Starting your home-based travel business, becoming your own boss, setting your own schedule and creating your own paycheck is an exciting concept for most people. However, achieving great success will require more than just excitement. You have taken the first and most important step by getting started. Now you need to create a system that will allow you to function efficiently and operate as a real professional, delivering the kind of service your clients will expect while working from home. Running a home-based travel business, though filled with positives, can also lead to some negative results if you do not create an environment for success. These key factors will be important in determining whether your home-based travel business will become successful or not.

Scheduling

Before you decide to take on a new career as a travel agent working from home, whether full time or part time, you need to determine what hours of your day you can dedicate to your new business. Bare in mind, the hours you set should not only include your available time slots, but you will also have to consider the hours that works for your clients and other business associates that you will need to work with to successfully run your business. Even though most resorts, airlines, and tour operator have a 24-hour customer service line, their sales office and people that you will need to communicate with will most likely work on regular business hours. Your clients, on the other hand, may prefer to communicate after work or during their lunch breaks. All these things will need to be taken into account when creating a schedule that works. Your work schedule may include multiple timeslots throughout the day instead of consecutive hours. After you create your schedule, the next and most important part of that formula is to commit to it. Be consistent to ensure you are not cheating your business of its true potential.

Family Support

If you live with others, you will need to enroll them in your new commitments. You will need their help if you are to be successful running your business in a space that they also call home, so you need to share your goals with them and request their permission and their support in helping you accomplish them. If you have young kids, you may need to ask a favor from a relative or a friend to watch your children during your scheduled work hours, to ensure you are without distraction. Your family members and loved ones will play a vital role in the overall success of your travel business so getting their support is key.

Defined Goals

For you to achieve the type of success you desire, you need first to be able to identify what that success looks like. Your business goals will be your motivation and the thing that keeps you going especially on days when things are not going so well. Your goals will guide your daily course of action and provide you with clarity regarding how to operate on a daily basis. Write your goals down and put them somewhere that you can clearly see them every minute of your workday.

A Daily Method Of Operation

It’s one thing to show up to work, but what matters most is what you do when you are at work. You need to put a list of actions and activities in place to guide your daily method of operations (DMO). The content of your DMO should be consistent with the actions required to get you the type of success you desire. Your DMO is your business bible, and you need to design it and follow it religiously. As a travel agent, your primary business is getting leads and closing sales. Therefore, 80% of the items on your DMO should be based around generating new customer leads and turning existing leads into customers. Building your email list, promoting your website, social media marketing, lead follow-ups, networking are some of the main activities you will need to include in your daily method of operation. You will also need to set some time aside to manage mandatory logistics that will become a requirement once your start dealing with customers.

The Right Tools

To be successful running your travel business from home, you will need to have the right tools to ensure you can function effectively. How will your clients know about your business and what you do if they cannot come to your office? This is where a very well done website comes in. Your website is your storefront, and it is where clients will go to learn about the services you offer. You will need to have proper contact information on your website and phone number and available times that potential customers can reach you. Things like a printer and scanner, a computer, a reliable internet connection, a toll-free number and long distance calling plan are the things you need to consider, as they will become a necessary part of your business operations.

The Right Support System

One of the most critical parts of running a successful home-based travel business is the host agency you align yourself with. Your host agency is your support system as you will rely on them to provide you with the training and resources you need to operate as a fully functionally travel agent working from home. You will need to have access to products pricing, vendors, business automation tools to help you with daily tasks such as invoicing, sending quotes, tracking orders and commissions and communicating with your clients. Your host agency will be the source that you rely on to provide you with these things, so choosing the right host agency is one of the most important decisions you will have to make in setting up a clear path for success.

A Defined Work Space

Running your business out of every room in the house is ill-advised for several reasons. Firstly, you cannot inconvenience everyone else sharing the space as it will have an adverse impact on them and you will end up losing their support. Your workspace needs to be properly setup, so you have quick access to finding information and getting things done when you need it. Defining your home office space also gives you a place where you can go for peace and quiet when you need to get work done. Structure and routine will be a key ingredient to your success working from home. Start by setting up a proper home office.

Time Away From The Desk

One of the biggest struggles for many entrepreneurs running their business from home is knowing when to step away. Particularly in the early stages when you are driven and motivated, and you want results now. You are your boss, so work as hard as you can at building your business, but know when it is time to step away for a while and clear your head. Your long-term business success will require you taking care of yourself, so for the sake of your business and personal health, take a break to allow your body and mind to refuel from time to time.

Human Interaction

Even though you are running a home-based travel business, this does not mean it isn’t necessary for you to occasionally get out of the house. Your potential customers, colleagues, and business associates are all out there outside the walls of your home office, and the occasional face to face interaction with them is essential to building your brand. Find networking events, conferences and social gatherings attended by the people relevant to your business success and make it a part of your business to belong to these groups and participate in these events. The more relationships you develop, the more successful your business will be and building relationships will require some face-time.

Discipline

None of the above-mentioned items matter unless you have or can develop the discipline necessary to follow through. Proper planning is one thing, but plans usually do not work without execution. Equipped yourself with the right resources and environment, you need to be successful, then be disciplined enough to honor your commitments to give your home based travel business a fair chance at becoming successful.