Assignment Case

Boston Duck Tours How Perseverance and Creativity led an entrepreneur to

Great Success

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.

After working for seven years in an investment banking firm, Wilson was no longer motivated by
the suit-and-tie atmosphere of corporate America. So he left his job, bought a 90-day Greyhound
Bus pass, and began touring the country. At a stop in Memphis, he was awakened by a Duck
Tour being conducted outside his hotel. Intrigued, he took the tour. He didnt think any more
about it until he got home to his native Boston and saw a stream of trolleys, packed with
sightseers. Instantly, the Duck Tour idea came to mind.

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. He quickly encountered skepticism, and even derision, as he wended his way through
a maze of nearly 100 government agencies. Because the Duck (a World War IIera amphibious
vehicle) is part bus, part truck, and part boat, he had a difficult time explaining his business
concept to government bureaucrats and potential investors. The short and sweet of it is that
everybody thought I was nuts because it was a new idea, said Wilson. One government official
even told him that he would have better luck trying to build a skyscraper in the center of Boston
Public Garden!

About to give up, Wilson decided to check out the competition before he threw in the towel. His
first trolley tour, which he called such a pathetic experience, gave him the determination to
keep pushing forward. He located investors to provide the $1.25 million he required to launch
Boston Duck Tours, and he began the arduous task of securing the 29 permits necessary to
operate his business. He researched other Duck Tour operations that had been successful in the
Midwest and formed an alliance with the operator in Branson, Missouri, to get the Ducks he
needed to start the business in Boston. And he began looking for employees by running
newspaper ads in the Boston Globe for Coast Guard captains.

Duck drivers (called conDUCKtors) need four licenses: a captains license from the U.S. Coast
Guard, a commercial drivers license from the state of Massachusetts, a license from the
Department of Public Safety, and a sightseers 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. Applicants
then selected items from a group of props, created a character, and put together a costume. The
45 Duck captains play characters like Captain Courageous, a World War II radio operator
downed in the South Pacific, and Penny Wise, a Southern Belle who now drives her Duck
around Boston looking for her long-lost love. The cast of conDUCKtors makes Boston Duck
Tours the best show on wheels, Wilson said.

Boston Duck Tours was only open for two months its first season. The next year, it carried
almost 15 times as many passengers as it had the previous year, and tours were selling out every
day. By the third year, the company was a well- established part of the citys tourism industry,
and those adversaries who had made things difficult at the beginning started embracing Boston
Duck Tours.

Wilson used the success of his business to strengthen his presence in the community. He got
involved in local environmental groups and sponsored contests in which local schoolchildren
named new Ducks. He donated one million pennies to his one-millionth passengers charity of
choice, and he gave veterans free tours during the week of Veterans Day in honor of his father, a
World War II veteran who died when Wilson was young. (The company still does that every
year.)

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. And Duck Tours have hatched all over, in places like Austin, Chicago, Dublin,
Liverpool, London, Oahu, Seattle, Singapore, Tampa Bay, and the Wisconsin Dells. In 2000,
Andy Wilson sold his stake in Boston Duck Tours to pursue other projects, but his management
team took over and continues to build on his foundation.

Questions

1. What is Andy Wilsons primary motivation for leading an entrepreneurial life?

2. What kind of entrepreneurial venture is Boston Duck Tours?

3. Describe the competitive advantage of Boston Duck Tours.

4. What characteristics of successful entrepreneurs does Andy Wilson embody?
Answer
Introduction:

Andy Wilson was an ambitious man who felt that he wasnt getting what he deserved after

helping a savings bank, The Boston Company, grow so much. He gained much experience from

working with 65 clients, totaling nearly 6 billion dollars in assets. So with this knowledge he felt

confident that he could achieve much more on his own than with the Boston Company and left to

start his own. But Andy was still missing one key idea, what kind of business would he have?

