Sourced Adventures was founded by Kyle Davidson and a group of fellow travel industry experts in New York City. Kyle had a background in packaged adventures from other industries, and wanted to make it easier for people in the city — who often don’t have access to cars or the gear they’d need — to get active and out of the city. The greater New York area has a lot to offer: from beaches, to skiing, to hikes and rafting. Kyle’s idea was simple: he’d package adventure day trips with other small businesses (like paintball courses, yoga retreats, or bicycle companies) and give people the easy means to get there: buses that leave right from Penn Station and return there at the end of the day.

Their first season of tours was a hit, but Kyle soon realized that he needed help to grow his businesses. He was leading trips during the day, and working on his next trips, plus some basic marketing, social media, and finances at night. He found he was only thinking from adventure to adventure, and not about making his business sustainable. While Kyle and his initial crew knew their way around an adventure, they needed an assist with the structural aspects of building a business: staffing, payroll, and cash flow. He also realized that starting a new business around an adventure model posed challenges that most other small businesses never face: substantial barriers to liability and insurance.

This past year, Kyle joined BusinessAdvising.org, where we helped to identify those structural needs, and paired him with volunteer advisors who could work with him to expand on his businesses’ core strengths, while helping Kyle improve his own role in the business. We matched him with two advisors: George De Bruin (who worked with Kyle on operations, financials, and business planning); and Brett Wein at Facebook (who’s assisting Kyle with marketing tactics and digital ad strategies.)

Since he started his first season adventures, Kyle’s success has spoken for itself.  His adventures cater to 5,000 people every season! He’s also started handing out Flip cams and Go Pros so his clients can take pics and video of themselves and post to their networks right as they’re having the adventures. In that way, his adventurers become his evangelists in real time. And, he’s been able to hire new tour leaders, primarily from lower-income communities. He’s created new jobs, and also given his staff leadership experience and skills they might not otherwise acquire in other jobs.

Are you or your friends in New York City and hoping to escape the slush and wind tunnels this winter? Visit Sourced Adventures. Kyle’s taking reservations now for their biggest adventure of the season: a daytrip to Hunter Mountain, including an all-area lift ticket, full rentals (boots, board, helmet), and even a hot drink!

Could your business – or the business of someone you know – benefit from working with a volunteer advisor? Sign up today! We’d love to work with you to grow your small business.