Tour Operation Shows The Atlantic City Beyond Gambling

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Three years ago, operator Stacy Foster-Goodwin and her husband walked along the oceanfront boardwalk in Atlantic City. She looked out at her hometown and wondered why it lacked tour offerings.

Although many visitors came for the casinos, there was an underserved market of something else to see and do. So Foster-Goodwin opened her own touring service. She talked about her experiences Nov. 8 on a Women Owners Business Panel during LCT-NLA Show East at Harrah’s Atlantic City, and followed up the event with an interview for Small Fleet Business.

Company challenges: For the first two years of her business, Foster-Goodwin partnered with a local car rental company and rented a different vehicle depending on how many people booked a particular tour. She continued to work a 9-to-5 job in finance for the Superior Court of New Jersey, and offered tours Thursday-Saturday to test the market. Once she saw visitors liked her tours, she added more days, and now runs six days a week while working her full-time job.

Start-up costs and methods: “The basic startup of course is registering your business and making sure you’re incorporated and you have those appropriate protections in place,” Foster-Goodwin said. Her biggest investment came a year ago when she purchased a 15-passenger Ford E350 van.

Fast Facts

A1 Tours

Location: Atlantic City, N.J.

Founded: 2012

OWNER: Stacy Foster-Goodwin

Main service region: Atlantic City

Vehicles: Ford E350 van

Fleet Size: 1

Employees: 3

Annual revenues: $46,000

Website: http://ift.tt/1NTt4OO

Marketing strategies: Foster-Goodwin’s biggest success has come from partnering with Atlantic City’s visitor website. “That really helped to get our offerings out there. I’ve looked at my SEO and most of my orders come from the website.” She’s also partnered with hotels that refer customers to her.

Mistakes: “Underestimating the costs associated with running a travel business. With transporting people, the insurance is really high,” Foster-Goodwin said. She didn’t imagine how much that would cost her. “If I could have delayed the purchase of my vehicle to give myself more time to get my financials in order to better handle and manage things, I would have done that.”

Biggest success: “The biggest success has been the partnerships that I have been able to develop along the way. That’s across the venues I use for attractions and the small business here. How we’re able to support each other and reference each other.” Stacy-Goodwin added that now is a good time to be a non-casino business in Atlantic City. Four casinos have closed down in recent years and some of the eight remaining casinos are struggling. The city is promoting businesses like hers to bring people into the city who have interests beyond casino gambling.

Customer service: Foster-Goodwin makes sure her drivers and tour guides are always on the same page and smiling, even with their voices. She also treats everyone who travels with A1 Tours to a goody bag full of coupons, and a staple of Atlantic City — salt water taffy. “Everyone likes them. It’s always a big surprise. They say, ‘Oh wow, I wasn’t expecting this,’ and ‘That’s what we want.’ We want to have that surprise element and that thank you because they could have done anything while in the city; they didn’t need to come to our tours.”

Advice: “Research, research, research.” Operators need to know their markets, Foster-Goodwin said. Just because something may work in one market does not mean it will work in yours.

Future plans: “I’m really looking to grow this business outside Atlantic County. A1 Tours is here to stay. We’re going to do our very best to offer world class service to our customers.”

Keywords

Atlantic city   LCT-NLA Show East   new jersey   New Jersey operators   New Operator   small business   small-fleet operators   women in the industry   

 

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Strong Business Values Define Retail Limo Service

Customer service: Although Chad Peterson incorporates technology into certain aspects of his company, he prefers to add a more personal touch when interacting with his clients. “I would say we make a lot of direct connections. The reason I say that might be somewhat unique is because, with all the electronic communication out there, it might not always be done that way. We have a very personal touch.”

Renee’s Royal Valet
Location: Minneapolis, Minn.
Owner: Chad Peterson
Founded: 1992
Vehicle types: stretch, SUV and Hummer limousines; party buses, mini-buses, motorcoach, trolley
Fleet size: 10
Employees: 6
Website: http://ift.tt/16c1Cv6
Contact: (763) 551-1919

Marketing strategies: Renee’s has a strong legacy in the area within the wedding industry, which means much of its business comes from direct referrals. However, online marketing also generates much of their traffic. “We focus heavily on our website and our Internet presence; that’s where our primary focus is as far as marketing is concerned.”

Shifting industries: Peterson had his first taste of owning a business after he graduated from high school and started a contracting company. He later became the director of sales at an industrial coatings manufacturer but yearned for owning his company again. He saw the limousine industry as an industry he would enjoy working in, so he took a risk, left his job, and bought Renee’s Royal Valet.

Shared values: While the industries differ, Chad has brought the same values he’s held in his previous positions over to Renee’s. “I bought Renee’s because, the way they’ve set up the company, the focus is entirely on quality and service. And in my sales background, those were the two principles that I always stuck to: I focused on quality and service and left the low price wars to the other guys.”

Successful transition: Fortunately for Chad, his acquisition has gone smoothly thanks to familiar faces at the company. “I have the backing of the founder of the company, as well as the former owner of the company who are both working part-time for me, so really this whole transition is set up to succeed. We had a succession plan that we created that basically guaranteed success.”

Start-up costs and methods: “There are a lot of costs to buying a company. I don’t even know where to start with costs. There’s the small business loan, a lot of legal fees. There are also consulting fees.”

Business likes: “Being able to play a part in someone’s special day and do our part to make that day even more special. We really want to give our clients an experience they remember forever.”

Growth plans: Chad expects to grow his fleet in coming years. While he hasn’t added any vehicles yet, he hopes to have at least one more by Spring. However, he doesn’t know how he’s going to find a replacement for the Lincoln Town Car Executive L. “I think that is one factor that I hadn’t really considered, and now I realize that it will be a difficult choice because there’s no obvious successor.”

Keywords

How To   Minnesota operators   New Operator   small fleets   small-fleet operators   

 

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