Travel Counsellors versus MLM – what sets us apart

Are you considering starting your own travel business but are wary of the pitfalls of MLM schemes? You're not alone. With many options available, it's crucial to understand the differences and make an informed decision.

Here at Travel Counsellors, we’re worlds apart from MLM travel companies and pyramid schemes. This blog post will explore what makes us different and why we might be the right choice for you.

The Travel Counsellors difference

You’re a credible business owner, not a headhunter

Travel Counsellors offers a trusted franchise that’s genuinely been changing lives since 1994. Unlike MLM schemes, which rely heavily on recruitment, our focus is on empowering you to run your own travel business and be your best. You get access to top-notch tools, training, and support, ensuring you're well-equipped to succeed.

As a Travel Counsellors franchisee, you also won’t have to recruit or train team members – a stark contrast from the very core of an MLM business. Your only focus is your business and providing outstanding service to your customers.

You’ll be trained – properly

With MLMs and pyramid schemes, it’s often the case that new joiners will be ‘trained’ by their upline (the person who recruited them, who will take a cut of their commission) – creating serious questions about the quality of the training, particularly as most people join these schemes with no previous knowledge of the travel industry.

However, when you join Travel Counsellors, you’ll have an in-depth, 10-day induction delivered by our experts – and best of all, the training is tailored to your specific needs in terms of whether you have travel industry experience or not.

Plus, our training doesn’t stop after the induction. You’ll then complete six-months of self-guided training with the support of your mentor – after which there are plenty more opportunities to improve your product and business knowledge with our year-round training programme and supplier events.

You’ll only be using social media to grow your business

Going back to our previous point about recruiting, many people who work for MLMs approach people on social media to join their team. You might have even experienced someone slide into your DMs yourself, saying they’ve noticed ‘your passion for travel’ and ‘how you’d be a great fit’. This is usually followed by a mention of a ‘travel programme’ or an invite to watch a webinar.

One of the many issues with MLMs is that business owners spend far more time soliciting people on social media than they actually do selling holidays. On the contrary, as a Travel Counsellor, you’ll only be using social media to spread the word about your business and reach new customers.

Book for genuine customers, not personal gain

The majority of MLMs entice people in with the promise of being able to make huge savings and/or earnings on personal travel bookings. With us, we’re all about the customer and creating luxury, tailormade experiences they can’t get anywhere else - from an almost endless product inventory thanks to our unrivalled supplier relationships. So, if you’re genuinely passionate about empowering people to explore the world, rather than saving a bit of cash on your family holiday, we’d advise you steer clear of MLMs.

You and your customers will also benefit from the support of our 24/7 duty office, who will be there for you if something goes wrong – how many MLMs can say that support is just a phone call away, whatever the time of day?

A full-time business venture rather than a side hustle

With MLMs, you can usually work as little as you want – with some people only doing a handful of hours per week around other jobs or caring duties. And with that, you have to question the lack of financial reward.

At Travel Counsellors, it’s completely different. We stipulate that running your franchise is a full-time commitment (with the flexibility to choose hours that work for you and your customers). Not only is this because we need you to be there for customers, but also because we want you to reap the financial rewards that come with hard work. Thanks to our uncapped commission structure, your destiny is in your hands – with absolutely no targets or pressure. You need an entrepreneurial spirit and a drive to succeed to be a Travel Counsellor, which is why we’re very selective about who we bring into our community.

“You can’t become a travel agent overnight” – hear from Travel Counsellor of four years, Emma Whiteman

“I’ve been seeing a lot of things on social media recently about travel agents and ‘side hustles’. I started as a Travel Counsellor just over four years ago, and my own hard work and determination has got me to my current position.

“You can’t become a travel agent overnight. It’s a complex industry and things don’t always go smoothly – natural disasters, cancelled flights, and pandemics are just a few of the things you have to navigate. It takes someone with experience (or who has the backing of a trusted, reputable company), to know how to deal with these kinds of issues when they arise. I look after people’s holidays as if they were my own trips.”

Whether you’re looking to turn your passion for travel into a career, or already have years of experience in the industry, we can help you set up a successful travel business – safe in the knowledge that you’ve got the backing of a credible, award-winning travel company with a long-standing history. If you think you’d be a great fit for our supportive community, we’d love to meet you at one of our informal Discovery events. Take a look at what we've got coming up and book your place today!