Business Fact Sheets

An Overview of the Tourism Business Fact Sheets

The Yukon Tourism Business Facts Sheets are designed to give you, the entrepreneur, basic information to help turn your ideas into a successful business. The fact sheets deal with important issues, choices and decisions you may face along the way.

The fact sheets are arranged in three sets:

The Tourism Industry
an introduction and overview
Essential Research
overview of the planning/research process together with some fundamental considerations for your business
Business Planning
an introduction to the various components of business, financial and marketing plans

Some entrepreneurs may decide to take a copy of each sheet - others may only be interested in a few specific subjects. In either case, the sheets act as a starting point. From here, you can go on to gather more of the information you need to succeed.

Following is a brief overview of the contents of the different fact sheets. Files are downloadable as PDF, for which you will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

The Tourism Industry

1.2: The big picture	This is an overview of the tourism industry. It looks at its global dimensions, the various tourism sectors, growth and developing trends. It will help entrepreneurs place their ideas in context and take a view to the future of the industry.
1.3: Who's who & what's what	This sheet looks at the roles and information sources in the industry. It looks at the various industry, government, regional and sectoral groups and associations that can provide the entrepreneur with valuable assistance.

Essential Research

2.1: Start with a plan	A schematic overview of the steps you will need to take to bring your idea to successful implementation. A key component in many of these steps is research: an organized, systematic approach to gathering the information you need along the way.
2.2: Land and location	Land categories and rights and how to acquire them. This sheet discusses the various land ownership options and the legal status of lands in the territory, as well as other issues that will have a bearing on where a business should be located.
2.3: Playing by the rules	Regulations and permits that every tourism entrepreneur should know about. This sheet also provides a basic checklist of permits, regulations, licenses and inspections that a tourism business operator may be expected to know about, arranged to indicate their likely impact by tourism sector. Contact information is also included.

Business Planning

3.1: Write a business plan	This sheet presents the business plan as a road map to guide entrepreneurs as they build their business ideas. It discusses self-assessment, quick feasibilities, research, and the actual preparation and implementation of the plan.
3.2: Packaging and partnerships	Options and opportunities for working together. This sheet highlights the advantages to entrepreneurs of packaging their products or working together with a partner in both traditional and non-traditional ways.
3.3: Human resources	The most important resource of any business is its people. Businesses can fail or succeed based on the quality of the service provided by its people. This sheet discusses the entrepreneur as the key resource of any business as well as issues around hiring, managing and training staff.
3.4: Up and running	This sheet is about implementing the business plan ? actually getting a business up and running. It deals with issues such as the timing and sequence of business considerations and avoiding common pitfalls.
3.5: Write a financial plan	This sheet will help entrepreneurs get started on establishing and managing financial targets. It discusses sales projections, cash flow, accounts and looks at the questions that must be answered in the plan.
3.6: Where to get money	Obtaining financing from financial institutions and other sources. This fact sheet examines the notion of "selling" a plan to potential backers or lenders. It also looks at the various kinds of financing available.
3.7: Minding your business	This fact sheet looks at accounting and bookkeeping for the entrepreneur. It discusses the basic principals behind administering the business effectively and productively.
3.8: Marketing 101	There are a number of sheets on the subject of marketing. This one forms an introduction to the subject, addressing the difference between marketing and advertising and illuminating the 9 p's of marketing.
3.9: Market research	This sheet discusses how an entrepreneur goes about gathering the information needed to put business and marketing plans together. It approaches market research in terms of questions that need to be defined and then answered.
3.10: Write a marketing plan	All the key elements of marketing are brought together in the marketing plan. This sheet discusses the various components of a marketing plan and its importance as a tool for the entrepreneur to raise financing.
3.11: Developing your product	This sheet looks at the issue of tailoring products to the market. It discusses the need to address tourist's wants with a clearly defined product/service.
3.12: Channeling your business	How to fit a new business into the tourism marketplace. This sheet examines the various "selling" options: selling directly or through the travel trade. It also discusses the commission system and specialty channelers.
3.13: Communicating with your customers	This is the area of marketing often referred to as advertising and promotion. Communicating your customers goes beyond mere advertising, however, and is something most entrepreneurs will deal with on a day-to-day basis.

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