Dive Into a New Career as a Travel Agent in 2020!
Ahhhh, contemplating starting your own travel business is exciting and fun. And, the good news is that starting a travel agency from home is both easy and inexpensive. The trick is to get your new travel agency from home generating a profit. But, for the sake of getting you going on your new travel agency from home let’s dive right into the process. and deal with marketing and growing your business in future articles.
It is easy to understand the draw of starting your travel agency from home and hundreds of thousands of people have gone before you. The very first thing you need to understand is what your motivation is for starting one. Are you looking for a part time business or full time? Is your motivation stemming from a desire to travel and see the world? Do you want to grow a formidable travel business? Whatever your motivation, 2020 is the year to make it happen.
All of these are possibilities when starting a travel agency from home, but you absolutely must have focus and a plan to create the results that you desire from your business. So here are just some of the topics that you will need to explore and understand before launching your business. In most cases, I will also include links to past articles that examine the topics and also offer a video tutorial on the topic.
How Much Money Can I Make with a Travel Agency Ran From Home?
If you are thinking of starting a travel agency from home then you obviously need to understand how much money that you can make as a result of doing it. This is one of the most important things that you need to comprehend as it will shape your business based on the reality of its potential income.
You will need to understand the various product types like cruises, all-inclusive resorts, tours, niche travel, groups and so forth so that you can estimate a potential income from your venture.
We have detailed all of the information necessary to understand how much a travel agency from home can generate. This is really important information that you will need to move forward to developing a travel agency from home business concept. Click HERE to learn all about how much you can make from your travel agency from home.
Developing a Travel Agency From Home: Business Concept
Long before you spend your first dime on your new business you should develop a concept for what you will be selling and to whom. Of course this will involve creating an understanding of how travel agencies make money and the reality of the numbers in the travel industry. You should also look at your existing knowledge and the knowledge and experience that you will need to exceed.
Fortunately, we have detailed information of how to create your travel agency from home concept. Click HERE to read all about how to do it.
Creating a Travel Agency From Home: Business Plan
Creating a travel agency from home business plan is the very first step into creating a viable and profitable business. For the purpose of establishing a business plan at this stage of development, you should focus only on ideas and concepts that speak specifically to you individual plan. Avoid business plan software entirely unless you are seeking investors or a loan. Your plan should be flexible and easy to understand and make changes too. Most importantly it should focus on achieving the results that you intend your new business to accomplish.
HERE is an article and video tutorial that makes creating an effective business plan easy.
Creating a Travel Agency From Home: Marketing Plan
If your business plan is your road map on where you want to go, your marketing plan is the detailed map of how you are going to get there. While your marketing plan needs to be fluid to exploit opportunities as they arise, you should also have a great understanding of who you are going to market to, what you are going to market and why people will be excited to purchase your products and services. You should also define when you will make your products available and where you will market. There are so many different opportunities that you will need to focus on marketing vehicles that produce the best results.
Creating your marketing plan doesn’t require a lot of detailed planning, but having a direction with measurable results is essential. HERE is an excellent article with a video tutorial on exactly how to do it.
Choosing Your Travel Agency From Home: Business Structure
This is where you should seek the advice of your accountant and / or attorney. There are many options sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, LLP and a C or S corporation. Which one you choose will directly affect the way you set up your accounting system, pay taxes and identify profits. While the exposure to litigation is minimal as a travel professional it can happen, so having a well thought out plan to limit your exposure and potential damages is the best plan.
For a thorough discussion of your options click HERE. You should read the article and watch the video before you see your accountant and / or attorney so that you will be familiar with the various options.
Select Your Travel Agency From Home: Business Name
There is a tremendous amount to consider when choosing your travel agency name. Depending on your business and marketing plan, the name you select should be completely consistent with the way that you will market. If your business will be dependent on a website, then find the perfect .com business name. If social media will be a large part of your marketing, then make sure that your business name is available on the social media platforms you will primarily use. If you are going to market to a geographical location or a narrow market niche, then search out the perfect name for that purpose.
Registering Your Travel Agency From Home: Business Name and Opening Your Bank Account(s)
Once you have found the perfect business name you must take steps to obtain the rights to use it. Which way you do this will depend on the business structure that you have chosen and may be as simple as filing a Fictitious Business Name Statement (DBA) with your local county recorder to securing the rights to establish a corporate name that you can use. You should make sure that the name you select is not in conflict with any other agency’s use of the same name. If you are using a corporation and have secured the right to use a corporation name you should also copyright it so that no one else can use it in the United States.
Opening your business bank account will also require some planning to make sure that you comply with the various laws that regulate the use of them. Ever since the financial meltdown of 2008 opening corporate bank accounts will require some effort.
Insurance For Your Travel Agency From Home
Another topic for discussion with your accountant and / or attorney is what types of insurance you will possibly need for your business in case something goes wrong. The first to explore would be Errors & Omissions and General Liability insurance. This may, or may not be desirable depending on how your attorney has advised you on your business structure and general financial position. There are so many strategies on how to avoid liability that it is a topic that must be explored with a tax and / or legal professional. And, there are a surprising number of other insurance considerations to analyze.
Comply With State Seller of Travel Laws and Licenses
Now that you have established your travel agency from home you must comply with the various laws and obtain the various licenses that your particular state, county and city may require travel agencies to possess before actually starting to sell travel to residents of that state.
HERE is more information on the various states and their requirements as of 2020.
Where Do You Go From Here?
Now that you have established your travel agency from home you are ready to open your new business. But, there is a lot more to consider as you start to establish your business as a viable travel agency. Operations, accounting, marketing and managing your new venture will be challenging. We offer numerous articles and video tutorials on these topics that wee will explore in future articles.
If you found this article helpful on starting your travel agency from home then we would highly recommend reading our book “How to Start a Home Based Travel Agency”. The book is used by Universities, community colleges, travel schools and The Travel Institute. It is considered the bible on the topic in the travel industry and between the text and the workbook will make starting your travel agency from home extremely easy without any wasted time trying to figure out how to make it happen effectively. The book is updated every year, or so and is always current on the topic.