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"What I’d Focus on If I Were Starting My Travel Business Today"

Ros: Well, hello, hello. Hello there. Hey guys. So good to be here back again for yet another episode of the Travel Agent Achievers Podcast. I'm Ros, your host, as you know, hopefully by now, we're leaning up to almost 100 episodes here on the Travel Agent Achievers podcast. And today I'm going back to a topic that is something I believe I've only spoken about once, but it is something that I am often asked, and it's about what to focus on next in your travel business, or if I was to start again myself, what would I actually do?

So I'm diving straight into it today. We've got a big day ahead of this, and I really want to be here for you and just share with you a lot of the insights that go on in my own head, but also a lot of the feedback and questions that I get from those listening to the podcast, our mastermind members, and from the industry in general, when I have my conversations. Because I am like you, and I am out attending the events, I'm catching up with people, having the phone conversations, and also connecting with our clients as well.

As we get into today, it's really about, what do we focus on next? What are the things that I would do if I was starting out again? And I know what it's like feeling torn in all the different directions, not only as a Travel Advisor and looking after your clients, because as soon as those bookings or those emails or those phone calls come in, I get excited, just like you do, but I also know that there are so many other things that need to happen as well. So I get it about feeling torn in all the different directions.

You're also not alone, because you wear all the hats, right? We're looking after the clients from a customer service perspective, but we're also doing all the sales. We're trying to convert all the bookings. And sometimes, you know, we don’t necessarily know, what is sales, what's relationship building? Are we supposed to be converting? Are we just trying to provide advice? Are we trying to be helpful? Are we trying to make sure that everybody's happy around us? Are they enjoying their experiences? I get it.

The marketing, trying to stay visible in this industry. I was reading something yesterday about, should travel advisors be influencers, or are influencers also now trying to become travel advisors? And I think this is something that we have always done as travel professionals, is share our experience, and I've never seen that as being an influencer as such. But I guess in our role, we are, in effect, influencing decisions for our clients to make the decisions that they want in order to achieve the outcomes that they want, as well from their travel perspective.

So we are, in a way, really. I mean influencing. It may sound icky to you. It may sound like a marketing term. It may sound, you know, like, yes, this is definitely who I am, but I do think that we play a very key role in ensuring that our clients get the right experience for them. And this is where it comes back to understanding and knowing our clients, which is just another part of your business, right? Understanding your clients. We've got the admin side of things that we're processing, all the bookings. We're looking after the finance, making sure that the numbers match up.

Because I have had way too many conversations with consultants where when we do the numbers and when we look at the time spent on processing a booking, they're not making anything at all, or it might have been a couple of dollars an hour. It's not necessarily their intention to not make money. It's just that they want to over-deliver and not necessarily charge for their services. So that's a totally another topic here. We're also trying to do all the training. Are you getting 100 emails a day from suppliers asking you to do training? Read their updates, be informed about what's going on. I get it, but you still need to show up in your own life as well and take care of yourself. Because if you're not here and those that you love around you, what are we doing this for anyway?

So if I was to start all over again, you know, it's over 15 years now that I have been in the travel industry, specifically as a travel professional. I knew when I first started that I needed to focus on sales. I knew that if I didn't have sales, I wouldn't have a business. I couldn't put food on the table, couldn’t keep a roof over my head. I knew that what needed to be done was to get those bookings in. So I initially started with sales, and I think that that was also something that I would tell somebody today, is you need to understand your numbers. You need to understand where are those bookings coming from, but you need to have sales in order to have a business.

So that means you've got to do the networking, you've got to do the marketing. You've got to talk to people, you have to tell them what you do. And, you know, if you think about marketing from all the different angles, it could be as simple as talking to your neighbors. It could be telling your friends and family what you're doing now and asking for their support. It could be that you are spending time working in a café. I remember I did this when I first started out, not only because I was transitioning from an office environment, whereas around people all the time and I was traveling a lot and connecting with others, but I didn’t need to talk to anyone. I just needed to have people around me.

So I remember in the first couple of years, I would actually spend time in a café almost every day. I'd go in and have my coffee, I'd take my laptop, I would be doing the work that I needed to do. But I also had a sticker on my computer that said where I worked. That wasn't necessarily intentional in those first couple of years. It was just that I was really proud of what I did, and I had my company logo, and I said, this is what I do. I had a sticker on my car as well. That was around planning holidays. I remember that very clearly because I would sometimes get phone calls from tradies as I was driving home from somewhere. You know, that going and having a holiday, it was just a really good way to be able to get yourself out there a little bit without having to be on social media all the time. You know, that wasn't very prevalent back in, back in the good old days, you know, back when I was younger.

