School Tours - Decision Making Tool

The "Projected Income" and "Projected Expenses" you will come up with when filling out this "Decision Making Tool" are not a guarantee of what your income and expenses will be, but rather projections based on experiences supplied by four farms that operate School Tours.

Projected Income

Potential Tour Groups in Your Area:
(A) Please indicate the number of Elementary/Junior High Schools in your target market area   (number) 
(B) Age groups you plan to target: (check the box for each age group you plan to attract)
K. - Grade 3: in Elementary school = 4 grades. 1 class per grade (most popular target market)
Grades 4 - 6: in Elementary school = 3 grades. 1 class per grade (some farms cater to this age group)
Grades 7 - 9 in Junior High School = 3 grades. 1 class per grade (few farms cater to this age group)
(C) Class Size:
These are typical Alberta class sizes. Assuming you will get about 85% of the students in the class coming to your farm, so for calculating your projected income we will use the "Number Likely to Take a Tour":
Grade Size 85%
K - 32017
4 - 62320
7 - 92522
Because class sizes are small, encourage teachers to combine their school tour with a similar grade in their school. Or you could combine tours at your farm. But it is better if the teachers do the combining rather than you.
(D) Types of Tours & Prices:
Type of Tour Price / Student % of Classes Likely to Take Each Type of Tour
1 - Basic ½ day tour (1.5 hrs.) $  x 85 % (of total tours booked)
2 - Full day tours (4-5 hrs) $  x 15 % (of total tours booked)
(E) Please indicate your minimum group price for a tour $ 
Click Here for additional Info  
Other Income: Consider marketing to the groups listed below, we will project that you could attract 10% of any of these groups the 1st year. Some of these groups operate in the summer months, which could increase and spread out your tour business.
We will assume that you will get smaller sized groups, so be sure to let them know that you have a minimum charge and we will budget assuming that you will charge them your minimum tour fee that you listed in part (D). Naturally, if you have connections with leaders of any of these groups, you could do better than a 10% success rate. If you feel you can do better than 10%, you can change that in the "Summary Page".
Special Group No. of Groups Success Rate Your Minimum Group Price
No. of daycare facilities in your market area X 10% X minimum group price from (D)
No. of summer camps in your area X 10% X minimum group price from (D)
No. of cub & brownie etc. troupes in the area X 10% X minimum group price from (D)
No. of home schooled children groups in your area X 10% X minimum group price from (D)
No. of private schools in your area X 10% X minimum group price from (D)
No. of seniors tour buses coming to the area X 10% X minimum group price from (D)
No. of tourist buses coming to your area X 10% X minimum group price from (D)

The "Summary" page will total all school & special group tours to give you your Total Projected Income from Tours

Projected Expenses

Note: All capital Expenses will be amortized over 5 years at 6% interest rate.
Wagon Rides: Wagon rides are optional. But they are very common with farms that have other uses for a wagon ride, such as on-farm entertainment, Pick-Your-Own etc.
Pick one of the 4 options below:
I will build the wagon for $ 3000.00 (chassis = $1000, lumber = $2000)
I will buy a wagon already built (the budget will include $5000.00 for the wagon)
I already have a wagon for wagon rides.
I am not interested in offering rides.
Facility Equipment:
No. of Canopies:
No. of Portable Hand Wash Stations:
No. of Portable Toilets (Rental):
Construct Additional Seating:
Young Animals / Petting Zoo:
Animal Education Area:
Feed and Bedding for the Animals:
No. of Corrals:
Promotional Material:
Have Website Built:
Full Color Brochure Printed:
300 X 1 Page Fliers
Mailing to Teachers and Special Groups
Wash Hand Signs
Please select from the following 'Take-Away' Items
Coloring Sheet
Planting Demonstration
Small Pumpkin Pie
Small Cup of Strawberry Juice
Postcard
Labour: If you are trying to calculate your out-of-pocket expenses, you only need to fill in the activities where you are going to hire people to do the job. If it is to be done by unpaid family members, you don't need to budget for those jobs.
Typical Hourly Wage in my Area
Cleaning (in hours)
Taking Tour Reservations
Developing Class Programs
Mail out to Schools
Assemble Take Home Packages
Caring for the farm animals on exhibit
Staff giving Tours
Tractor Driver
Liability Insurance