Test Your Ideas!  Feasibility Studies

Now that you have all the major details worked out it may be worth a final test before making the commitment to proceed.  There are a couple of ways that this can be done:

1. Focus Groups
   This process is not without some expense.  Assemble a small group of potential participants through contacts provided by friends or acquaintances.  It can be a small group of six to ten people from the market area that you expect to draw from.  Have the tour objectives, schedule and costs ready to hand out and review with the group.  Listen carefully to the input and if the process is done well you have probably recruited some participants or advocates that will help you recruit others.  As an incentive you may want to offer any one in the group a reduced tour rate for being in the focus group.

2. Test Marketing
   Another method is to do a preliminary mailing or marketing approach to a small segment of the potential participant audience.  It is a true test as the response is enrolling as a participant with the payment of a deposit and/or full fee.  Like the focus group concept it also has some costs associated with it, but it has a realistic pay back.