Think about it now, what did I have to do in order to be visible? And that was, you had to be present, you had to be outside. You had to be talking to people. So I would definitely focus on that and getting to meet people, and getting to know what people liked, and just tell my friends and family what I was doing, share your experiences. Because this is often where, first of all, some people start is sharing their own experiences and saying, well, this is what I love and where I have been, and I can give you the insider tips. So sharing that knowledge, I think, these days, is a lot easier because of the platforms that we have, because of social media, because of even areas like podcasting and YouTube. You can share your own knowledge and experience and the trips and the travels that you've done, the places that you've been, and be known as the expert in those areas.

So there's definitely a shift from what we did have to what we can do now. It used to be about having the storefronts and having a poster in the front wall like I remember being a mobile advisor, 15, 16, 17 years ago, it wasn't something that was very popular. I know that right now, it's a lot more prevalent in today's society to be able to work from home and being a travel professional, and being in this industry, you don't need to have an office front necessarily, compared to previously, where that was your visibility. There are so many other ways now. So what I used to focus on was the sales and talking to people. Would I change any of that now? I don't think so. I think that I would still hit the ground running because you need to have the grit and determination and the will to succeed if this is what you want.

What I spent time on early on that I think also wasted a lot of time was procrastination. Even now sometimes it raises its ugly head and says, all right, come on, Ros, you need to just chill out for a moment. What I don't like is the doom scrolling. So if I need to do something on social media, I like to be really intentional with it now and get on and do what needs to be done, and then get back off. I can very easily, like I am sure you can too, see something, and you go off in a rabbit hole in social media, and you are then lost. And after a few minutes, you might pull yourself back. After 10 minutes, you might go, whoa, where did that time go? For some people, I know it might be 20 or 30 minutes before they realize they've even been on and have doom scrolled and gone off into this tangent before they can pull themselves back.

So I think initially the things that I feel as though I wasted time on were procrastination, but I was also very intentional, like I am now, with social media and where I spend my time. But also in the procrastination stage, I would find things to do. And working from home, it's very easy to say, oh, I'll just go and put a load of washing on. Oh, I'll just go and do the dishes. For me, I use it as an excuse now to get up from my desk because I can be tied to it all day, and I can just continue to work and go from one thing to the next thing, a different project. So I do use it now as intentional work, to get up and go and put a load of washing on, or put it into the dryer or hang it out, or whatever needs to be done with it, to follow that process, to make me stand up from my seat. Now that is good for my health, and that's what I'm sticking with. I don't see it as something that I waste time on because I go and get the job done and then I come back.

Now that is good for my health, and that's what I'm sticking with. I don't see it as something that I waste time on because I go and get the job done and then I come back. But what really made the biggest difference for me in building now, what is definitely a profitable and sustainable business, is the decisions I made early on. I have an incredible team working with me, I am able to pick and choose the work that I want to do and what lights me up.

Some of the biggest decisions that I made and the things that made the biggest difference, and I would highly recommend to anybody now if I was starting out, was to set the goal. Set the goal as to what it is that you want to do. Why are you in travel in the first place? Now, my story is I got into travel because I wanted to come home. I was traveling a lot in the corporate world. I felt as though I was missing out on things, and I was from my job. I was missing weddings, I was missing births of family members, and I just wanted to come home. That was my intention.

I also knew from the skills that I had and the places that I'd been, a lot of people asked me anyway about, "Hey, Ros, I've got to go to China for work. Where would you stay? What would you do?" And I intentionally used my work trips, adding a day or making sure of an afternoon, I would go and explore something. I would go and see what the actual destination was like. I wasn't just going from meeting to meeting to meeting whilst I was in-country. I would also really like to immerse myself and see what the destination was about. I wasn’t there to be spending weeks on holidays at a time. It was very focused.

And I think that that's something that has been with me for a very long time. I even think of my mum when I used to do exams, and she would always say, "Ros, read the question." I say it now to Jackson, "Read the question, read the question." And so as I bring that into my work life, I am intentional with understanding what needs to get done so that I'm not going off on a tangent, or I'm not chasing the bright shiny objects. But that does happen, and early on, when I started my travel business, I was chasing the bright, shiny objects. I was feeling as though I needed to be into coach touring. I had to understand cruising. I wanted to do all of these different things because they were trending at the time. They were what people were asking about, what the suppliers were talking about, but they weren’t necessarily what I loved or knew, and that is important.

