How I Bootstrapped My Cultural Tour And Travels Business To $54K/Month
Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?
Hi! My name is Augustin Ndikuriyo and I’m the founder of Augustine Tours, a travel company that offers wildlife safari and cultural tour experiences around East Africa.
My company specializes in designing tailor-made and bespoke safari packages that benefit visitors and the local communities.
Augustine Tours services converge into an edifying and educational experience for travelers, which goes beyond the traditional safaris and seeks deeper connections with the people around the tourist destinations.
I make a monthly average of €50K/Month, thanks to our customers who believe in experiential and transformative tourism which contributes to a self-sustaining and mutually beneficial cycle that pioneers a new approach for international tourism in the modern area.
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
Before founding Augustine Tours, I was working as a hotel front office manager in Bujumbura, Burundi. One day in 2009, a client staying at our hotel asked my general manager what things he could do and see during his 7-day stay in Burundi.
The general manager turned to me and asked me if I had any idea or knew any travel company that could take our client around.
We found none. And you know when you are a front office manager, clients believe you have answers to every question they ask about the city or the country. I was a bit angered and ashamed by the fact that my fellow Burundians didn't know or want to invest in any projects other than hotels. "Tour operator" was simply a foreign word in the travel and hospitality sector. The client ended up requesting a car hire.
Funny enough, most of the tourists visiting Burundi were driven by tour operators from Uganda, who knew little about the country, but a least could help the tourists.
From my “anger” was born an idea of building a tour business named Augustine Tours in March 2010. The name was inspired by a quote from Saint Augustine” The world is a book and those who don't travel only read one page”. The business name perfectly matches my first name Augustin which is the French version of Augustine.
I wanted to give Burundi a page in the travel book.
The journey wasn’t easy as I was starting a business in a completely new sector and I had no digital marketing skills or enough capital to pay an expert. My main asset was the customer service skills acquired from 4 years working in the hotel.
With my $1500 savings, an old DELL Laptop bought from a US Marine member who stayed at our hotel, I decided to embark on a new challenging journey with the hope of achieving something great for me and Burundi.
Through determination, I did extensive training in online marketing, web development, and tour planning. I didn’t have a private internet connection or office. I was mainly working from different coffee shops and hotel lobbies which also helped me build business connections.
Take us through the process of building the first version of your product.
My first tour offers were pretty simple and general. It’s about designing an itinerary that included transportation, hotels, and entrance fees with a timid margin. I had no experience in designing itineraries that were taking into account any traveler's special needs. It is mainly sightseeing tours.
I had to negotiate with hotels to get good deals(discounts), car rental companies, and learn about different sites. That’s how I started as I didn't own the vehicles.
Describe the process of launching the business.
It took me three months to sell the first tour package. I got a deal of 18 seniors from the USA who were looking to see Burundi in 3 days.
Although my website wasn't at its best look, one of the clients emailed me inquiring about a quote inclusive of accommodations, transportation, and guiding services. Fast forward, I sent them a quote which was a few days later approved. So, my first selling channel was and has always been the website.
In all you do, prioritize your tasks. You can’t do it all by yourself. Do, Delegate, Delay, Delete.
After expenses, I remained with $3000. What a start! That was a promising boost. How did I get the deal? Although my website wasn't at its best look, one of the clients emailed me inquiring about a quote inclusive of accommodations, transportation, and guiding services. Fast forward, I sent them a quote which was a few days later approved. So, my first selling channel was and has always been the website.
I don’t have a screenshot of my first website which was made using Joomla. All I remember is that it wasn't the website I would have today. That was my humble beginning. I didn't have any bank or other people who could finance my business, so I had to adopt a strong discipline regarding the little finances I possessed.
The business went on with other good deals from other well-established regional and international tour operators and travel agencies that needed a local handler.
When I founded Augustine Tours, my original idea was to build a travel company that could assist people looking to travel to Burundi. Funny enough I had named it “Burundi Access” which meant that Burundi was going to access the tourism industry.
Later on, I saw a demand for services in other countries like Rwanda and Uganda. In my opinion, having my company name “Burundi Access” was a bad idea, marketing-wise.
So, it decided to rebrand the company in 2012 naming it” Augustine Tours”. The reason behind the rebranding was to compete with other regional tour operators by positioning ourselves as a strong player in the regional tourism industry.
Logo: The Big A in the logo means: Augustine, Adventure, Africa
Colors: Orange( Cheerful &Confidence), Green: Growth( Africa: Green continent)
There is one thing I learned. As an entrepreneur, having a business idea is a good thing, but setting yourself a strategic plan and discipline that will lead you to success is even greater.
“The best entrepreneur always tries to find the right networks. The time and money I spent networking were never wasted”.
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?
My tip for aspiring founders is to invest in personal development and grow a network. Entrepreneurship is a lonely journey, you will have to network with peer founders, possibly people working in the same industry.
You know we sell and buy from people. It’s easy to do business with a company when you know the people behind it. I attended a good number of networking meetups and trade fairs and it always gave me a chance to speak about myself and what I do. That’s how I grew my network.
