My Start-Up Story: Anna Kuznetsova on designing women-only group travel

Tell us a little bit about your business…

Tours for women designed by women. We create bespoke itineraries for small women-only groups to bucket list destinations. Why women? Because women have been waiting for too long to get on a road: a busy travel partner or no companion, family priorities, prejudices about different cultures – something holds us back. We – midlife women – are bright and open-minded, curious and adventurous, free and financially independent. We likely have our own travel agenda and the time is now to make our dreams come true.

I see a business opportunity in growing a business in the area of female travel which  links my passion to a business opportunity.

What’s your business goal?

To grow into a partnership of a few partners with a similar vision and complementing skills, to join or build up my dream team. And make money of course

Why did you decide to start your own business?

My motivation is shaped by my life situation in a way. I was born in Moscow and moved to Ireland in March 2022 as an immigrant struggling with a lot of challenges. I am a 51-year-old single parent of two minors and I had to build a new comfortable life for my family from scratch more or less. Thankfully I have visited Ireland regularly during the past 17 years and I had lived in Dublin for 20 months before. I had a couple of good friends here, which was so helpful.

Luckily for me, tourism is the most international industry and rules are generally the same. So, it did not take me long to realise that my 25+ years of experience in tourism would best serve me in my own business rather than in employment in Ireland. I used to be a successful entrepreneur in my home country and I also served in executive roles for longtime, but my career record would not be good enough to put me in a similar position here. Entrepreneurship is my playground and Ireland makes it easy even for newcomers.

How did you raise the capital needed to start your business?

I did not need a big capital for a start and my savings were just enough for proving my business idea first, to dip my feet into the water. It looks like I am on the right track and shall be ready for growth and investment in a year or so.

Did you do any business trainings before you set up your business?

I cannot praise enough the Local Enterprise Office (LEO) Startup Academy and LEO support in general. They are amazing and gave me all the local business knowledge to set off. 

What advice would you give to someone starting their own business?

Don`t be ashamed to use an exciting business model that someone else has already been successful with proved. Entrepreneurship and invention are not the same.

What informs the destinations you choose for your tours?

The destinations that I would like to visit for the first time or return to with guests to sharing my experience. Also it is likely to be once in a lifetime journeys – different cultures, art and architecture, food of course and meeting with extraordinary locals. I always build my itineraries around all five senses: sight-smell-touch-hearing-taste.

What makes women-only group travel special? 

There is no barrier to joining a group. I bring together parents, professionals, well-travelled, friendly, chatty and respectful. Why wait any longer for a travel partner or another time if we can make our dreams come true now?

Do you think the Irish education system supports entrepreneurship?

My elder daughter is in Secondary School and takes Business Studies which involves many entrepreneurial projects. I follow her and dip into her notebooks. From what I have seen, the Irish business curriculum is great.

Do you experience any fear or doubt about being an entrepreneur? If so, how do you deal with it?

I am having both fear and doubt constantly, but keep going. I remind myself of my success records regularly and forgive myself for mistakes. It took me almost a lifetime to learn such a simple technique

Tell us something that is personally important to you as a business owner?

Business is about money and positive financial results are of high importance for me. Working with women-owned suppliers like me, getting positive clients feedback – are my doing-good factors. But again, business has to be financially sustainable to be called a business. Many businesspeople are shy to talk about money and I think they should not. 

Name one thing that supports your wellbeing as a business owner?

Friends and children` support, their “you can make it”.

How do you feel about delegating?

Loving it. Delegating helps me think over the tasks again. It’s like sharing a task with somebody best qualified for the job. My responsibility does go away with delegating though. I am really looking forward to working with a team again.

Is work-life balance a myth or achievable?!

Work-life balance is a mindset rather than a timetable, and as soon as you brush off all the mother-spouse-work guilt you achieve the dream balance. 

It’s in our heads first of all and what people (that we care about) think orsay about or to us. If your partner, friends or family say you do great, you feel better about yourself straight away.

I came across many women whose lifestyle looked like a mess to me and they had an absolute peace of mind, just because they felt right and proud of themselves. The sense of balance is individual to each of us. 

What’s your favourite thing about running your own business? And the thing you dislike the most?

I like my freedom and flexibility, but I miss this reassuring feeling of an organisation watching your back. As a businesswoman I accept responsibility and a moderate risk, but I often stressed about resources shortages from being alone in the business. By resources I mean not only time and money, but also team knowledge, expertise and skills.

Where is your own bucket-list destination?!

Uzbekistan in Spring 2024, Mexico anytime soon hopefully, a Safari in Africa, Arctic cruise, Japan and more to come. Short getaways to Istanbul and Marrakech. I`ve visited 57 countries and six continents so far and my bucket list is never empty. 

You can contact Anna at www.womentravel.ie, on LinkedIn and  on anna.kuznetsova@holidayexperts.ie, where Anna is part of a team of independent travel advisors.