182: How a Tour Guide Side Hustle Grew Into a $600K Business
Here's how a tour guide side hustle grew into a $600K business in under three years. Paul shares strategies for upselling, partnerships, Google reviews, attracting customers, and scaling from weekends into a high-margin local company.
How do you turn a tour guide side hustle into a $600K local business in under three years?
Paul Whitten shares the real strategies behind growing a simple weekend hustle into a high-margin tour company, by starting with just $3,600 and scaling through smart pricing, partnerships, and consistent customer demand.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- How Paul attracted his first customers with no marketing budget
- Why Google reviews and platforms like TripAdvisor became growth engines
- The upselling approach that increased revenue without sounding salesy
- How private and corporate events boosted profits
- Ways to turn one service into multiple revenue streams
If you’re building a side hustle, or thinking about starting one, this episode shows what’s possible when you dream big, have a vision, and are willing to put in the work.
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Need a little (and sometimes big) push to start and stay focused to grow your side hustle? Dive into my online Masterclass: How To Turn Your Thoughts Into Wanted Things.
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How a Tour Guide Side Hustle Grew Into a $600K Business
A tour guide side hustle can start as a simple weekend project, but in some cases it can scale into a serious local business. In this episode of Side Hustle Hero, Paul Whitten shares how he grew a local tour company from a modest start into a business generating over $600K in under three years.
There are ideas and strategies here that can be applied to virtually any side hustle.
What Is a Tour Guide Side Hustle?
It is a local service business where you earn income by leading guided experiences, such as walking tours, history tours, ghost tours, pub crawls, or private group experiences. Many people begin by running tours on weekends while keeping a full-time job, then grow through reviews, partnerships, repeat customers, and add-on services.
Quick Summary of This Episode
Paul started with a small budget and ran tours while still employed full-time. Early on, he focused on proving demand and building credibility. Over time, he expanded into multiple tour formats, improved his visibility through reviews and platforms like TripAdvisor, and increased revenue through natural add-ons and private events.
Key Lessons From This Tour Guide Side Hustle
- Start with proof of demand: test the experience, refine it, and earn early reviews.
- Let reviews drive bookings: Google reviews and platforms like TripAdvisor create visibility and trust.
- Add aligned services: expand from one tour into multiple experiences customers already want.
- Upsell without pressure: present options as upgrades that enhance the experience.
- Scale with quality control: hire and train guides so the business is not dependent on one person.
How He Got His First Customers Without a Marketing Budget
When you start a tour guide side hustle with limited funds, paid ads are not the only option. Paul leaned on personal networks, local organizations, and direct community involvement to gain initial traction. Early customers provided feedback and reviews, which helped build credibility and increase bookings over time.
Best ways to get first customers for a tour guide side hustle: leverage local networks, partner with community groups, deliver a strong first experience, and ask for reviews immediately.
How Reviews and Booking Platforms Drive Growth
Reviews are a growth engine for a tour guide side hustle because they influence both people and algorithms. Positive reviews can improve local search visibility, increase trust, and raise conversion rates. Paul also discussed how platforms like TripAdvisor can generate demand, even though they take commissions.
Why reviews matter: more high-quality reviews often lead to more visibility, which leads to more bookings, which leads to more reviews.
How a Tour Guide Side Hustle Becomes High Margin
One reason service businesses can scale quickly is that costs do not always increase at the same rate as revenue. In Paul’s case, expanding beyond basic ticketed tours helped increase margin and average booking value. Private tours and corporate events often bring higher revenue per booking and create more opportunities for add-ons.
Upselling Without Sounding Salesy
Many people avoid upselling because they do not want to feel pushy. Paul’s approach was simple: offer choices and let the customer decide. This works well because customers often want convenience, customization, and memorable experiences. When upgrades are clearly valuable, clients often choose them willingly.
Simple upsell formula: offer one or two relevant upgrades, explain the benefits, no pressure.
Scaling Beyond One Person
To grow any tour guide side hustle beyond weekends, you eventually need systems and people. Paul hired and trained guides, giving them core content and standards while allowing personality and expertise to show up in each tour. This makes tours feel authentic while keeping quality consistent.
What to systemize first
- Tour structure and must-cover points
- Customer communication and booking flow
- Quality standards and review requests
- Training process for guides
How to Apply These Ideas to Your Side Hustle
You do not need to be a tour guide to use these strategies. These same growth ideas apply to many service side hustles: improve visibility, build trust, add aligned offers, create partnerships, and increase average customer value (and spend) through upgrades that make sense.
Three questions to apply this episode to your business
- What upgrade, add-on, or premium option could you offer that fits what you already do?
- Which partnerships could expand your customer base in a win-win way?
- How can you stay connected to what you do best, so quality and enthusiasm stay high as you grow?
Listen to the Full Episode
If you are exploring a tour guide side hustle, already running one, or building any service-based side hustle and want realistic growth strategies, this conversation offers practical ideas you can apply immediately.
What's your key takeaway from Paul's story? We'd love to know!
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