Straight forward in 2013, I signed three good contracts with the US Marine Corps for Europe/Africa, US Embassy in Bujumbura, and Nokia Network Systems. The contract consisted of assisting their personnel in ground transportation and translation services. It was a two-year deal and it drastically boosted my company turnover and brand image.
Tourism is one of the business sectors that rely on digital marketing. My target audience was residing abroad, and this meant for me that I had to leverage the power of the internet. I was constantly learning new techniques how to reach the audience. It consisted of writing blog articles and creating backlinks for my website.
In the early start of my business, I was the one-man show meaning that I was taking my clients around, working as a tour guide, and at the same time handling marketing aspects of the business. There was always a gap between bookings. It’s that gap time that helped me to work on the back-office side of the business.
As the business grew, with an increasing number of bookings in mid-2012, I hired one person in the office and built a team of 5 freelancer tour guides. This was the time I had more freedom on working on my personal development which involves networking, and learning new skills( business development, PR, SEO, Social media,..)
Speaking of marketing, as the business saw some growth, I moved to other steps of using Organic Social Media( Instagram and Facebook, Twitter)Google Ads, PR, and investing in SEO.
My company mainly uses organic social media for social proof. We produce educational content.
I once tried Social media Ads( Instagram and Facebook) but they didn't bring desired results.
The reason is that our target audience doesn’t spend much time on social media. Affluent travelers(50+) usually rely on travel magazines, travel reviews, and recommendations.
For the tie being, we have resolved to use organic social media. If consumer behavior changes, of course, we will adjust our marketing strategy accordingly.
Below are some screenshots of our organic social media content.
These are our current advertising channels: Google Ads are used to target my ideal customer with the goal of increasing sales, while PR and Display Ads are used to grow brand awareness.
I also seek guest posts on websites that have an audience matching my ideal customer. Some are sponsored posts and others are a result of collaboration in writing educational content for the website audience.
Here are a few examples of sponsored/guest posts/ Google Ads/ Display Ads:
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
Thankfully Augustine Tours has remained profitable after a turbulent period. Yes, it has survived the Covid-19 pandemic.
Now that tourism is back, with more people traveling as before the pandemic, the return of Ad spend is satisfactory. We have to acknowledge that inflation has affected the way our clients spend.
In 2022, our paid campaigns saw tremendous successful results marked by a 4,13% CTR for Google Search Ads and 2,81% for Facebook, which led to a 45% increase in sales.
At the beginning of this year, I worked on the rebranding of my company together with my peer digital marketers, a team of 4 graduates of Digital Career Institute Berlin.
“To have a mentor or business coach is a good thing, but always remember you are the founder, the vision bearer.”
Learn from everyone but don’t make anybody an absolute learning material. Your business goals may differ from theirs.
The goal was to redefine the purpose of 12 years in business to stay ahead of the competition.
Below are a few pages of the marketing strategy.
In 2024, I planned to start a digital marketing consultancy firm to help personal, small, or big brands unlock the potential of digital transformation.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
Starting a business was a through thing for me. I didn't even tell my family I quit the job to start a business because they would have challenged me to stop it. What was hard was even on my level, I didn't know how to run a business. I just had an idea but I don’t have a strategic plan. I learned on the go, and from my mistakes.
My tip to aspiring founders: If you have an idea, work out a clear strategic plan. If you want to run a campaign make sure it is SMART aka ( Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound). This will allow us to prevent unnecessary spending.
I will repeat it, the best entrepreneur always tries to find the right networks. The time and money I spent networking was never wasted. I remember a day I went to a meetup, and I only needed to pay €20 for an entrance fee.
Guess what, I met a couple that wanted to travel to Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. We exchanged contacts and in the following two weeks, they booked an €8000 package. Networking has worked out well for me. I have managed to get deals from companies that I met during business meetings or via recommendations from past clients.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
Canva is my favorite tool for designing my social media posts as it gives much flexibility regarding templates. It has a free or pro version depending on the level of work you do. I also Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager to measure the traffic of the websites.
On the SEO side, SEO SpyGlass, Rankmath, Ahrefs, Semrush are both doing a good job regarding performance assessment.
Hotjar is used for digital experience insights and behavior analytics which allow me my website users' pain points, and where they get stuck. It gives me a clear picture of the user experience.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
I like a quote from Peter Drucker” What’s measured improves” and his book “Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Practice and Principles”- by Peter Drucker. This book has shaped my way of thinking regarding growth and continued improvement.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
Learn from everyone but don’t make anybody an absolute learning material. Your business goals may differ from theirs. I had wasted a few chances relying on just one person who seemed to have good insights to share about my business. To have a mentor or business coach is a good thing, but always remember you are the founder, the vision bearer.
This is where investing in your personal development to keep up with the industry changes and development is crucial.
Finally, in all you do, prioritize your tasks. You can’t do it all by yourself. Do, Delegate, Delay, Delete.
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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