Sounding Off: Startups should think big but think realistically

Each Friday, PhocusWire dissects and debates an industry trend or new development covered on our site that week.

Too many startups with too many failures. It's a sad summary of the climate around many new businesses attempting to enter the travel industry. 

The reasons for the demise of hundreds of travel startups over the years are numerous.

They range from the "a brilliant solution in desperate need of a real problem to solve" to funding and financial issues that have an impact after a few years.

The legacy of so many failures is that the new travel companies embarking on their exciting journey are now armed with knowing that it went wrong for lots of others.

And, in turn, they should be wise - or wiser - to the problems that others faced.

This is not to say that SlingShot was operating in a vacuum and ignoring the experiences of fellow newbies (loyalty startups are few and far between in travel - so in its case there was little history to learn from), but its founder's remarks about the reality of funnels and SEO are commonplace in issues affecting startups. 

Consumer-facing startups face an uphill battle if they are to capture the attention of travelers that might be interested in their services.

The emphasis here is certainly on the word "might" - curiosity about a product still remains a long way from actually purchasing something, especially for considered buys at infrequent times like travel.

Spending money on digital marketing (sorry, "PR and social media" as a marketing tactic rarely works) must be figured out in a way that doesn't put a brand up against those with infinitely bigger budgets. It's a fool's errand.

But, crucially, every startup should be considering the wider market and how it is likely to develop over time. 

The industry is on the verge of some significant changes in the coming years - many of which have the potential to roughly sweep aside some of the startups that have not thought about the bigger picture.

Google's ambitions in travel, Amazon (maybe), other outside forces, super apps, next-generation consumer behavior and advanced technology will - or will have the potential to - overhaul how the industry currently operates.

And, sadly, no one cares who and what gets left behind.

So a note of caution: Before heading down the startup path with aspirations of disruption, hold onto the vision, but open your eyes to the reality of what's going on. Before it's too late.