Getting started


Setting up a new business is a big challenge, so plan ahead with Juliet Dennis’s step-by-step guide to your first year


Becoming your own boss is a big step. So it’s understandable for anyone embarking on a career as a self-employed travel homeworker to feel anxious. “Becoming a homeworker for the first time is


a very exciting and ambitious move,” says Abbie Heaton, sales manager of Blue Bay Travel’s new homeworking division, Personal Travel Consultants. However, Heaton admits: “Starting out can be the hardest part.” Not Just Travel co-founder Steve Witt agrees. “It’s


natural to feel daunted, but when you join you realise you’re not alone. It’s like a big family,” he says.


STEP ONE: PLANNING One of the first and most important steps when starting out is to write a business plan – this is the foundation on which to build the business. It should feature short and long-term targets including a realistic end goal, financial planning, strategy, marketing and customer service. Witt says: “It’s important to have it right from the


start to help you stay on track.” Without a plan, homeworkers are in danger of ending up with “a lack of direction” and under- achieving, says InteleTravel UK director Tricia Handley-Hughes. She stresses: “Be realistic with your ambition.” Heaton suggests homeworkers create a plan for


years one to three, including how to gain turnover in quiet times and how to prepare for peaks. She says that many firms ask homeworkers to write a plan as


£


Not Just Travel has helped more than 900 consultants set up their own business since it started its franchise division in 2010


46 28 OCTOBER 2021 Travel Specialists by


Advantage asks applicants for minimum earning expectations and a monthly marketing plan


InteleTravel runs mandatory training on topics such as Abta’s code of conduct, GDPR and the Package Travel Regulations


travelweekly.co.uk


part of their application to decide if they are “right for each other”. Holidaysplease brand and business growth


It’s natural to


feel daunted, but when you join you realise you’re not alone. It’s like a big family


executive Cat Reeves says the plan is discussed at the interview stage and revisited over the next two years to ensure agents are “on the right path”. Importantly, it needs to be written “honestly and


realistically”, she adds. Travel Specialists by Advantage asks applicants to work out minimum monthly earning expectations and a monthly marketing plan to acquire new customers, while Hays Travel Homeworking has introduced pre-interview ‘insight’ sessions where a business plan can be discussed or worked on collaboratively. Hays Travel Homeworking marketing and homeworking director John Milburn says: “We find these sessions to be powerful, giving applicants realistic expectations.”


STEP TWO: SETTING UP AN OFFICE During the pandemic, kitchen tables have become the new desks, but the key to any home office is comfort. “As long as homeworkers can be comfortable and


concentrate, then anything goes,” says Kelly Cookes, leisure director for The Advantage Travel Partnership. There needs to be space for a laptop and phone,


but Reeves also suggests homeworkers find somewhere they feel “inspired”. And while a kitchen table can work initially, most


firms agree a space away from distractions is sensible in the longer term.


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