Guide School-Scott Dawson MBA

Guide School

How to Start and Grow a Profitable Guide Service Without

Business or Guiding Experience By Scott Dawson of GuideHunting LLC

This book was designed for all of the passionate outdoor enthusiasts who want to spread the joy of

the outdoors with others as a guide.

Ebook disclaimer by SEQ Legal (1) Introduction This disclaimer governs the use of this ebook. By using this ebook, you accept this disclaimer in full. (2) Credit This disclaimer was created using an SEQ Legal template. (3) No advice The ebook contains information about guides. The information is not advice, and should not be treated as such. You must not rely on the information in the ebook as an alternative to legal / medical / financial / taxation / accountancy /guide advice from an appropriately qualified professional. If you have any specific questions about any legal / medical / financial / taxation / accountancy / guiding matter you should consult an appropriately qualified professional. You should never delay seeking legal advice, disregard legal advice, or commence or discontinue any legal action because of information in the ebook. (4) No representations or warranties To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law and subject to section 6 below, we exclude all representations, warranties, undertakings and guarantees relating to the ebook. Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing paragraph, we do not represent, warrant, undertake or guarantee:

that the information in the ebook is correct, accurate, complete or non-misleading;

that the use of the guidance in the ebook will lead to any particular outcome or result; or

in particular, that by using the guidance in the ebook you will become a guide. (5) Limitations and exclusions of liability The limitations and exclusions of liability set out in this section and elsewhere in this disclaimer: are subject to section 6 below; and govern all liabilities arising under the disclaimer or in relation to the ebook, including liabilities arising in contract, in tort (including negligence) and for breach of statutory duty. We will not be liable to you in respect of any losses arising out of any event or events beyond our reasonable control. We will not be liable to you in respect of any business losses, including without limitation loss of or damage to profits, income, revenue, use, production, anticipated savings, business, contracts, commercial opportunities or goodwill. We will not be liable to you in respect of any loss or corruption of any data, database or software. We will not be liable to you in respect of any special, indirect or consequential loss or damage. (6) Exceptions Nothing in this disclaimer shall: limit or exclude our liability for death or personal injury resulting from negligence; limit or exclude our liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; limit any of our liabilities in any way that is not permitted under applicable law; or exclude any of our liabilities that may not be excluded under applicable law. (7) Severability If a section of this disclaimer is determined by any court or other competent authority to be unlawful and/or unenforceable, the other sections of this disclaimer continue in effect. If any unlawful and/or unenforceable section would be lawful or enforceable if part of it were deleted, that part will be deemed to be deleted, and the rest of the section will continue in effect. (8) Law and jurisdiction This disclaimer will be governed by and construed in accordance with United States law, and any disputes relating to this disclaimer will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the United States. (9) Our details In this disclaimer, "we" means (and "us" and "our" refer to) GuideHunting LLC, a partnership established under Minnesota law having its principal place of business at 2530 43rd Ave South, St. Cloud, MN 56301

Copyright © 2014 by GuideHunting LLC. All rights reserved.

Guide School-Scott Dawson MBA

Table of Contents (Clickable)

What is a career like as a hunting guide or fishing guide?.........................................→ 1

Starting your guide service, an overview………………………………………………..→ 3

The $100 business startup…………………………………………...............................→ 4

How to get your first customer fast using the top 5 FREE marketing methods.........→ 5

The #1 way to grow and build a profitable guide service……………………………...→ 8

Power of customer tracking with the #1 free tool………………………………………→ 10

The $2,000 mistake many guides make………………………………………………..→ 12

Pricing your services for success………………………………………………………..→ 15

Legal, licensing and insurance for your business……………………………………...→ 17

Final words for starting your profitable guide service………………………………….→19

Guide School-Scott Dawson MBA

Page 1

What is a Career Like

as a Hunting Guide or

Fishing Guide?

Careers in guiding can be

very rewarding. Becoming a fishing or hunting guide allows

outdoor enthusiasts to earn a living while

doing what they enjoy. Here are a few of

the benefits of owning a guide service:

Control your own

schedule

Earn a living

doing what you

love

Excellent

earning potential

Meet other

outdoor

enthusiasts

Job stability

Satisfaction of

owning a

business

Owning a guiding service can be an

excellent way to break your dependency on

working for others where you have little or

no control of your job stability. In addition,

it can be very satisfying earning a living by

doing something that you love.