Andy began his search roaming the highways of America on the back of a Grey Hound

bus, eventually spotting a WWII amphibious vehicle called a DUCK. He quickly ended his

journey to begin another one by transplanting this DUCK business into the east coast,

particularly, Boston.

Problem Analysis:

-Major problems and challenges facing employees and organization:

Andy faces the same problem that most companies do when the season changes.

Business slows down, and in some instances stops completely for a time. Overcoming this

hurdle every year is going to take constant planning. Most employees cant just take a 4-5 month

vacation and come back; which would mean that Andy would have to let most of his employees

go and try to hire them back once spring arrives. With a constant change in employees,

hopefully most would be previous employees, other-wise there would be an increase in

confusion as new people need to be trained every year.

And there is a double edged sword with the seasons because with the summer heat also

comes more congestion on the roads and on the water limiting his business to 65 DUCKS. In
The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber he strongly states that every business hits this point

and has to choose to either grow, remain, or shrink. Every business that chooses not to grow

eventually discovers that they have shot themselves in the foot and fail. A business needs to

grow, even if the pace is at a snails pace it needs to keep moving forward or open the door to

failure.

With the vehicles only good in fresh water this drastically narrows his window of

opportunity for expansion. McDowell was in the process of growing a DUCK fleet to travel in

both fresh and salt water, but to have access to those from him it would be extremely challenging

without a company merger. However, this simplification would come at the cost of Andys

control over his side of the business.

-What do I think the business is doing right and what do I think they need to

change.

I like that Andy went to Bob McDowell, one of the largest duck tour operators in the

nation, and even flew him out to Boston to expound his vision. Receiving information from an

experienced individual over the phone is one thing, but seeing them in person on the site is

completely different. I think it creates an easier environment for Andy to sell his vision and

inspire McDowell to his level. Furthermore, he doesnt just stop at getting advice he eventually

makes a deal to receive the equipment necessary to run the business, very similar to a franchise.

Andy compromises his side by offering a slice of all revenue and to pay off the Ducks in 5 years.

This is a wise move for Andy because both Andy and McDowell have vested interest in this

company. Both want it to succeed which helps fan their fires of entrepreneurship.

There was a silver lining behind the dark clouds of Andys permit crisis. All the fine

details they required allowed Andy to see the direction his business needed to go. It helped him
see what he needed to do to be successful. To overcome obstacles Andy studied other businesses

and how they dealt with the problems he would be facing. Like how to remove polluted soil

from the boat ramp.

Carrie McIndoe, of Strategic Capital Resources, arrived to help Andy raise the money

needed to pick his business of the ground by changing a few things; his sales pitch, not

approaching potential investors the right way, the deal structure was poor, and his memorandum

cover needed revising. Andy should have made the call sooner than later for her help.

Recommendations:

Andy should have looked into what legality issues he would have confronted before

jumping in so soon. In looking towards the future he needs to continue in his entrepreneurs

spirit and spread to other cities. This could be a very effective during winter with all his spare

time while the business is hibernating, to seek out cities with which to expand.

Andy also shouldnt just think about doing the same think in other cities, but adding more

to his business. There are two ways to run a business: own a monopoly where everyone needs to

come to you for a specific product, or own the resources yourself so you dont depend on other

businesses. Andy needs to consider the possibility of either buying ducts from another business

or even venturing to expand his business to make his own DUCKS. Surely his own ducks will

need repairs and if he could do it himself it could be more cost effective. Yes, it would be a big

step in a whole other direction, but it wouldnt be the first time.

Conclusion:

If they are to merge with McDowells company it is probably still going to flourish and

expand to other cities and be a strong business. Andy, however, will have little control over its

future and will be demoted from employer to employee. By attempting to expand on his own, it
will require far more work, yet be far more satisfying. He should start to cut the umbilical cord

to McDowell and be more self-sufficient. Expand his fleet, with salt and fresh water capabilities,

to the coast and then move on to Europe once reaching the point of saturation as Andy called

it.