It's Your Choice

As a travel industry professional, I have seen travel agents’ businesses develop in similar ways. For example, when you first decided to become an independent travel professional, you were excited to be embarking on a new career that could take you all over the world, doing what others only dreamed about.

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Heck, you were even going to get paid for it! And the thought of associating yourself with a trusted travel brand or finding a business model that worked for you made the decision that much easier. Regardless of the reason, you jumped in with both feet.

Now, of course, you may feel like the pumpkin that was once Cinderella’s beautiful carriage until the clock ticked past midnight. Your host travel agency provides many of the tools and training you need, but you still feel lost. Do you feel like you really don’t know what to do next or in some cases even where to start? You are not alone. These feelings are very common for any small independent businessperson, regardless of the industry.

You probably did not think about this when you decided to become a travel agent but when you did so, you became an independent businessperson whose product is travel. In hindsight, you need to ask yourself these four questions:

What is it that gets me out of bed each day to build my business?
Maybe you made your decision in order to help put your kids through college, launch a second career, get more income for your retirement or my favorite: “I love to travel so I thought it would be fun to be a travel agent.” Whatever the reason, you have to ask yourself whether it is a valid one. If you can’t answer this, you need to step back and quickly figure it out. Having an overwhelming sense of purpose — the “why” of what you do — is the most important factor in your future success.

Do you have the necessary skills to operate your business?
Do you already have or are you willing to acquire the product knowledge you need to be considered an expert in your field? Management guru Peter Drucker defines the purpose of a business as “to simply create and keep customers.” Do you have the prospecting and sales skills to create customers for your company?

Are you willing to hire a business coach or sales mentor to help you develop the skills you need and focus your business where it can be most profitable? Are you willing to pay full price to experience the products you are selling in the same manner your customer will? In other words, you must be willing to invest your time and money, outside of host agency or consortia fees, to obtain the skills and knowledge needed to grow your business.

Do your daily habits contribute to or get in the way of your success?
Our prime motivators are fear versus reward or pain versus pleasure. How you view each of these influences your daily habits. For example, if you view calling 10 prospects a day as a negative — that they will probably say “No” or hang up on you — then this is seen as fear and pain — a habit to avoid. However if you frame those 10 calls as potential sales, you will see it as a good habit that brings you pleasure and reward. The key is to do the things both personally and professionally each day to positively contribute to the success of your business.

Can you manage your business and, by extension, yourself?
Do you have short- and long-term goals? Are they written down and do they have a date attached? How do you manage your time? Time is the one thing we can never get back, so we must plan the most efficient use of it and embrace the tools available to do so. There is a saying that you can’t manage what you can’t measure. What are the important things to measure for your success?

Each of you will answer these questions differently. Some of you will realize that being the owner of a travel business is not really the line of work you want to pursue. That’s okay — it’s best to conclude that sooner rather than later before you and your host agency invest too much in your business.

For most, however, answering these questions will allow you to again see your “why.” That will lead you to become more engaged and pledge the resources you need for your business. It’s your choice!