Premises
It is vital that the travel business has both a storefront facing onto the main street and a visible separate entrance. The goal is for clothing shop clients to be able to move between the premises without going outside. We will be renting 2000 square meters of fully serviced space at a cost of $30,060 per year fully serviced. We will need to spend $25,050 on internal refurbishing. We plan to do some of this work ourselves. An additional $4175 will be needed for desks, chairs, and other office furnishings.
Choice of Location and Premises
We intend to locate within the existing Northwind Traders shop, sinceas this is close to the city center with a high density of both residential and business premises. The pavement is wide, so people can stand and look in the window without being in the way of other pedestrians.
Opening Hours of Operation
The telephone lines will be staffed 24 hours a day by live operators. During the period from 9 am to 6 pm, this will be done mostly by our staff. However, overload calls during the day and afterout-of-hours calls will go to our live telemarketing bureau. People consider vacation decisions at home in the evenings after discussion with friends and partners. We want to be available as their first point of contact with an informed, friendly service.
We believe that since our clients will mostly be busy professional people, off-peak- hours access to our services is also a key way in which we can differentiate ourselves from other travel agencies.
Equipment
We will be renting an integrated telephone/data-base system from the outset. This will allow up to ten sales staff to answer calls and have full on-screen data on clients and products.
As service is one of our key components, it is essential that we have full access to all relevant data speedily and efficiently.
Staffing
From the outset all staff will have job descriptions, a career and training history file, and a record of employee reviews.
New staff will take the travel agency Psychometric Aptitude Test, and then spend time with each member of the Northwind Traders team.
All staff will undergo full product training, and will spend at least four weeks a year on-site at key travel destinations.
Our dress code will require us to look as though we are on our way to one of our adventure vacations. We plan to start with a staff of three full-time employees, including the founder, and one part-timer. We plan to be operating with a staff of thirteen during the fifth year of business.
