You are probably considering the travel industry as a home
based career choice because travel is fun and always in
demand. If that is the way you think, you are absolutely
right! Travel is always in demand and fun. So to be in this
business you absolutely must have a dominant dose of the
'fun' gene.
Now that you know you have made a good choice, you need to
conduct a little research with your friends and colleagues.
Why? Because all the business development skills, new
computers and extra phone lines for your home based
business will have little value unless you know your market.
During your research, just remember that you are not
selling them anything yet, you are just conducting
research. This research is best conducted before you
actually start your travel business.
Here is research scenario one: Ask a friend what they spend
on vacations.
A friend of mine has five kids and he travels to the same
beach each year with the whole family. So I asked him, "How
much does your resort cost each year?" He did not mind
telling me at all that it was around $3,500 for a one week
stay each year for the resort, plus their travel costs,
which were relatively low since they always drove.
I then told him how his family could stay at a higher
quality luxury resort for $3,500 this year, and for only
$300 to $800 per week each year thereafter, and in a wide
variety of higher quality international resorts. That was a
real eye opener for him.
Now remember, this was research, and for research reasons
alone, the fact that my friend was recently unemployed was
a plus, as I knew that he was not in a position to buy a
membership right now. He had already booked the family
vacation for this year, but was more than glad to know
about my discount luxury resort membership, and that he
could travel during any week of the year, or even several
times each year at the same rate.
My conclusion for this research was that I was in the right
business. Since this conversation put such a big smile on
my friend's face, I knew that I could help dozens of
families with the luxury resort membership that I was
selling from my small computer table and extra telephone
line, my home office.
Here is research scenario two: I went to a timeshare
presentation. I have avoided these for years, because
everyone knows that the high pressure sales techniques of
the timeshare sales force have turned many a No into a Yes.
True to form, those very nice timeshare sales professionals
turned into pit bulls during the course of the
presentation. I went through four managers on account of my
unyielding No, and they even employed the good cop/bad cop
technique on me. Their last offer was substantially better
than the initial offer (from $55,000 down to $14,000), but
there was no getting over the math; timeshare ownership was
a substantially inferior investment when compared to the
timeshare alternative I was selling from my humble home
office.
This was exceptionally valuable information for me. I have
never owned a timeshare, but the condo and maintenance fees
associated with ownership, compounded by blackout weeks,
exchange fees and upgrade charges, really helped me to
understand why so many people I know that love to travel
have negative feelings toward timeshare ownership.
Unfortunately, a lot of them developed this distaste after
their timeshare purchase.
So these two scenarios give you a little more insight into
starting your own travel business. Of course, your research
will be a little different, but you get the idea; ask
questions and talk to people about their travel habits. Go
to places that may enhance your understanding of the travel
industry, such as golf, ski, wilderness or beach resorts,
or maybe even a tour of a cruise ship if that is available.
Count the costs, see what customers see, get educated, and
then start your own home based travel business.
----------------------------------------------------
Antony Mosley runs a home based travel business on a part
time basis. For more information visit:
http://www.YourHomeBasedTravelBusiness.com
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