Message
from the Founder
-
The story of a small company - with a big heart.
It
all started in 1995 with a simple idea. A consumer-rated directory of
Guides and Outfitters. Instead of being 'experts' or 'field editors'
or 'authors' invited to a fishing trip, to a lodge or dude ranch, we
wanted to be 'outdoor surveyors' and simply ask your clients (the consumers)
who went fishing, hunting, rafting, riding a plane or a horse, to rate
the services they received.
We started by sending out questionnaires to entire lists of clients
for those Guides and Outfitters who embraced our idea. After almost
a year of research, collecting and elaborating data, we founded a small
publishing company with the name of Picked-By-You Guides and we published
our first book in 1996 called "Top Outfitters of Big Game Hunting"
where we presented the results of the research. The public liked the
book; we sold out the first edition of 3,000 copies mostly with direct
sales and by word of mouth. What about the website? Our Internet site
- www.topguides.com - was not sophisticated enough to run a relational
database; not even close. We were happy to have a couple of pages and
a phone number.
We
were encouraged by the results of the first book, and we were asked,
by many Outfitters, Guides and readers alike, to apply the same formula
to include more activities like fishing, rafting and dude ranches, etc.
The decision was made then to expand the operation. In order to finance
this venture, we scaled down our cattle ranch and invested our money
in this crazy dream. We hired more staff and begun to send out thousands
and thousands of questionnaires for a new round of research. Two years
later, in 1998-99, we published a new expanded series of 10 books called
it the Top Rated Outdoor Series organized by activity - Big Game Hunting,
Freshwater, Saltwater Fishing, Fly-Fishing, River Adventures, Bird Hunting,
Western Adventures - as well as geographically Alaska, Rocky Mountain
and Pacific Region Adventures. It was a big effort, which put us on
the screen of many large companies which were now contacting us to use
our knowledge and research results to promote their businesses.
At
that point we realized that we could not "do it all" and we
needed to bring the book publishing to a higher level. The solution
was to allow a well-established book publishing company to run the book
part of our operation. After careful consideration, we selected The
Derrydale Press - the first, oldest and almost historical American outdoor
publishing company. In 2000 we publish 5 more titles with The Derrydale
Press.
While
The Derrydale Press was following the intricate world of book publishing,
we concentrated our efforts on the surveys and the Internet part operating
under that name of Top Rated Surveys. Those were the days of the exploding
(it exploded all-right) Internet dream.... everybody was nuts. "If
you do this... we are going to make millions" "Why don't get
some venture capitals with us", "you guys need a quick exit
strategy". Only few months went by and all the IPOs, the ventures
capitals, the big contracts and what not, turned out to be like ...
Monopoly money. All those castles built in the sand got swept away by
few small waves. Thus the Internet boom and bust came and it was gone.
For
our part, we provided our know-how and research results to several companies
that did not last two calving seasons. They came, spent millions, got
big booths at the shows, embroided a bunch of shirts with thier logos,
signed 3" thick contracts with everybody and they were gone! With
a handful of noticeable exceptions, not one of these companies presently
exists. They made promises they never kept and they ultimately helped
building a general sense of skepticism which we still encounter in the
outdoor industry every day. Luckily enough for us, we did not jump in
it with both feet, although, I admit, that we came very close few times.
The Internet bust did not break us, but it opened a deep wound for all
of us in the industry.... and the wound is still open.
Today
the operation of Top Rated is almost entirely based on our ALL-Inclusive
Adventures directory on the Internet. More than 60,000 Outfitters, Guides,
Ranches, Charters, Captains, Lodges, are listed (at no charge) and updated
constantly. The consumer can use the Top Rated Adventures directory
to find their next adventures or to rate their past outdoor experience,
again at no cost. Several manufacturers of quality products support
the Top Rated mission and allow us to continue to provide the bulk of
our services for free. Today, like ten years ago, we are the only company
that is presenting an honest consumer-rated alternative to the selection
of outdoor adventures.
If
you have not done it yet, we invite you to test out our system by encouraging
your clients to rate your services on Top Rated Adventures. Our program
is very simple and user-friendly and, as a result, you will be able
to 'wear' your Top Rated Stars you with pride, while promoting your
company accomplishments at the same time. We are not going to give you
the Stars: your clients will or will not. This is the heart of Top Rated.
Where
do we go from here? Well, we still plan to go down the very same trail
we picked. Along the roade are going to try to make our program better,
slowly but surley. With a bit of ingenuity, a willing hear (to both
the consumers and outfitters), lots of 'computer sweat' and long hours
in the saddle (actually we are not riding nearly as much as we used
to, but we paln to start a couple of colts in 2005). As for the big
corporate plans to make large amount of money fast ... I am afraid we
don't have one yet. We are simply doing what thousands of small business
owners do day after day. You know what that is. Nor we have developed
an "exit strategy" either, which makes me hope that we will
be around for a while longer.
My
deep thanks and regards to all of you who have travled with us for the
last 10 years.
I
will see you on the trail.
Maurizio
(Maurice) Valerio, President and Founder
Top Rated Adventures
