UKC

Hi

Considering setting up part time walking guiding business in the peak area, although know wales well to[as well as my normal 9-5].

I will have, hill and moorland leaders award, first aid, DBS and many years experience. Also have interest in wildlife to share

Just wondering about pitfalls, thinking advertising and insurance costs etc, competition

This is not to make a living wage , except if successful and perhaps naively think that it doesnt matter if i have one or ten walkers, still the same walk, and little overheads.

Would offer fixed walks and also bespoke

Any experience , and criticisms [with suggestions] very welcome

thanks

In reply to llanberis36:

This stuff is very important: http://www.hse.gov.uk/aala/about-activities-licensing.htm

I vaguely recall it comes into play if you want to work with children, and can be a major expense.

In reply to llanberis36:

Maybe do a few test runs with non paying friends see how it goes, what problems crop up and if you enjoy it. Ask them for honest feedback of things you could do differently and take it from there. If it's something you want to do and only need to cover your costs but not actually make a living from then I say go for it.

In reply to llanberis36:

There's a real risk that turning your hobby into a job eventually turns it into a chore. How many times do you want to walk over the top of Stanage pointing out that bloody factory?

In reply to llanberis36:

Do you mean a company or a business? They are not the same. There is overhead in running a limited company in the UK - it is not onerous if you can be organised but there can be significant penalties if you miss administrative deadlines.

https://www.gov.uk/business-legal-structures/limited-company

Should you go in to business? 100% your call. Main thing is to be totally sure you understand the legal liabilities you take on if guiding. Beyond that, can you market yourself? If you don't depend on the business for your income - if you don't fully commit - don't expect magic growth.

My personal view - if you have an opportunity and if important parts of your life won't suffer because you take said opportunity, why not? You'll either learn stuff about business or about yourself.

In reply to llanberis36:

It will be slow early on. I did it, if you have the ML the insurance is pretty easy. Write articles, route suggestions for free advertising and slowly build your name through word of mouth.

I'd not be too cheap. Try to be unique, wildlife knowledge, cameras etc..

Good luck

In reply to llanberis36:

Thanks all and food for thought. It definitely wont be a chore as like being outside and there are endless areas to explore

With hill and moorland qual may limit myself, so may look at summer ML

like the idea of a unique thing to offer. I have a lot of professional experience working with people who are disabled in many ways, so may be a way in

In reply to llanberis36:
Don't be a busy fool, getting lots of work just by setting your price too low. Understand the difference between value and price, offer something extra that costs you very little but is worth a lot more to your client (eg: offer pickup from local hotel/railway station instead of them having to make their way to a start point). Develop relationships with local hotels, taxis and attractions that get them offering this value for you too.

In reply to mysterion:


You'll need a private hire licence to do that legally.

In reply to Ghastly Rubberfeet:


No you don't. But you will need to check your car insurance. Will probably need to change it to business use.

In reply to llanberis36:

Just picking up on the bit where you said 'It definitely wont be a chore as like being outside and there are endless areas to explore'. If you offer people a choice of routes, the majority might keep asking for the same one! Will repeating the popular routes become a chore?

Regards running a company, I have twice run a limited company. In both cases it was only me as sole director and employee. It is not onerous, but you need be disciplined in keeping records and making appropriate submissions on time.

Neither of mine were related to the outdoors, but if you buy equipment that you need from the business rather than as personal purchases they reduce (or eliminate) the profit the company makes, and if the company doesn't make a profit there is no corporation tax to pay. The income you pay yourself of course would still need to be declared. I don't know if this principle would apply to buying clothes though? You might need to get an accountants input on that.

As I say, I don't know about running an outdoors based business, but there be advantages related to insurance and liability in doing this via a limited company rather than as individual. Others on here can help you more on that.

Hope that helps

Hope that helps