Jeff Woelker is the founder of the Underground Donut Tour. He started his first donut tour in downtown Chicago four years ago and has recently expanded into NYC, Philadelphia, Portland and Seattle.
On this episode, we talk about why he decided to create donut tours in Chicago, what led to him expanding to other cities and how he built his tour from scratch in a very niche sector.
Shane Whaley, host of the Tourpreneur Podcast pulls back the curtain on the Underground Donut Tour and reveals:
- How Jeff’s friends inspired him to launch a tour all about donuts.
- How he overcame imposter syndrome when starting out
- Which online ticketing platforms he uses for his tour business.
- Why ‘share of stomach‘ is his biggest competitor
- How 1 and 2 star reviews for his Philadelphia tours helped him shape his Chicago business model into one that could work in Philly.
- Without the local donut companies, Jeff did not have a business. How did he convince skeptical donut businesses to work with him?
- Why pricing his tours was and (still is in new markets) a major challenge?
- What OTAs does he work with?
- What was the catalyst behind him opening his donut tour in Philadephia?
- How does he recruit tour guides and why stand up comedians always catch his eye?
- What is the essential component every ticketing platform needs to offer tourpreneurs?
- How he uses his digital marketing experience to promote his donut tours.
- The importance of listening and acting on Tripadvisor reviews and how they helped him adapt to the Philadephia market.
- What still gives him a headache when dealing with OTAs?
- How a Ben and Jerry’s training video shaped Jeff’s whole philosophy on customer service.
- And Much More!
Links and resources mentioned on this episode of the Tourpreneur Podcast.
- Jeff’s Donut Tours:
- Underground Donut Tour
- Original Downtown Chicago Donut Tour
- Donut Tour of Wicker Park, Chicago
- Philadelphia Donut Tour
- NYC Donut Tour
- Portland Donut Tour
- Seattle Donut Tour
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