We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Georgette Blau. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Georgette below.

Alright, Georgette thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, let’s imagine that you were advising someone who wanted to start something similar to you and they asked you what you would do differently in the startup-process knowing what you know now. How would you respond?

I am happy with my business, but I would have done so my things differently. One of the main things I would have done is get help from the get go in the way of an employee. I was trying to do everything myself. Some companies, like myself at the beginning, could not afford an employee, so a part time employee is fine, or an enthusiastic intern who wants to learn the ropes of the business, and can be helpful but wants to get experience. I feel like I also wasted so much time at the beginning, especially doing things manually instead of automatically – in other words, not setting up systems. Finally, I did not have a business plan, but in the least I should have had a marketing plan of how I was going to get from Goal A to Goal B, etc. I was able to get the business of the ground, but it took me a lot longer than expected because of these mistakes.

Georgette, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started On Location Tours in 1999 (we just had our 25 year anniversary!). I was a double major in English (Creative Writing) and Architectural Preservation, so I did not have a business background. I moved to New York City in 1998, and was walking up East 86th Street one day, when I discovered that I lived right by The Jeffersons, the classic TV show from the 1970’s and ’80’s. I was inspired to start On Location Tours with a TV tour (now called the NYC TV & Movie tour), and we soon added on the Sopranos tour, the Sex and the City tour, the Gossip Girl tour, the Superhero Sites tour, and a number of other tours in New York City. In 2011 we opened in Boston with the Boston Movie Mile and Boston TV & Movie Sites tour and last year we launched Chicago with the Downtown Chicago Movie tour and the Chicago TV and Movie tour. The majority of our tours are bus tours, but some of them are walking tours. We only hire actors as our tour guides, which sets up apart. Our tours also go off the beaten path, which sets us apart. We were the third TV/movie tour company in the world and are now one of the largest. We are most proud of making our branding and tours straddle the line of fiction and reality.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I pride myself in being one of the most resilient, persistent people. I make lists to follow up with people and I one of my ways forward is by getting a “no” in order to get closer to more “yeses.” I have been through many, many obstacles in the business, including world disasters (09/11 and the Pandemic) and things like operating a bus (not to mention that my business is a niche, so there’s only one person – me – who I can ask to try to figure challenging things out. However, I always look forward and do not dwell. I believe that a business process can change, but never the vision, so it’s important to always remember the original vision and do not stop for a moment to think that it will not succeed. There is not even a question.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

One of the best examples of how we had to learn how to pivot was during the Pandemic. The last thing people wanted to do was take tours, especially bus tours where they had to be close to strangers. We combated that by starting self guided tours, more private tours, semi private tours at a bit of a higher rate with very small groups, and expanding our walking tours. In addition, we purchased a bus for the first time in our 25 year history, since the bus prices became so expensive (many of the bus companies sold their buses) that we could not afford to charter that many buses any longer. These pivots havehelped us in the few years since the Pandemic.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.onlocationtours.com
• Instagram: @onlocationtours
• Facebook: @onlocationtours
• Linkedin: @onlocationtours
• Twitter: @onlocationtours
• Youtube: @onlocationtours
• Other: We own an app called What’s Filming Now that is the only app in the world that shows what is filming anywhere domestically in the US. It us user generated.