So setting the goal initially to say, this is what I love doing. These are the people that I love hanging out with. This is what lights me up. I would definitely start there if I was to start all over again now, because work takes up such a big part of our lives, that if you are not enjoying it, or it confuses you, or you miss things, then it just becomes unenjoyable.

So start with the goal is definitely where I would be. I would look at who I love to work with, who I love to hang out with, where are the places that I love to travel to, or that I have been to. What are the experiences? And we do a lot of this work inside the Achievers, with understanding who it is we are, what are our values, but who are the people that we want to work with? Because moving forward, that is where the business also can start to grow. So understanding those sorts of things and having that sustainable business, knowing what makes you money, and then try and move aside the busy work.

I was very intentional with surrounding myself with people who understood more than I did, and that is something that I would also really encourage you to do. If you are starting out, or even if you have been in the industry for a long time now, be really intentional with who you're hanging out with because you are the sum of the five people around you. So I was very intentional initially. I remember going to a business event, and my friend that I took along with me, Alex—he's still a very close friend of mine, love him dearly—and he sat next to me. As we were halfway through the day, he told me that I would be an idiot if I didn't sign up to this program.

Now that program was over $10,000 a year. I didn’t have that kind of money. And looking at it, I was like, "Whoa, how can I do this?" And he said, "Ros, if you do this, I know that you will earn back the money that you have invested, but it will make you a smarter business person, and it will help you succeed." So by lunchtime on that day, I had already signed up for that business program, and I did all the things that I needed to do. But I also got caught by the bright, shiny objects. I thought I needed, you know, the beautiful, big database system and all of these big things from where I was at the time.

But I would definitely say the second thing is to surround yourself with good people, join the business programs, and always learn, take action, and implement. Because you will inevitably take away one thing. You may not get everything out of every program that you are going into, but you will find that there is always one thing that you will learn. There is one thing that you can implement, and there is one thing that will take you to that next level. It’s why inside the Achievers Mastermind, I’m very intentional with every month—it is one thing. Now you may not be at a point where you say, "Yep, YouTube marketing is for me this month," and you may not dive into it, but you may look at it and say, "I really need to set up my repeat and referral system. I need to understand where my clients are coming from. Who are they? What is it that I love about working with them? And how can I get more of those clients?"

But also, how can I get the clients that I love working with to continue to come back to me? So that might be your one focus for that month. And by joining business programs or networking groups or areas, and, you know, fundamental stuff that can just help you move forward and be a smarter business person and to be more well-rounded with what you are actually doing, is another thing that I would just say—you just need to do it and implement. I see people come into the Achievers Mastermind all the time. And what I love about it is I know that there’s an investment, but if you don’t have skin in the game, you won’t take it seriously.

And I have joined for over many, many years programs that have been free. I’ve done, you know, little masterclasses and joined webinars, and we all do it, right? We’re in travel, we’re listening to training resources all the time. But then what are you actually implementing from that?

The first thing is setting the goals 100%. The second thing is surrounding yourself with people that really inspire you, that give you the encouragement, that are there to support you when the times are tough, but also to give you the resources, tools, connection, and education to help you move forward faster. That is one decision I made that day, and I have never looked back from it. Now, when I am intentional with the programs I join, it is about asking, "What is the specific purpose that I need to be here for, and how am I going to move the needle to get to that next point?" Specifically, "What can this person or program offer me, and is that going to help?"

There are certain things that I have done over the years that have cost a lot of money, but I also know the return on investment from them. I was asked recently to be a guest on a webinar for our Virtuoso Australia network. I was asked, "Why would I go to Virtuoso Travel Week now?" As a Virtuoso advisor, this is an opportunity to meet with hundreds of suppliers and advisors, to network, mix, and mingle. I was asked, "Why should somebody go to it? Why should you go to these industry events? Why should you go to CLIA 360? Why should you go to the ASTA programs?"

I am flying over to ASTA in a couple of weeks. I cannot wait to see all of you there in Salt Lake City. For those of you attending, please send me an email. I'd love to catch up with you or reach out to me on social media. The other thing is, why would you do these things? My answer is for the networks, the connections, the people that inspire you, the people that are there to lift you up and to really look at your business. So, who are the people that you love to work with? And I say that not from a client perspective, but from a supplier perspective as well, because there are the two different providers, right? We look at it and say, "Well, I love to be able to ski, but there are a lot of ski providers out there." So, who are you going to work with to make sure that you get the best deal for your client? You get the most information that you need to help you succeed? But how is that a two-way street?

