Salty Soil, primarily based in Thessaloniki, Greece, is a tourism company run by Apostolos (Akis) Kontoulis. Based in 2021, the corporate organizes journeys within the area, starting from sea kayaking excursions to road meals excursions.

Guiding excursions over crystal-clear waters and busy road markets are solely part of Akis’ skillset. He’s additionally a seasoned WordPress guru who constructed the company’s web site himself.

The Salty Soil website hosted by Hostinger is on the middle of the enterprise – it has allowed the company to succeed in shoppers it wouldn’t have in any other case and continue to grow.

Paddling In opposition to the Present

Akis has been working within the tourism sector since at the least 2004. When he completed secondary college, he moved to the UK to review electrical engineering. His intention was to come back again to Greece and discover work that will swimsuit his experience and training. Sadly, this was to not be.

“Once I returned, I couldn’t actually discover a respectable job in my area in Greece. I’m from Thessaloniki, the second busiest, largest city within the nation. The most effective jobs have been in Athens, and those that have been accessible have been not likely in my area,” Akis reveals.

As an alternative, he determined to become involved in his mother and father’ journey company again in Thessaloniki. For a number of years, all the pieces proceeded alongside swimmingly – the enterprise was doing properly, and Akis ended up working it himself.

That was till the worldwide recession hit. Greece was among the many most affected nations – it confronted a sovereign debt disaster, and the company needed to shut down in 2010.

“After my mother and father’ company shut down, I moved to an space subsequent to the ocean and adjusted the companies I provided. I began doing sea kayak and stand-up paddleboarding journeys with vacationers to indicate them the shoreline,” recounts Akis.

A Extra Private Contact

Akis restarted the company as soon as once more in 2021 within the wake of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. He rebranded it as Salty Soil and added further itineraries to the repertoire of provided companies.

“With Thessaloniki as the bottom, we do custom-made paddling journeys, particularly in Pelion, Chalkidiki, and Thasos. We additionally provide day journeys across the city. On high of those, we’ve received team-building actions targeted on corporations.”

Whereas there are a variety of journey businesses that provide comparable experiences, Salty Soil caters to individuals who need extra exclusivity.

“We primarily work with small teams. This contrasts with what the remainder of the market gives, which is analogous journeys however with greater automobiles like 50-seater buses. Once you e-book with us, we assure that the journey won’t exceed six individuals.”

Specializing in smaller teams permits Salty Soil to supply a extra personalised expertise. For instance, if the vacationers have any questions, the guides are all the time accessible to reply them. What’s extra, the itinerary itself might be personalized primarily based on the wants and desires of Salty Soil’s clients.

A Enterprise With out a Web site Is Misplaced

When speaking in regards to the company’s web site, Akis admits that having one is a no brainer.

“These days, with out a website, you might be misplaced. It’s like having a public retailer and displaying your merchandise or your companies. So, the higher the web site is, the higher your gross sales may very well be,” Akis says.

As a matter of truth, web site efficiency is one thing that Akis takes very severely. Through the winter months, when enterprise is gradual, he devotes a number of hours every week to enhancing the location. The objective – preserving saltysoil.gr easy, nimble, and user-friendly.

When selecting a platform for the web site, Akis went with WordPress. The open-source content material administration system made probably the most sense because it might accommodate Salty Soil’s wants. Another excuse was Akis’ expertise constructing WordPress web sites – both for the businesses he was working earlier than or third events that had requested him for assist.

As Akis had had expertise with different internet hosts earlier than, he wished to decide on the most effective supplier for the web site.

“I used to be doing analysis on what the businesses have been providing and for the way a lot. Based mostly on the mixture of worth and companies, I made a decision on Hostinger.”

Setting the web site up on Hostinger was easy – putting in WordPress was fast, and Akis might begin engaged on the location itself instantly.

“It’s fairly simple – you simply click on a number of buttons, and it’s prepared!” Akis recollects.

He provides that website administration and updates – duties that will take up numerous time – have been simply as straightforward to handle.

Browsing Forward Swimmingly

In the case of the way forward for Salty Soil, Akis says that all the pieces is continuing in response to plan.

“We’ll proceed providing the present companies. That stated, we want to develop. For instance, we wish to provide same-day companies and run extra simultaneous journeys,” Akis says.

To perform this, Salty Soil goals to rent extra expert guides who might do the journeys with out Akis’ supervision.

“Hiring extra personnel is at present a bit tough, however we’re engaged on it. The right information is proactive, completely satisfied, and keen to share their information so long as the shoppers wish to hear what they should say. For this, you could add your private contact,” Akis reveals.

He plans to realize this inside two to a few years. Having extra arms on deck will enable Akis to take up a extra managerial function and supervise Salty Soil because the enterprise expands.

However earlier than the corporate is there, Akis is completely satisfied to be totally concerned within the day-to-day.

“On the finish of the day, the enterprise and its operation are as much as me. I don’t should report back to anyone greater up. I’ve my manner of working, and I really like being unbiased. And having a web site makes all of it doable.”