In September 2024, I received funding for a program for Young Entrepreneurs from a European grant. Celebrate!

To apply, I wrote a business plan for the Lumi Surf, a tour operator that I would like to launch in the short-medium term. Below is the complete index and the first chapters. I can share the full version upon request.

THE MISSION AND THE ENTREPRENEURIAL IDEA

1.1 THE MISSION

1.2 THE ENTREPRENEURIAL IDEA

Description of the idea

Birth of the entrepreneurial idea

Project progress status

Motivations for entrepreneurship

Distinctive features and possible elements of innovation

1.3 THE PROMOTERS

Professional characteristics

Previous personal and family entrepreneurial experiences

THE BUSINESS AREAS OF THE COMPANY

2.1 THE PRODUCT/SERVICE

Technical description of the product/service

Description of the sector and innovative elements of the product/service compared to the current market.

Critical factors

2.2 CUSTOMERS AND MARKET

Identification of the main customer types: buyers (final and intermediate) and users

Description of their characteristics: functions/purposes, needs and advantages sought with respect to the type of company offer, geographical location, spending capacity or income, socioeconomic variables, motivations and factors influencing the purchase

Quantitative estimate of the market value

Geographical extension of the market to be served

Medium to long term prospects based on collected data

2.3 THE COMPETITION

Analysis of operating competition and potential competition: types of main competitors and related offers of competitive products/services compared to the company's offer

Strengths and weaknesses of the competition

Obstacles and constraints arising from competition

LOCATION OF THE ACTIVITY

3.1 LOCATION

Location of the company and reason for the choice

MARKET STRATEGIES: PROMOTION POLICIES

4.1 PROMOTION POLICIES

Planned promotional policies

Pricing policy for each homogeneous category of product/service

Planned distribution or delivery policies

Advertising and communication

OPERATIONAL PLAN AND ORGANIZATION OF THE ACTIVITY

5.1 HUMAN RESOURCES

Internal resources

External collaborators

5.2 INTANGIBLE "TECHNICAL" RESOURCES

Technological skills, know-how, patents, licenses and professional requirements

5.3 ORGANIZATION OF VARIOUS AREAS AND RELATED CRITICALITIES

Production and/or service delivery

Purchases

Commercial

Administration, accounting, tax aspects, economic-management control

Research and development

Entrepreneurial coordination

5.4 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Description of structured relationships between those working in the company

LEGAL STRUCTURE

6.1 LEGAL FORM

Chosen legal form

Necessary steps for constitution

Bureaucratic and administrative procedures

Additional considerations

INVESTMENTS

7.1 INVESTMENT PLAN

Description of investments (made and planned) and related amortizations

Production capacity and comparative evaluation compared to competition

FORECAST BALANCE SHEET

8.1 ECONOMIC-FINANCIAL PLAN

Investment plan

Sales budget

Cost budget by product/service

Calculation of the unit variable cost and average cost

Break-even point calculation

Contribution margin calculation

Forecast Income Statement

Financial plan: forecast of income and expenses

From atop the surfboard, you can see turquoise waves breaking in the song of foam, lush forests, fine sand, and breathtaking views. Outside the ocean, local culture, yoga, dance classes, cooking classes, and a group of people to share this gratitude with.

My entrepreneurial project aims to create Lumi Surf, a tour operator focused on all-inclusive group surf experiences in luxury locations.

It was the year 2022 when life led me to set my feet - or almost, given the first clumsy attempts - on a surfboard. From that moment, despite the numerous waves in the face, this magnificent sport has been the turning point of my travels and my aspirations. For these reasons, I am strongly determined to bring this project to life, treasuring what I have learned in these years of travel and surf camps.

Nowadays, the surf industry is rapidly growing and renewing itself. Surfing is no longer a sport for a lucky few, but is easily accessible to everyone thanks to the emergence of facilities that offer complete packages with accommodation and lessons, even at affordable prices. There is also an increase in real brands, both owners of facilities in various locations (Dreamsea Surf Camp, Rapture Surfcamps), and those operating entirely online, relying on partner facilities on site (Surf Spirit, Surf Week, Snowave).

By now, the combination of surf & yoga is solidified, appreciated, and highly attractive, so much so that one might think that the two disciplines are necessarily and indissolubly linked. Surfing, moreover, has rarely been brought to a more chic level, but has mostly established itself as a trend for people with medium-low income.

For these reasons, with Lumi Surf, which at the moment is just an idea, but which I hope can come to life, I propose to overturn what seem to be crystallized rules, trying to create a tour operator specialized in surf trips:

For people with medium-high income;

In destinations considered by public opinion as "luxury" (Maldives, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Hawaii, etc.);

That relies on high-quality and comfort structures, such as villas, bungalows, lodges, resorts, yachts, and private islands;

That as collateral activities does not propose only and exclusively yoga, but above all initiatives and courses that can also benefit the local culture, for example cooking classes, dance classes, naturalistic excursions in the area, local spa treatments, craft workshops, etc.;

That operates with local professionals to create a fruitful collaboration with the local culture, enhancing it and honoring it, thus avoiding unaware tourism and the commodification of the place.

