My new business - by Gavin Ferguson — Gavin English Teacher

What happened in Madrid?

A couple of summers ago I went on holiday to Madrid to visit my friend. I wanted to see the sights, but the Madrid summer produces an unbearable heat that my Celtic blood can’t cope with. If I had gone sightseeing or on a guided tour during the heat of the day, I would have been miserable, sunburnt, dehydrated and grumpy.

It was while facing this conundrum that I decided to wake up early and aimlessly run around the city before the sun reached full strength. After having run around for an hour, I’d come back home, shower and watch ‘The Crown’ on Netflix until my friend came home from work. I repeated this process 3 days in a row, and by the end I had conquered all of the main sights of Madrid and learnt an awful lot about the British royal family. It then started to dawn on me that what I had done was actually a great way to see a city, and that perhaps I could make a business out of it. I thought ‘guided walking tour’ + ‘running’ = ‘guided running tour’.

What does my running tour look like?

I studied the map of London, trying to think of a route that includes all of the main sights, yet isn’t overly hindered by road crossings. I settled upon an 8.5km route (run at 10kmp/h) that travels from the Tower of London, over Tower Bridge, down the River Thames, past Big Ben, Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace, and then finishing in Hyde Park. I’m aware that not everyone is capable of running 8.5km, but I thought there is no point in trying to cater to everyone – my target market is running enthusiasts. My tour includes 4 stops, where I provide historical explanations. I’m also considering investing in a voice amplifier so that I can be heard while I’m running by people behind me.

What happened next?

I thoroughly researched this route, learning the history of the sights it contains. I ran the route a couple of times by myself and then dragged my friends along for a photo shoot with my wife as a photographer. Posing for photos while running was a bit strange for all of us – but we had a good day out and I’m very grateful for their support.

Having taken the photos, I tried to upload my running tour product onto a number of different online platforms that offer experiences for tourists – including Airbnb. To my great disappointment, I was rejected by all of them without much feedback, and my dreams were, for the time being at least, crushed. A couple of months ago, I decided to take a punt and reapply on Airbnb, and, lo and behold, they accepted me! Then, with optimism flowing through my veins, I created a website for my running tour.

*Loyal friends pretending to laugh at my jokes for the photo shoot.*

Is the future bright?

I’m proud to say that recently, I got my first ever customer. I woman from China has booked my running tour for 7am on Wednesday 18th February. I’m so excited to give my first ever REAL running tour to a REAL customer. My life now stands at a crossroads, either my running tour will become a world famous successful business and I’ll become stinking rich, or no one will ever see my website and I’ll end up spending more on underground fares and Pret A Manger coffees than I actually make from doing the tours. Which do you think it will be?!

This is a list of key vocabulary and expressions from the article in order of how useful they are. The student must choose 6 items from the list to study in the lesson.

Perhaps

Unbearable

Grumpy

To cope (with something)

Miserable

To end up ((doing) something/ somewhere)

To consider ((doing) something)