Earning Potential for Guides Since owning a guide service is a business,

the earning

potential will vary

greatly based on

several factors.

These include type

of game you offer

trips for (i.e. fish,

deer, waterfowl

etc.), the seasonality of your game, and

how much you market your business. Here

are a few figures to consider:

Fees received can range from about $100

to several thousand dollars per trip per

person

Tips can often be 10%-20% of the trip

value

Guide Lifestyle One of the greatest benefits of becoming a

guide is the lifestyle that it provides for the

owner. It allows the owner to control their

own schedule. The owner can schedule

guide trips when they are willing to work.

Keep in mind that more availability typically

increases guide earning potential.

The work environment is another benefit for

the owner as they get to do what they love

and teach others how to enjoy the

outdoors. Day jobs can be an excellent

way of earning a living for many people but

Guide School-Scott Dawson MBA

Page 2

if you are like me and enjoy the outdoors,

sitting behind a cubicle for 40+ hours a

week can be challenging. If it is than a

career as a guide might be right for you.

Full and Part time Options Another benefit of guiding is the flexibility to

do the profession either full or part time.

Many guides get into guiding on a part time

basis while continuing to work their day job.

This allow the benefit of learning the

industry and building clientele while

continuing to have a guaranteed income.

Some guides continue to guide part time as

a way to earn extra income and some

guides transition into a full time service

after they build their clientele base.

Industry Outlook Every three years the U.S Fish and Wildlife

Service

conducts a

survey on

outdoor

related

activities.

The 2011

survey states

that $9.6

billion is spent

annually on guide fees, pack trips or

package fees. Visit the US Fish and Wildlife

website to see how much is spent in the

guide trips in your area.

Fishing (Guide Fees, Land Use,

Equipment Rental) United States

Number of spenders 25 million

Number of guide services-

estimated**

12,500

Average amount per spender $236

Total amount spent $7.8 billion

Hunting (Guide Fees, Land

Use, Equipment Rental) United States

Number of spenders 4.5 million

Number of guide services-

estimated**

6,000

Average amount per spender $130

Total amount spent $1.8 billion

**This data is estimated based on market research done by

GuideHunting

Education and Skills The license requirements for hunting and

fishing guides vary greatly by state. Some

states require a guide license while others

have no additional requirements.

To ensue you have the proper

requirements contact your states wildlife

office.

There are some guide schools that teach

techniques on how to become a guide.

Some key skills for hunting guides include:

Good communication skills

Well organized

Ability to work with clients

Willingness to teach others effective

hunting and fishing techniques

Guide School-Scott Dawson MBA

Page 3

Starting Your Guide

Service- An Overview

Are you worried that getting

your guide service up and

running will be difficult? Starting your guide service may seem like a

lot of work but don’t worry, our goal is to

help you get started with a profitable guide

service even if you have no guiding or

business experience.

Here is what you will learn in this book:

How to start your business for $100

Proven methods for finding and retaining

customers

The #1 costly mistake to avoid

Pricing your services

Legal, licensing and insurance aspects of

your guide service.

Funding Your Business Often times one of the most challenging

pieces of starting a business is figuring out

how to fund your new adventure.

The types of expenses you could expect to

incur when starting your business include

business cards, website, marketing, legal

fees and licenses.

Also, you will need equipment for providing

your guided trips. This could be anything

from hunting blinds, decoys, boats, ATVs,

fishing rods and even land. Based on the

amount of money you need to get started

there are several ways to fund your

business:

Personal funds

Business loans

Personal or business credit card

Loans from friends or family

Shared investment from a business

partner

Business Formation Type We will discuss business formation types

with resources to help you determine what

is best for your unique situation.

Finding Customers We will show you 5 proven methods to find

and retain customers. We will also show

you the #1 tool to organize and track

customer information.

Setting Your Pricing You will learn several pricing strategies and

the pros and cons of each option. Which

pricing strategy will you choose?