I do this all the time with suppliers when I'm working on my group experiences. I say, "This is a two-way experience. It has to be the best program, product, service, price, whatever it is for my client." But on the flip side of that, I understand you're also a business, and so I want to ensure that our clients are really invested in what you have to offer as well. So, how can we make that a two-way street? Attending those events is where you make those connections. This is where you meet people. This is where you will be able to set the goals for the future.

As I said on that webinar call to all the Australian and New Zealand members, "Guys, yes, it's a return on investment. Yes, it might be an expense. And you look at it, and you go, 'Whoa, it's going to cost me a few thousand dollars in order to get there.' And then it might be the accommodation, and then I'm going to have meals, and then this and this and this, and the costs might add up." But from a budget perspective, put it into your budget. Look at what you need to get out of it, and how can you make that return on investment? I know from any of the events that I attend, I am looking at it, I am connecting with people, but I am also inspired. I will come back from these events thinking, "What is there in the future for me? What is there in the future for my clients? And how can we grow together?"

Because that's what it's about. It's not a one-way street in any form. In my eyes, anyway, I don’t look at it like that. I look at it as an opportunity for us all to grow together. All boats rise with a rising tide, and so we are all in it together. We are all in this industry. We love the industry. We love the people that we work with. We love curating experiences. So why not invest in something that can help you increase your business, increase your relationships, and increase your whole perspective as well?

Those are definitely the things that I would be working on now if I was to start out again. I still continue to invest, so whether it is from a travel perspective and attending an event, I’m intentional with what I go to, definitely from a time perspective. But think about your clients and think about you. Do you need to go to every single event? Do you need to be at the launch of something or a hotel event? Have a look at where you're spending your time, where your clients spend their time, and the things and the people that you love to hang out with, because it makes it an easier sell as well.

And that's what it all comes down to, is the sales and your business, making sure that you are putting your best foot forward with the knowledge, the information, the resources, the connections that can really just inspire your clients.

Now those are just two of the things that, if I was starting over today, I would definitely do. I knew that I needed to have sales. It was my main focus, but being torn with suppliers, learning systems, meeting industry people—I get it. It's a lot. Doing the training—it’s a lot. So having the goal to start with and say, “This is what I want to do. These are the people that I want to connect with. How can you get in front of them?”

I love masterminds, where we can all collaborate together. I have always believed in collaboration over competition, and even up until a few years ago—and sometimes I still see it now—I felt that the travel industry was very much about competition. I remember moving cities, and I got quite upset because I was told, “Oh no, you know, Roslyn is moving to this town, and she’s going to take all the clients.” That is never my intention. And where I moved to, I never went out and specifically targeted the local community. It wasn’t my audience, right? I went in thinking, “This is where I want to live. It’s not where I want to continue to build my business.” And things change over time, of course.

But looking at it, it’s really about collaboration over that competition because clients will come to you because of you. Clients will come to me because of me. They’ll go to the person down the road because of them. We are all different. Yes, we’re all humans. Yes, we’re all travel advisors. But we all have different personalities. We all have different specialties. We all have different quirks. And so looking at learning who it is that you want to work with, understanding the systems, spending the time on training, meeting the industry people—be really intentional with that, because your time is incredibly precious.

That just comes back to being busy about busy work. Some of the biggest distractions can be your procrastination. And as you know, it still creeps up on me, but I’m intentional with it. You might be feeling as though you need something on social media and go and check, and you’re down that rabbit hole, or you’re just being busy with busy work. Having your day structured is what I’ve always done, and it’s what I tell my team to do now. What is the first thing as soon as you get into the office? Be intentional with that very first thing. What is the second thing that you need to focus on? And how do you plan out that day so you are managing all the different things? You’re the marketer, admin, finance, sales—all of the different things. Boundaries, systems, processes, and being really intentional are important, I think, as in life.

But I would also look at now what I wanted, who I like to hang out with. I would also say that it’s okay to say no. Maybe not—I probably wouldn’t in the first little bit as I was starting out again. But definitely now, I want to be ensuring that I am able to deliver the experience and deliver the expectations of my clients. And I set those very clearly. I’m very real and honest with my clients and say, “Hey, look, I’ve got this thing going on at the moment. I can’t necessarily focus all of my attention on this, but I will get back to you in a certain amount of time.” It may take me longer in some instances when putting together big quotes and things because I am very detailed and I am very intentional with what I deliver, but I will always continue to do that.

