Business Plan Example: Starting an Agency to Facilitate Homestays in India

Our management team is comprised of A, B, C and D. all of us had distinct careers before we met with the sole purpose of starting an agency to facilitate homestays in India, which has been on the rise. Our complete knowledge of each other career, skills and previous occupation provide a clear picture of how our skills can be leveraged to start and operate a successful venture in India.

A is currently 25 years of age and started her career in a food service operation as a server and a bartender in downtown Mumbai at the age of 15. The food service restaurant was owned by her aunt and specialized in traditional Indian gourmet. She later trained in the various hotel in Mumbai including the Mumbai home resort, which paved way for her enrollment in Mumbai School of hospitality where she earned a management degree in hospitality management. She was still working at Mumbai resort hotel but promoted first as an assistant manager and later as a general manager a position she held for five years.

B is 30 years old, already operates, and own two homestays in Shimla, the Sunnymaed, and the Bangala. Being an orphan, the entire ownership and operation was passed to him at the age of 25 and has been operating both properties as private entities for the last five years. The Sunnymaed consist of an exquisite colonial-style ancestral property with an English cottage garden with family treasures that blend beautifully with a contemporary environment. It has four bedrooms and promotes such activities such as nature walks, photography and book reading in addition to serving Indian traditional cuisines like naans and finger licking curries. The Bangala property dates back to 1910 where the great-grandfather of B bought the bungalow and furnished it to a homestay catering especially for VIP guests who attended cultural festivals in the neighboring communities. It provides bed and breakfast and features activities such as nature walks, elephant rides, star gazing barbecues and bonfires. B is relevant to this startup since she already has an operating business in the field of homestay tourism and her intention is to collaborate and create linkages to provide a sustainable source of business, which was perfect with our idea of an agency to facilitate this.

Partner C is 27 years old and earned her degree at the University of Goa in tour guiding where she earned a position at a local tour company as a guide. She has extensive knowledge of activities and facilities in rural Indian communities and culture from her five years experience as a tour guide in interior rural villages. His family still lives in rural areas of Goa where large festivals of Diwali are known to take place. For the last two years, she has been working as an acting assistant manager for the same tour company.

Partner D is a trained accountant who ended up managing his fathers business ventures in hotels distributed all over India. He has a degree in accounting but most of his career he has been an operations manager in Capella homestay group, which owns the Capella bungalow in northern Goa, Spiti Homestays, is Himachal Pradesh and Sirohi farm, which provides an opportunity for visitors to engage in such cultural activities such as milking, planting, and other religious indulgences.

Financial status

The startup cost will be $360,000 of which the owners will contribute $200,000 and the rest secured through a proposed bank loan. Much of the money will go to set up offices, logos; website and office furniture amounting to $ 100,000 dollars, direct marketing activities, business linkages and renovation of several homestays will amount to an estimated cost of $150,000. We agree that partner A and C will contribute $70,000 each and the rest will contribute $30,000 due to their contribution to their already set up homestays.

Related work experience

The entire management team combines an extensive pool of previous experiences, which are vital to the new startup. A has an inside knowledge of specific tasks in tourism which will give the entire team insights on what tourist need when they visit a homestay. Partner c is relevant to the team with his already established business, which provides us with an overview of the market activities in the tourism sector. It also provides a prototype market testing. Partner C and D brings in their years of expertise in their specific field especially in accounting and human resource management from their respective careers.

Duties and responsibilities

Each partner will be performing specific roles and no hierarchy is there for seniority. Partner A will perform the overall task as a general manager and will act as the face of the startup to our stakeholders credited for her previous roles in management. Partner B will be leading our marketing efforts owing to her knowledge in the homestay market. Partner C will lead the human resource management team due to her interaction with the different section of the industry she will be able to provide competent staff especially tour guides with knowledge directions of interior rural homes and different cultural activities and festivals all across India. Partner D will be the accountant. Final decisions will be made based on the majority vote among the partners.

Personnel

The agency would require twenty staffs 10 who will be tour guides with additional driving skills, two secretaries, three housekeeping staff, two network administrators and three random employees assigned to any partner who will all provide their services on a full-time basis. Each applicant will be rated and evaluated according to a pre-defined set of standards designed for each position. Background checks will be utilized for designated positions and recruiting effort will be centered on referrals. Future training will equip employees to multitask to eliminate the need for additional staffing. For example, drivers who can act as tour guides and at the same time demonstrate inner and deeper understanding of the Indian culture.

References

Zimmerer, T. W., Scarborough, N. M., & Wilson, D. (2005). Essentials of entrepreneurship and small business management. Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Anand, A., Chandan, P., & Singh, R. B. (2012). Homestays at Korzok: Supplementing rural livelihoods and supporting green tourism in the Indian Himalayas. Mountain Research and Development, 32(2), 126-136.

Naipinit, A., & Maneenetr, T. (2010). Community participation in tourism management in Busai village homestay, Wangnamkheo District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand. International Business & Economics Research Journal (IBER), 9(1).