Guide School-Scott Dawson MBA

Page 4

The $100 Business

Startup

Have you been held back on

starting your business due

to cost? We will show you

how to start for $100. A challenge many guides have when

getting started is funding their business.

In this section we outline the basic costs,

later you will learn the in depth details

behind these items. We encourage you to

get started minimally and expand as your

business grows.

Minimum Startup Costs Let’s look at the minimum costs associated

with starting your business. We are

assuming you already have the necessary

hunting and fishing supplies, computer, cell

phone and internet access.

Basic Startup Costs:

Business Insurance-$30/month

Business registration-$40

Website/Hosting-$10/month

Logo design from Fiverr-$5

Business card design from Fiverr-$5

Business card printing Vistaprint-$10

What is Fiverr? Fiverr.com is a great website that can help

you get many things you need for your

business for $5.

Here are some examples of what you can

get for $5.

Business cards

Logo design

Brochures

Market research

Many other business services/products

Next Step Costs Once you are up and running here are

some of the next costs you may consider.

LLC or other legal entity formation costs

Accountant fees

Paid advertising

Chamber of Commerce Membership

Guide School-Scott Dawson MBA

Page 5

How to Get your First

Customer Fast using

the top 5 FREE

Marketing Methods

Your first paying customer is

the most important, focus

your time on these methods

to get that customer. The number of ways you can market your

guide service is staggering, some are time

consuming and many are expensive so we

are going to focus you on 5 proven

methods to get your first customer without

spending even $1.

Here are the top 5 FREE marketing

methods:

Facebook

Craigslist

YouTube

Referrals

Repeat Business

Facebook Even though there have been significant

changes to Facebook over the last few

years it is still one of the best free ways to

promote your guide service.

Top Facebook tips:

Schedule your posts

Invite clients as soon as they book a trip

Invite past clients to your page

Post 2-4 times per week

Post when you have 1 spot left

Craigslist This is one marketing channel that many

guides forget about but it is a very popular

method to reach potential customers

completely free.

Top Craigslist tips:

Target multiple cities

Refresh your posts every other day to

move to the top of the list

Post ads for every service you offer

(example: 1 post for ducks, 1 for geese etc)

Craigslist is the 10th most visited site on the Internet,

according to Alexa.com.

Guide School-Scott Dawson MBA

Page 6

YouTube Video marketing is one of the fastest ways

to grow businesses and YouTube is the top

format for vide marketing. Additionally,

posting videos is completely free.

Here is an example of the amount of

success you can have on YouTube. I

made a video on how to paint goose

decoys and in 3 months it has over 1,500

views.

Top YouTube tips:

Record and post trip highlights/also post

them to Facebook

Make “How To” videos. Example “How to

Ice Fish” and link the videos to your

website

Use the description field when posting the

video to drive viewers to your business.

Include your business name, phone

number, email address and website

Some guides continue to guide part time as

a way to earn extra income and some

guides transition into a full time service

after they build their clientele base.

Referrals How likely are you to use a service or

product if a friend recommended it to you?

Top referral tips:

When someone books a trip ask them if

they know of anyone else who could come

with. Offer a gift card if they refer

someone. This will help fill your open

spots.

Provide incredible customer service on

the trip. If you do a great job people will

refer others to you. Give them 3 business

cards at the end of the trip and ask them to

give them to 3 friends in the next week

Refer people to back to your clients.

Example: One of your clients is a dentist.

Refer your other customers to that dentist.

In return, that dentist will want to refer

people back to you.

Add “Referrals Appreciated” to your email

signature and other marketing collateral

such as your business cards.

Research shows that people are 71% more likely

to purchase a product or service when it is

referred to them by a friend or family member.

Guide School-Scott Dawson MBA

Page 7

Repeat Business All too often we find guides and business

owners focusing so much on gaining new

business that they forget to spend time

working on repeat business.

Remember that if you have provided

excellent experiences and built solid

relationships people will want to go on trips

with you again in the future.

Ensure you spend time focusing on

referrals as it is completely free.

Top repeat business tips:

Offer clients first booking rights for the

next year. Example, email them a month

after they went on a trip and ask them if

they want to

reserve the

same days

for next

year. Tell

them you

will hold the

date for 1

month but if they don’t book by then you

will have to open it up to others.