To design and implement this business plan, I will mainly rely on myself and the consultation of the host entrepreneur. My abilities and rapid learning go hand in hand with my initiative: always aware of not being suited to a static career, I have changed course several times during and after my studies. In fact, after five academic years and an internship in the film industry, I decided to take the path of copywriting and marketing, as it better matches my aspirations.

Having proposed myself on the job market as a freelance copywriter gave me a first taste of what it means to be an entrepreneur: I had to forge contacts, position myself online in the right way, know how to promote my professional role in the appropriate channels, sell my services, and learn strategies to compete with people who have more experience than me. It wasn't easy, but it certainly taught me a lot.

The business areas of the company

The client's first approach to the service is through the website. From the homepage, pages with various destinations branch out. On each destination page, the client can find different packages with modifiable options, such as those created by Snowave in the image below. The modifiable options could concern meals and collateral activities. Flights to get on-site are excluded, but options for possible cancellation will be included.

Behind the scenes of the product presented to the client, there is a productive and legislative process that allows Lumi Surf to operate without owning structures, but relying on partners on site.

Lumi Surf:

pays rent for a predetermined period to the partner on site to have free access to their property;

collaborates with a local surf school or freelance instructors;

collaborates with local professionals for extra activities: yoga, cooking, dance instructors, tour guides, etc.;

collaborates with a chef for meals included in the package;

Collaborates with a photographer-videographer to document the surf camp, gathering material to promote the activity on social media;

Collaborates with a transport manager for airport transfers;

Ensures on-site assistance thanks to the presence of a trip leader;

The property owner:

takes care of presenting the structure at its best;

maintains the structure during the guests' stay with their own staff.

Lumi Surf, with the profit generated from package purchases, then takes care of paying the property owner (but not their staff), surf instructors, professionals, chef, photographer-videographer, driver, trip leader, and various licenses to operate on site. The remaining earnings go to Lumi Surf for management expenses and to reinvest in new markets.

The advantage that the client derives from purchasing a package is having an all-inclusive vacation, without the stress of having to think about accommodation, transfers, meals, excursions, and daily activities. Moreover, they won't have to worry about being alone and the impossibility of making friends, since the trip is in a group and the relatively small number of people, between 10 and 15, easily allows for forming bonds.

According to the source www.statista.com, "The worldwide surfing tourism market was estimated to be worth 9.5 billion U.S dollars in 2022. This has been predicted to rise to 17.1 billion U.S. dollars by 2032, representing a compound annual growth rate of 6%. This is consistent with the surfing industry itself, which has also been predicted to grow".

Despite the massification of this sport, which unfortunately has both positive and strongly negative aspects, the global surf market is constantly growing. For this reason, it's possible to already predict the weak points of this rapid ascent, both by introducing innovations and by entering market niches that are still little explored. With Lumi Surf, which at the moment is just an idea, but which I hope can come to life, I therefore propose to:

bring this type of surf experience to a different target compared to the most common one at the moment (20-30 years old, medium-low income).

We therefore aim at already established workers or people with medium-high income;

Use more "luxurious" structures instead of hostels, surf houses, and glamping. We prefer villas, bungalows, lodges, resorts, yachts, and private islands instead.

avoid the classic surf & yoga combination as the only option, but introduce other varied activities that can serve as a liaison with the local culture.

Nowadays there's a great ferment in the surf camp and surf school environment: new ones seem to be born every day and often come from immigrants, that is, from people who, from their country of origin, establish their business in another state with more favorable conditions. Just think of the Canary Islands, where about 50,000 Italians are present, many of whom have also founded a business there (source: www.canarias7.es).

One of the criticalities is therefore on one hand coming to terms with the fierce competition in the most sought-after destinations, on the other hand not risking to denature those natural places that are still magnificent and unspoiled by exalting mass tourism and the commodification of the place. It is from here, therefore, that my firm will to collaborate as much as possible with local structures and people starts.

As for the actual start of the business, certainly a difficulty could be constituted by the initial investment for renting the structure. But it's a problem that can be tried to be contained with an intelligent launch strategy, for example, as I will explain later, through collaboration with travel influencers.

Moreover, always regarding the launch, it's difficult to promote the business on social media with the lack of original photographic and video materials. For this reason, at this stage I think it's appropriate to collaborate only with structures and surf schools that already have a decent amount of quality archival material. With good editing of the material, in fact, you can obtain personalized and original photos and videos that can be published on social media pages.