26 Pros & Cons Of Starting A Travel Products Business (2024)

Flexibility

You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own.

Ability to start your business from home

It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning!

Rewarding work

Starting a travel products business can be really rewarding work. After all, you are solving an immediate issue for your customer and you're working on something you truly care about.

Scalable

With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers.

Quick build time

The average time it takes to build your product is quick - typically around 9 months. This will allow you to bring your product to market faster.

Easy to encourage "impulse buy"

In the travel products business, you have a much higher chance of encouraging your customers to buy on impulse - you can easily alter the price, placement, packaging, and promotional value to influence the decision of your buyer.

You are your own boss!

With starting a travel products business, you are the one to make decisions for almost all of the operations. Calling the shots can be empowering and liberating!

Simple business model

A travel products business has the advantage of a simple business model, which makes launching and building the business more seamless.

Minimal experience required

Starting A Travel Products Business requires little experience and no specific certifications or qualifications. To be successful, you need hard work, determination and the desire to achieve greatness!

Control your own destiny

Starting A Travel Products Business allows you to control every aspect of your life and make your own dreams come true every day.

You get to do something you truly love

With starting a travel products business, you get to put your energy into something you are truly passionate about! You'll find yourself devoting as much time and energy as possible into the business to make it successful.

You can work from anywhere!

Not only can you start your travel products business from home, you can also run your business from anywhere in the world. This is the entrepreneur dream.

Easy to Learn The Business

When starting your travel products business, there is a ton of information readily available to you online (Facebook groups, Youtube videos, Starter Story etc). This will help you get the business started and answer any questions, doubts or concerns you may have.

Ecommerce retail is growing fast

Ecommerce has been grown rapidly over the years and is expected to hit a total of 4.9 trillion dollars by 2021.

With running an ecommerce business, you provide your customers with alternative and more convenient shopping experience, which will ultimately drive sales.

You can promote and sell your product on Amazon

Although there are some disadvantages to consider when selling your product on Amazon, there are also a host of benefits. Mainly, Amazon is the world's largest online retailer, so you're bound to tap into new business and reach an entirely new audience.

Various different ways to make money

With starting a travel products business, there is not just one business model to choose from. This field is amazing in that there are various different ways to make money. Although this may complicate things, it's great to have different options and sources of revenue.

Make money while you sleep

The advantage of starting a travel products business is that you have the ability to have passive income and make money while you sleep. This is the dream for many entrepreneurs.

Crowded Space

Competition is high when it comes to your travel products business, so it's important that you spend a good amount of time analyzing the market and understanding where the demand lies.

Finding The Right Supplier

Most businesses in this space go the supplier/manufacturer route, which isn't a bad thing! However, finding the right supplier can take a lot of time, energy and trial/error. If done properly, this process can save you months (if not years) of time and energy. More on this below in the "finding a supplier" section.

Niche Market

A niche business is not necessarily a bad thing, in fact, it can be the key to your success. However, it can be more challenging and time consuming to find the perfect niche market and target audience.

High overhead expenses

With starting a travel products business, there are overhead expenses that come with selling a physical product. You will want to make sure you strategically budget for these overhead costs. We discuss this more in the startup costs section below.

Time commitment

With starting a travel products business, all responsibilities and decisions are in your hands. Although this is not necessarily a negative thing, work life can take over at times. This can place a strain on friends and family and add to the pressure of launching a new business.

Be prepared to get out of your comfort zone!

Although this is exciting for some entrepreneurs, it can be a big challenge for others! You may find yourself in uncomfortable social and business situations, jumping into tasks and responsibilities you aren't familiar with, and pushing yourself as far as you can go!

You might struggle financially (at first)!

If you bootstrap your business or choose not to pay yourself (or pay yourself less than you were making at your corporate job), this can be financially taxing. It's important to adjust your lifestyle and set a plan for yourself so you don't find yourself in a stressful situation.

Minimal physical activity

A big part of starting a travel products business is sitting at a desk for the majority of the day starting at your computer. Some may enjoy this, but others may struggle with sitting for the majority of your day without much physical activity.

Recession-Impacted Industry

When the economy is down, travel products business's are one of the first things to be cut.