Track the reason why people went on the

trip. Example is an anniversary. If a couple

came with you this year be sure to contact

them next year to come again.

Build personal relationships while they

are on your tip. The more they know and

trust you the more likely they will come

back.

Create a monthly or quarterly newsletter

to send to your customers. This could

include hunting or

fishing tips and

contain

information on

upcoming hunting

and fishing

seasons.

Do what you do so well that they will want to see

it again and bring their friends.- Walt Disney

Guide School-Scott Dawson MBA

Page 8

The #1 Way to Grow

and Build a Profitable

Guide Service

Excellent Customer Service

Will Result in More New and

Repeat Business Regardless of the industry you operate a

business in the #1 way to get and retain

clients is excellent customer service. The

hunting and fishing guide industry is no

exception to this rule.

You need to pay attention to customer

service in all parts of your interaction with

your clients:

Communication Prior

to the Trip

Experience

During the Trip

Follow Up After

the Trip

By following our

system you will

WOW your customers at each of these

steps and it will set you apart from the

competition allowing you to build a

profitable guide business.

Experience Prior to the Trip The first impression you make your

customers must be outstanding. Just think

about it. If your customers hear excitement

in your voice when you speak to them on

the phone they will be eager to book a trip

with you.

What to do prior to the trip:

Show excitement when speaking to

clients

Ask if the trip is for a special

event (birthday, anniversary,

corporate outing)

Ask them if they know others who might

want to come with

Confirm the booking via email

Follow up via phone 1 week prior to the

trip

Follow up 2-3 days prior with final list of

what to bring and expect

Ask them how they found out about you

Experience During the Trip In order to gain repeat business your

clients must have an incredible time while

they are on the trip.

I remember back to 2010 when I went on a

two day guided fishing trip with some

friends. It was a walleye fishing trip but one

of my friends who came with was not an

experienced fisherman.

The fishing guide handed everyone their

rods and showed us where the bait was

and told us to get started. However, he did

Guide School-Scott Dawson MBA

Page 9

not take any time to explain what bait he

would recommend or provide any fishing

tips.

The friend with little fishing experience went

the entire first day without catching a fish

and even those of us who had some

experience didn’t do well because he did

not tell us what bait to use or provide any

guidance.

Just think how simple it would have been

for him to spend 15 minutes providing our

group some effective walleye fishing

techniques and explaining to us what bait

we should use that day which would have

greatly improved our success and

satisfaction.

What to do during the trip:

Show excitement when your clients arrive

Teach successful techniques

Ask your clients what their goal is for the

day and what they would consider a

successful trip

Ask if are enjoying the trip several times

and if they want to change anything

Keep personal conversations going

during the day

Provide an overview of what to expect for

the day and what the days plan is

Experience After the Trip After you have taken your clients on their

trip your work is not complete if you want

clients to return next year and provide

referrals. However, your competition will

consider their work done and lose out on

repeat business and referrals.

What to do after the trip:

Send

your

customers

a thank

you note

Include

pictures

from the

trip

Ask for

referrals

Contact clients again next year before the

special event (example: birthday again next

year)

Ask for testimonials

Guide School-Scott Dawson MBA

Page 10

Power of Customer

Tracking with the #1

Free Tool

Profitable guide services use

tools to track and retain

customers. These tools will

help you earn and retain

customers with less time. When you had your most recent birthday

did you receive an email or letter from a

company that you bought products or

services from?

The answer is most likely yes and even

though it was something small it felt nice

and brought that business back into your

mind.

Knowing about your customers is the

most important piece of information for

profitable guide services

We are going to show you the benefit of

automated tools and show you several

tools that do this well and are available to

you as a guide service.

Customer Relationship

Management Tools (CRM) A CRM is a tool that organizes and stores

customer information.

What type of information do CRMs store?

Customer names, addresses, email

addresses, phone numbers etc…

Logs phone and email interactions

Set follow up reminders with customers

Tracks purchase history

Why use Customer Relationship

Management Tools? Customers are the most important part of

running a profitable guide service so

tracking who you have taken on a guide

trip, who has booked

an upcoming trip

and who inquired

about a trip but has

not yet booked is

important

information to track.

