BOSTON DUCK TOURS
BOSTON DUCK TOURS
ABM 171

I. Case Facts

It is not uncommon for entrepreneurial ventures to meet with resistance. Even though small businesses account for more new job creation than larger established firms, many people and organizations are often reluctant to embrace entrepreneurial opportunities. Andy Wilson, founder of Boston Duck Tours, experienced this firsthand. But despite the overwhelming obstacles he faced in starting and growing his business, he persisted with a positive attitude and commitment to his idea.
He left his job in an investment banking firm because he is no longer motivated by the same old atmosphere of corporate America. Wilson decided to bring the Duck Tour concept to Boston and create a lively, informative, historical tour to showcase the city from both the land and the river. He invested $30,000 of his own money and then began making the rounds, seeking government permits and additional investors.
Duck drivers (called conDUCKtors) need four licenses: a captain’s license from the U.S. Coast Guard, a commercial driver's license from the state of Massachusetts, a license from the Department of Public Safety, and a sightseer's license from the city of Boston. Despite these requirements, applicants responded in droves. Determined to create a different kind of tourist attraction, Wilson decided to abandon traditional interviewing techniques. Instead, he had applicants meet with a theatrical coach who put them through theatrical skill sets,
What began as a four-Duck, 15-employee business in October of 1994 has grown to a 23 -Duck, 100-employee tourism powerhouse in the Boston market. Today, over 2,700 passengers a day quack at passersby from the deck of a colorfully painted Duck, captained by an equally colorful character.

II. Primary Motivation

Andy Wilson, an employee turned entrepreneur has his own story towards achieving great success. Human nature, individual tend to look for rooms of growth and improvement and never stagnate themselves. As what Mr. Wilson had shown, from being an employee to becoming an entrepreneur out of his creativity and perseverance, he was able to make a name for himself as well as another hit for the Boston community in terms of travel and tour aspects.

* Mr. Andy Wilson seemed to seek freedom from his previous employment and an entrepreneurial independence. The dislike of an inflexible setting in a workplace led him to exploit new ideas and opportunities that are highly suggestive of such motivation. * Another motivator perhaps would be profit motivations. Though it was not directly stated but investing $30,000 from own funds would mean a lot of expectations. Also, it entails risk especially to invest on a business that is very much new. * Personal satisfaction, passion and enjoyment drawn Andy Wilson to pursue the business. He seemed to have passion for theater and entertainment and it is evident in his employees with all those colorful costumes and characters allowing his customers to give “the best show on wheels”.

III. Entrepreneurial Venture

Boston Duck Tours is a form of a start-up business with unique features out of unique ideas. The business has shown significant growth but apparently not that rapid towards maturity hence it cannot be identified as a high-potential venture. The said business can be classified as a Micro-Small-Medium Enterprise (MSME).
It is a firm led by aggressive management because there is a notable record of marketing, innovation and financing.

IV. Competitive Advantage

Boston Duck Tours has differentiated itself from its competitors through these ways: * Creating a new statement in the travel and tour area. With Boston Duck Tours, they innovated the typical travel experience through combining water and land vehicle so they can transport to whichever destination they want to go flawlessly. * Andy Wilson’s focus on people. It has been the most important reason to Boston Duck Tour’s success – its people his employees, tourists, city leaders and its community. Andy Wilson can be considered as a human capitalist because he affirmed that “if the people are enthusiastic, then the business works”.

Andy Wilson’s focus on people has been critical to Boston Duck Tours’ success (Business Week Enterprise, 1998). WHO | WHAT HE GIVES THEM | THE PAYOFF | Employees | Good wages and year-round benefits in a seasonal business | Happy guides mean happy tourists; less turnover | Tourists | A lighthearted historical tour for less than he could charge | Customer word-of-mouth is his chief form of marketing | City Leaders | Support for education, river cleanup, and charities | Creates goodwill with officials who control permits and routes | Community | Free tickets to kids and veterans; sponsorship of local events | It generates press coverage and more word-of-mouth |

V. Entrepreneur’s Characteristics

Andy Wilson has these characteristics that exemplify himself as a true entrepreneur: * Commitment and passion for business. He encountered refusal and criticisms from various people before venturing into the duck tours business but he is still determined to continue the establishment of duck tours. * Risk taking. He invested a huge sum of money, time and effort into a business that is very much new to him and has an unknown outcome. * Creativity and an innovative spirit. He showed such craft in this aspect through the type of tour business he developed. * Self-confidence and internal locus of control. Being an entrepreneur, one must have strong self-confidence in order to pursue the business he wanted, just like Mr. Wilson. Also, he managed to create demand for the duck tours through his unique ideas and own efforts. * Opportunity-seeking. He grabbed a market opportunity that others did not see. * People focus. Mr. Wilson as a human capitalist prioritizes his stakeholders because he believes that the manpower really makes the business well.

VI. Kutotina Tours: Your one-stop LICEsure (LEISURE)

Kutotina Tours or KuTours, a local version of the duck tour business concept, is from the idea of the parasitic lice or “kuto”. Why? The people behind this idea get their inspiration from these small creatures because they believe that huge success begins with littlest things and to shift the people’s perspective from the undervalued things to high-valued ones. The idea is to travel by land and air. These lightweight but sturdy cars can be attached to a cable therefore could travel across the mountains of Makiling so the tourists can have a great access in viewing the sceneries from above and as well as the wonders of UPLB campus.
Of all the species, why “kuto”? The symbolism we have used is that the cable represents the hair strand and the car represents the “kuto”. These tiny little creatures that will pass across the cable signifies the great exploration of the little dreamers.

(a) Proposed Kutotina cable cars (b) Connected Kutotina cars

The Kutotina cars are connected together if it is travelling by land and detached from each other if it is traveling across the cables. Therefore, weight issues are resolved and the tension of the cables for these cars is also addressed. It is a good business venture, aside from the innovation aspects; it would help improve the tourism of Los Banos, Laguna.
The venture is targeting foreign and local tourists within the spectrum of medium to high level of economic status. The areas to be covered by the whole travel experience by land are the UPLB upper and lower campuses as well as the famous landmarks within the proximity (i.e IRRI, UPLB DTRI cows, etc). Whereas, through cable cars it would pass through the mountainous area of Makiling and the deep Makiling Forest Reserve.

Table 1. KuTours travel pricing scheme. | Package A | Package B | Package C | Package D | Adult | P 1500 | P 2000 | P 2500 | P 3000 | StudentSenior (60+)UPLB EmployeesGovernment Employees | P 1200 | P 1700 | P 2200 | P 2700 | Children (3 to 11) | P 750 | P 950 | P 1150 | P 1350 | Children under 3(including infants) | P 500 | P 700 | P 900 | P 1100 | *Additional prices upon sunrise and sunset setting request *Prices may change without prior notice

Table 2. KuTours package description. Package | Description | A | Land Stations = 5Cable Stations = 3 | B | Land Stations = 5 + 1Cable Stations =3 + 1Additional souvenir photo per station | C | Land Stations = 10Cable Stations =6Additional souvenir photo per station, two free snacks | D | Land Stations = 10Cable Stations = 6Additional souvenir photo, food (3 meals and 2 snacks), KuTour cap, umbrella and other exciting surprises |

Operating hours: 7:00 am to 7:00 pm Daily
Total Land Stations: 10
Total Cable Stations: 6