industry in the far-fetched parts of the world. Besides providing eco-friendly tourism, the worldfarer.com. Already tourism supports a millions in India for sustainable livelihood. “Tourism industry also provides employment to millions of people in India both directly and indirectly” (Economywatch, 2006, para 3). Conclusion Besides, becoming a revenue generator, the efforts of Worldfarer.com will further humanitarian cause of providing livelihood to indigenous and needy people. With a mix of modern technology and traditional prospects, Worldfarer.com will go a long way to promote strong human and cultural relations. Worldfarer.com will protect, and promote the interests of all stake holders including the communities it will operate in. References: “Tourism Industry in India”, (Anon, n.d) www.economywatch.com, The Economy Watch Website, Retrieved March 1, 2008 http://www.economywatch.com/business-and-economy/tourism-industry.html Fien, John., Calder M., White, Clayton., (n.d) Introduction, TLSF, www.unesco.org, The Unesco Website, Retrieved March 1, 2008, http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/TLSF/theme_c/mod16/uncom16bod.htm Weaver, David (2005): Sustainable Tourism, Theory and Practice, Butterworth-Hienemann, Elsiver.org. Sustainable Tourism Depends on Natural Sustainability (Anon, 2006), www. www.californiagreensolutions.com, “The California Green Solutions Website” http://www.californiagreensolutions.com/cgi-bin/gt/tpl.h,content=182 Read More