Why use a CRM?

Improve customer service.

Access customer information from

anywhere that has an internet connection.

Know each customers purchase history

such as how many trips booked.

In this section we will show you the #1 FREE

Customer relationship management (CRM) tool

Guide School-Scott Dawson MBA

Page 11

All employees can see the same

information. Example, if you and your

spouse run your guide business both of you

can enter, view and share information.

Follow up on important dates. Example: If

someone booked a guide trip with you last

year for a birthday you can set a reminder

to call or email them before their birthday

this year and invite them back.

Track status of customers. Example, if a

potential client contacted you about a

specific date but never booked you have

the information to follow up with them and

attempt to get them to book.

Save time with email templates.

Example, you can make a booking

confirmation email that you send to

customers with important reminders on

what to bring on their trip.

The #1 FREE CRM There are many CRM tools in the

marketplace. These include Salesforce,

Insightly ZOHO and many more.

However, as a small business owner most

CRMs on the marketplace are expensive or

too large for what you need.

My personal recommendation is ZOHO and

they offer a completely FREE Version that

works very

well for guide

businesses.

Free Version:

Up to 3 users

2 email templates

Store customer information

Standard reports

The free version of ZOHO is plenty to get

you started and for many guide services is

all that you ever need.

Here are a few of the extras you can get

with the paid versions:

Paid Versions:

More email templates

Add more than 3 users

Mass email your customers

Learn More About ZOHO CRM Click here for a brief video by Zoho on their

services and how they help guide services.

Guide School-Scott Dawson MBA

Page 12

The $2,000 Mistake

Many Guides Make

Websites is one area many

business owners overspend In today’s online world it is important for all

businesses, regardless of size, to have a

website to connect with customers.

Here are just a few reasons to have a

website for your Guide Service:

Effective source of advertising

Legitimizes your business

Share information with your customers

You get a customized company email

address

Option to collect payments online

Showcase your guiding expertise

However, I want you to be aware that it is

not uncommon for business owners to get

caught up in wanting to have a website and

spending way too much money with web

development companies to get more than

what is necessary.

As a new business owner your goal should

be to get started for as little money as

possible and build your client base

It is entirely possible to build a good looking

website on your own and save the massive

amounts of money that a web company

may charge to build you a website.

Now let’s take a look at the pros and cons

of building a website yourself or hiring a

web company.

Hiring a Web Company Hiring a web company is not a bad thing.

In fact, there are many

benefits of hiring a

company to build your

guide website but there

are also disadvantages

that need to be

considered.

Pros of Hiring a Web Company:

Professional design

They do the work, not you

They are the experts and all of the tricks

Cons of Hiring a Web Company:

Cost can be $2,000 or more

Difficult to know company reputation

May have long timelines and no

guaranteed completion date

Before you hire a web company

research them first: If you are strongly considering having your

website built by a web company make sure

you research them first.

Review 3 or more websites they built for

other clients

Guide School-Scott Dawson MBA

Page 13

Contact 3 clients they did business with in

and ask if they are satisfied

Check pricing with other 3 web

companies

If everything checks out with the references

and you are satisfied with their past work

you may decide to use them. However,

please consider if investing that amount of

money into your website as you start is the

best use of your money.

Building a Website Yourself Now let’s take a minute to review the pros

and cons of building the website yourself.

Pros of Building the Website Yourself:

Total cost is less than $100

You control the completion date

Ability to update the pictures, text and

other content on your own without cost

Cons of Building the Website Yourself:

Time to complete the work

Learning a new online system

Images cost money

Building a Website Yourself- Even

if You Never Built a Website As a new business owner funds can be

tight and building a website on your own

can be one great way to market your

business as well as saving you a significant

amount of money.

The good news is that YouTube is an

excellent source on how to build a website

yourself. Here is a video that I have used

many times to build

websites.

It is also good to ask

others for help with

your website. Perhaps

you have a spouse,

relative, friend or child who would be willing

to help you make your website.

We are not saying that hiring a company to

make your website is a bad decision.

However, we are recommending you

strongly consider if $2,000 or more is the

best use of your limited resources as you

start.

