10 reasons why our business owners love what they do

With so many travel franchises on the market, it can be difficult to know which one is right for you – and that’s why we encourage you to shop around and think about what’s important to you in a business opportunity.

To help you with your decision-making, we’ve compiled 10 reasons why our Travel Counsellors love what they do, so you can see whether these align with what you’re looking for.

Flexibility

When we speak to our business owners about how becoming a Travel Counsellor has transformed their lives, the one thing that they mention time and time again is the flexibility that we offer. Although running your franchise is a full-time commitment (and can’t be done as a side hustle or part-time), you’re free to choose your working hours based your personal needs and the needs of your customers.

So, if you need to pick the kids up from school, have an appointment to attend, a dog who demands walkies, or just fancy meeting up with a friend for an afternoon coffee, you can work your business around your day without the guilt of taking time away from your desk.

Many of our Travel Counsellors have commented on the better work-life balance they have since joining us. As a homeworker, you’ll be saying goodbye to the commute and hello to more time to do what matters to you.

Earning potential

As a Travel Counsellor, your earnings are completely uncapped – so the more effort you put into your business, the bigger the rewards you’ll reap. Some of our best-performing business owners have multi-million pound franchises, so just imagine how much potential there is to change your financial situation.

Whether you’re restricted by earning caps in your current travel sales role, or just want to be in control of your pay packet, we can give you all the support you need to get off to a flying start.

Best-in-class technology

In case you missed it, this year we’ll be investing £15 million to improve our technology to help our franchisees provide an even better experience for their customers.

Our in-house booking platform, Phenix, is a single, integrated system that lets you search flights, accommodation, cruises, attractions, tours, and car hire all in one place, so you can package up the perfect trip. Phenix is linked with the myTC mobile app, which gives your customers all their information, payment options, and documentation in one handy place.

Plus, we’ve recently rolled out ‘TC Journeys’, which allows you to browse and customise a wide range of pre-made, curated itineraries – making it quicker and easier than ever to get quotes over to your customers.

Ability to work in teams or employ your own staff

There’s a misconception that being a franchisee means working on your own, all of the time. In fact, Travel Counsellors are encouraged to team up with other franchisees to build and grow their businesses. This is great while you’re finding your feet, as you can learn from your teammates and start earning quicker than if you were going it alone. Plus, as your franchise becomes more established, having a team can help during those busy periods when it can be difficult to manage enquiries on your own.

Some of our Travel Counsellors also look to employ assistants to help them run their business and handle enquiries – this can be a partner, family member, or friend. Although this isn’t something you’d do straight away, it’s a great option later down the line when your franchise has gotten off the ground. It’s also perfect for anyone who wants to build a family business – something that many of our franchisees have done.

Regular calls with our business coaches

We’re committed to helping you achieve all the goals you have for your business, which is why we offer all Travel Counsellors regular calls with our ILM-qualified business coaches. They will work with you on a one-on-one basis, identifying any areas where you could improve and giving you the tools you need to overcome any blockers. It’s their sole job to get you and your business performing at its very best, and we receive so much positive feedback from Travel Counsellors who credit our coaching team as playing a key part in the success of their franchise.

A dedicated mentor

All new joiners will be assigned a personal mentor for the first six months of their journey. The mentor is always an established Travel Counsellor who’s achieving amazing things with their business, so you’ll be learning from the best.

Although our mentoring scheme officially only lasts for six months, we very often find that our Travel Counsellors maintain the relationship on a permanent, informal basis. In fact, it’s through the mentoring programme that our business owners form lifelong friendships, and in some cases, business partners.

Being part of our caring and supportive community

We truly believe that our tight-knit community is one of the key things that sets us apart from other franchises on the market – and this is echoed by Travel Counsellors that we speak to. Our business owners love the amount of opportunities they have to connect with fellow franchisees. Whether that’s taking part in our virtual coffee mornings, seeking advice and support on our TC World forum, or getting together at regular celebratory events and our annual conference, there’s plenty to get involved with.

Opportunities to enhance your knowledge

Travel Counsellors have plenty of opportunities to attend training sessions (both in-person and virtually) to enhance their knowledge of products and suppliers, as well as develop their skills in marketing and growing their customer base. Here’s what some of our Travel Counsellors got up to on a recent drop-in day hosted by Virgin Voyages.

The chance to experience products and destinations first-hand

Thanks to our strong supplier relationships, we’re able to offer regular FAM trips throughout the year. For people who aren’t familiar with the concept of FAM trips, they’re a chance to experience a particular hotel or destination to familiarise yourself with everything it has to offer – so you can better sell it to your customers.

These kinds of opportunities are highly valued by our business owners, with many who have been on such trips seeing an increase in bookings for the place they visited.

Help with reaching new customers online

When running your business, it can be difficult to juggle all the tasks that come with it – including marketing yourself and getting your name out there. Something that Travel Counsellors really appreciate is our in-house marketing team, who provide weekly assets to keep your social media feeds fresh and exciting. From monthly content calendars to editable templates, we make it quick and easy to market your business and attract new customers.

Have you been bowled over by the breadth of support and benefits we can offer you? If you’re ready to experience everything we’ve talked about in this blog and more, get in touch with our friendly New Franchise team for a chat about where Travel Counsellors could take you.