For years, Anna was the friend everyone turned to before a trip.
“Where should I stay?” “What should I do?” “Is this a good idea?” She had travelled through Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Australia, spent three years exploring Asia and lived and worked in Australia for two, so the questions never stopped coming. She just never got paid for any of the answers.
Then last year she was made redundant from a job she had been unhappy in for a long time. For a lot of people that would be the low point. For Anna, it turned out to be the moment her life changed for the better.
Turning redundancy into an opportunity
Rather than rush into another job she didn’t want, Anna asked herself a simple question. What could she do with her redundancy that she would actually love? The answer had been staring at her for years.
She did her research properly before committing. She looked at the cheaper options on the market, but they were not what she was after.
“You’ve got the cheaper places, but that’s not really what I wanted, because I believe that’s a lot more marketing than it is actually travel.”
The Travel Franchise felt different. It came across as a well-established company with genuine support behind it and a huge range of suppliers, and for Anna that made the decision.
“It felt right for me. It was an opportunity of a lifetime, really.”
Now she is doing the thing she was always good at, except this time it is her business.
“I’m a lot happier and I actually enjoy what I’m doing. I’m very passionate about it, I love making sure it’s right for the client.”
What the Money-Back Challenge is
When Anna joined, she set her sights on the Money-Back Challenge, one of the most distinctive things we offer our consultants, because we believe their success is our success.
The idea is simple. Hit the Money-Back Challenge target and we refund your entire franchise fee. That means you can build your travel business, reach the target and get the money you originally invested in the franchise back. We offer it because we believe in the model, the training and the support we give our consultants, and we are willing to put our money behind that belie
For Anna, it was never far from her mind.
“I had it in the back of my mind the whole time. There were ups and downs, and I was thinking, can I do it, can I not do it. So I just gave it my all, and luckily it happened.”
When the call came from co-founder Steve Witt to tell her she had done it, the emotion caught up with her.
“When Steve called, I just couldn’t believe it. I had a few tears in my eyes, but happy tears. I was over the moon. All my hard work had paid off.”
Everything she was up against
What makes Anna’s achievement remarkable is not just that she hit the target. It is everything she was dealing with while she did it.
Just six weeks after starting her business, Anna completely ruptured her ACL. She was on crutches and largely bed-bound at first, then spent around four months in rehab before undergoing surgery, which put her back on crutches and unable to drive for another six or seven weeks. All the way through, she was building a brand-new business while committing an enormous amount of time to her recovery. She is still in rehab now, with potentially another six to twelve months ahead of her.
Then, earlier this year, she found a lump and went through a breast cancer scare, with further investigations and an operation to remove it. Thankfully everything turned out okay, but it was a frightening time on top of everything else.
Through all of it, she kept the business moving forward and never lost sight of the target she had set herself. That is the kind of determination the Money-Back Challenge tends to reveal in people, and Anna has it in abundance.
How she did it
Anna is proof that there is no single secret, just the right support and a willingness to try everything. She credits her Business Consultant, Dickie, as phenomenal, along with Catherine and Stacy earlier in her journey. And then she got to work in every direction she could think of.
She built a strong social media presence that keeps drawing people in, including people she had not spoken to in years who are now booking with her, some three or four holidays already. She joined BNI networking and threw herself into it, often attending up to three sessions a week across Norfolk. She worked wedding fairs across Norfolk and into Essex. She ran a pop-up at a local afternoon tea. She even advertised in her church magazine for a year, which cost her £90 and brought in a steady stream of clients.
Her biggest single move was a Christmas fair at a local venue, where more than 2,500 people came through the doors over two days and Anna came away with over 360 contacts.
“I tried everything I possibly could think of to build up my clients. It’s got me to where I wanted to be.”
Like so many of our consultants, she found her customers were not always the people she expected.
“It’s weirdly how much strangers trust and want to use you, sometimes more than close friends. My family have been great, and some people I’ve met through networking have already booked three holidays with me this year. It’s a real mixture.”
The booking she is proudest of
Ask Anna about her favourite booking and she lights up talking about two widowed gentlemen, both 72, who she sent on a 35-day trip through Vietnam and Cambodia, complete with private transfers, a driver, excursions and hotels throughout.
“That was pretty cool, for them and for me. They’re over the moon and they’ve already recommended me to loads of people.”
Anna’s advice to anyone thinking about it
Anna is honest about what it takes, and her advice is grounded in the mindset that got her the Money-Back Challenge.
“If you’ve got the right mindset and the right positive attitude, you plant the seed to make it grow. You’ve got to put everything into it. I gave myself a two-year plan, because you’re not going to build a million-pound business in six months. It takes a few years, so it’s about having the right business mindset and knowing you need to plan for the future as well as chase the last-minute deals.”
A year on from a redundancy she never asked for, Anna has her entire franchise fee back, a growing client base and a business she genuinely loves. Not bad for the friend who used to give all her travel advice away for free.