Now we might fall into common traps of doing six things halfway instead of one thing well. I know for me, it was a very big lesson that I learned that one of my mentors said to me, “Ros, if you start all of these different things, you will get halfway with all of them, but none of them will be done well.” And so what I even say to my team now is, yes, we have a project management system. Yes, we need to look at emails. Yes, we need to book flights and accommodations and all the rest of it and put together those packages, but follow that one thing to the end. Make sure you’re ticking off the tasks in our project management system. Make sure you’ve got that written down, that you know what you need to focus on and what needs to specifically be done. Be very clear so that somebody else can come in and pick it up when they need to be there to support one another as well.

Now I hired quite early on in my business career because I know that there are things that I’m really good at, but also things that other people are a lot better at than I am. And so starting again, I would definitely look at how I can grow my team. But I know, and I encourage everybody, learn everything else yourself. So start off with you understanding how posting on social media goes because you might have to do that. Learn yourself how to book a flight. Learn yourself how to use the supplier systems. Don’t just outsource all of that information without you understanding it. But as you grow, you will find that there are tasks that you can let go of that are the busy work to allow somebody to actually step in and support you.

So there’s lots of things going on here that I’m trying to pull together myself. Writing that vision and setting those goals—definitely. I look at brain dumps all the time. If there’s a lot going on in my head, I will brain dump everything. And I think that’s really important to just get it out so then you can prioritize, get the support that you need in those different areas. I still have our “50 Things That You Can Get Support With in Your Travel Business.” It’s a checklist that you can say, “Oh, wow. I can get somebody else to check my emails. I can get somebody else to receipt the money. I can get somebody else to do my social media.”

There are a lot of things that I think we fall into the trap with to say, “I have to do everything in order to provide the value.” Set up those email task templates, or even just email templates, right? I know that you’re personal. I know that you will send something specific to your client, but I can guarantee, as you are preparing a lot of your emails out to clients, yes, you are saying the same thing in several different ways. Or you are saying the same thing over and over again. You’re just finding that in order to provide the value, you may feel as though you have to type it out. Stop that. Let’s get rid of that. That’s going to waste time.

We’re doing other things here. So now that I look back on it and say, if I was to start out again, what would I do? Definitely, sales is the first thing that I would consider needs to be done because you have to have sales in order to have a business. But I would look at right at the beginning, “What are the goals that I have? What is it that I really want out of the business? What am I doing? And why am I even here? Who is it that I want to work with?” And then look at the different things from that.

So surround yourself with the people that light you up. Join a mastermind. Surround yourself with other like-minded advisors and learn from them. Join the industry groups. Attend the industry-specific events. And this is because they have a much broader reach. And even though there might be times that you go in and you go, “I don’t know anyone. What am I doing here?” The imposter syndrome comes up. It’s okay. We’re all human, right? But if you’re attending these events, you’re looking at things from the big picture. Then you’re able to focus on, “What are the hotels that I want to sell? Who are the people that I need to connect with?” And from that big picture, you can have that helicopter view to say, “How is it that I want to grow my business, and who is it that I want to work with?” to then make some big decisions from that.

And that’s why I think attending industry events is so good because you’re getting a really broad cross-section of the industry. You’re looking at trends. You’re looking at what’s happening in the future. You’re understanding who are the people that are able to introduce you to others. You know, I believe in that collaboration over competition.

So surround yourself with great people. Attend industry events. Join a mastermind. Join a business program specific to what you need to get out of something. And that’s why I think, with the Achievers, I would love for you to reach out to me and say, “Hey, Ros, what is the Achievers? I know that it’s something, but can it help?” We, you know, we’ll have a chat about it because focusing on your business as a business is going to help you grow as a person, but also help you grow the business that you absolutely deserve, that I know you desire, and that you want to have for a long time.

This is an industry that is fun. It is always changing. Every day is different. You are not going to be caught up doing the same thing every single day. There will always be nuances, and that’s what makes it so special. And I think why time goes so fast in this industry—there’s always something happening. So remember those things. And if you have questions, please reach out to me. I love to be able to hear from you. I love to be able to connect with you via email, socials, or jump on a quick call and have a chat about your business and where you’re going.

And as a seasoned advisor, if that’s where you’re at now, then keep going. Have a think about some of these things that I’ve spoken about. Have you done them? Or do you need to go back and revisit them? We’ll be putting together a really quick three-day, half-an-hour “Work On Your Business” action plan in the coming weeks ahead. So make sure you keep an eye out for that. And then also look forward to the next six months. We are in May now, and June will be here before we know it. The following six months are going to go super fast.

But have an awesome day wherever you are. Take care of yourself. I look forward to connecting with you. If you are going to be at ASTA, let me know in Salt Lake City. If you’re going to be at Virtuoso Travel Week, let me know. Love to catch up with you. And of course, bye for now. Thanks, everyone. Bye.