What are the costs to build a

website? 1. Domain Name- This is the web address

of your business. For example,

www.guidehunting.com. You can buy a

domain name for around $10 per year.

2. Hosting- This is a service that provides

a place on the internet for your website

to be stored and viewed.

3. Content Management System (CMS)-

This is the online program where you

build your website. The CMS that I use

is called WordPress and it is a free

service.

Guide School-Scott Dawson MBA

Page 14

Who is Visiting Your Website? It is very useful to know who is visiting your

website, how often they are visiting it and

how clients are interacting with your

website.

Google Analytics is a resource that allows

you access to this information.

Now you may think this is too advanced for

you but in reality it is pretty easy to setup

and ultimately understanding more about

the people visiting your website the better

you will be able to market to those

customers.

If you are using WordPress to build your

website you can easily setup this reporting

with the google analytics plugin.

If you are having someone else build your

webpage ensure that you ask them to

setup Google Analytics. There is no cost to

the reporting and it will only take them a

few extra minutes to install it.

Here is a 2 minute video that outlines the

benefits of Google Analytics.

Guide School-Scott Dawson MBA

Page 15

Pricing Your Services

for Success

Choose the right pricing

strategy for success As you get started with your guide service

one decision that you will need to make is

how to price your services. There are

several strategies that you can use to

compete against other guide services:

Low cost leader

High cost leader

Market rate pricing

Each of these strategies has its pros and

cons. In this section we will explain each of

these pricing options so that you can make

the best pricing decision for your unique

situation.

Market Research Conducting research on other guides who

offer similar services is the first step you

will need to take before you can determine

your pricing structure.

You should do your research in your local

area but you should also research

statewide and nationally. This will help you

know how you compare to the rest of the

market as well as understand your

customers point of view if they are visiting

from outstate.

Here are a few ways to research your

competitors pricing:

Visit competitor

websites

Review ads in local

grocery stores and

gas stations

Call your

competition and ask

Regardless of the method you choose you

must do this research in able to make an

informed decision on your own pricing

strategy.

Low Cost Leader With this strategy you will price your

services lower than most, if not all, of your

of competition.

Pros:

Enticing to clients who are price shopping

Potential for higher booking volume

Take business from higher price

competitors

Cons:

May create an image of low quality

Clientele attracted by low prices may not

tip

Less profit per client

Guide School-Scott Dawson MBA

Page 16

High Cost Leader Pricing your services at the top of the range

of other guide services is another strategy

to consider. Here are some considerations

with this type of pricing.

Pros:

Higher profit per client

Creates image of high quality

Attracts quality customers

Cons:

Lose out on price shopping clients

Hard to take market share from

competitors

Difficult strategy without a positive

reputation built

Market Rate Pricing With this strategy you will price your

services similar to other guides or the

“average” price.

Pros:

You will not be overpriced

Customers used to similar prices

Simple to set pricing

Cons:

Will not stand out competition

Challenging to take away customers

What Pricing Strategy is Best? Although there is no perfect pricing strategy

it should become clearer to you on the

direction you want to take after reviewing

what other guides in your area are doing.

Other Differentiators Regardless of the pricing structure you

choose you can also use other factors to

differentiate your services from the

competition. Here are just a few examples

you could try:

Offer longer trip length than other guides.

Example: If other guides offer a 4 hour

fishing trip for $300 you could offer a 6 hour

trip for $300.

Include free bonuses. Example: If other

guides charge extra for shore lunch you

could offer it for

free. Lunch is

likely low cost

to you but it

may be just

enough for

clients to

choose you

over other guides.

Provide take home training information.

Example: If you are a walleye fishing guide

you could make a brochure with some

walleye fishing tips for your clients to use

on their own. This will give goodwill and is a

great marketing tool that has your contact

information for repeat business.

Guide School-Scott Dawson MBA

Page 17

Legal, Licensing and

Insurance for your

Business

Business Basics Plus the #1

FREE Resource to Start Your

Guide Business When starting a guide service the amount

of steps to forming your business can feel

daunting but we assure you with some

work you can accomplish your goal.

We are here to help highlight the items that

not every guide owner thinks about as they

begin:

Business Formation Type

Licensing

Insurance

Although these items are not the most fun

part of starting a guide service they are

some of the most important things you can

do for proper personal protection.

Business Formation Type As we have discussed, guide services are

businesses and as a business owner you

need to determine how you want to be

viewed in the government’s eyes with legal

and financial matters. There are several

types of business formation to choose from:

Sole Proprietorship- This is the most

common and basic type of business where

you alone own the company and are

responsible for the companies liabilities and

assets. If you have already started

operating your guide service without going

through a legal formation process you are

currently operating a sole proprietor.

Limited Liability Corporations- Also

known as an LLC, this is a relatively

common business type for businesses.

This is a great option for guide services as

the structure remains simple, but it gives

you some financial and legal protection.

Partnership- This can be used if you go

into guiding with another person in shared

ownership. There are

several types of

partnership agreements

that can be formed.

Corporation- This formation type is

typically more complex and for larger

businesses that have multiple employees.

Cooperative- A cooperative is a business

or organization owned by and operated for

the benefit of those using its services

S-Corporation- An S corporation is

similar to a C corporation but you are taxed

only on the personal level. This is probably

more complex for what you will need as

you get your guide service started.

Guide School-Scott Dawson MBA

Page 18

Licensing The license requirements for hunting and

fishing guides vary greatly by state. Some

states require a guide license while others

have no additional requirements.

To ensue you have the proper licenses

contact your states wildlife office.

Insurance Business insurance is an area that many

guides and small business owners

overlook. However, having proper

insurance for your company is important to

ensure you and your clients are protected.

The guiding industry presents many

situations that could be dangerous.

Obviously, we hope there is never an

accident but the reality is that if you are in

business there is a chance that some type

of situation could happen where you would

be at risk without the business insurance.

Business insurance can be very

affordable typically ranging from $200-

$1,200 per year but could save you

hundreds of thousands if there was an

accident.

Most insurance companies will allow

flexible payment options from annual

payments, quarterly payments and

sometimes monthly payments.

Make sure reach out to at least 3 insurance

companies for quotes. This will help you

see various pricing as well as seeing what

companies provide the best level of

customer service.

Small Business Administration The #1 free resource available for you is

The Small

Business

Administration

or SBA. The

SBA is a

governmental agency that provides FREE

guidance and advice to businesses and

entrepreneurs.

I would recommend visiting the SBA

website to see their resources and also

reaching out to them to set up an in person

meeting. Most large cities have an SBA

office. If there is not one in your area it

would be well worth your time to make a

trip to meet with them in person. Business

guidance is typically very expensive so

having this free opportunity is well worth

utilizing.

“Business insurance could save you hundreds of

thousands if there was an accident.”

Guide School-Scott Dawson MBA

Page 19

Final Words for Starting

Your Profitable Guide

Service

Congratulations! You have

taken your first step in

starting and growing a

profitable guide service.

Here are a few final thoughts

as we wrap up.

Your Success is in Your Hands If you have made it this far it is clear that

you are passionate about the outdoors and

sharing your passion with others.

Remember that guiding is a business and

being a successful business owner requires

hard work. If you work hard your results

will show and you will succeed.

Just Get Started Sometimes getting started is the hardest

part of starting a business. You may have

been thinking about guiding for some time

so now is the time to get started. What will

you do today to make progress towards

your goal?

Make Progress Every Day At times getting your guide service up and

running can feel like a lot of work. I

encourage you to make some type of

progress towards your dream each day.

Six months from now and you will be

surprised how far you have made it by

spending time on your business each day.

Use Resources for Help I encourage you to use resources to help

you get started such as the Small Business

Administration. There are many people

willing to help you out, including myself.

Let your friends and family know you what

you are doing and that you would

appreciate them sending referrals your

way, you will be surprised about power

word of mouth advertising.

Thank you!

I hope that you found the information

contained in this book useful as you work

towards your guiding goals.

My passion for the outdoors led me to create

this book and it is my hope that more people

get into the guiding industry from this

information.

If you have any questions or comments please

reach out to me at scott@guidehunting.com

and connect with our facebook page , you can

also visit our website at

www.guidehunting.com.

Scott Dawson