Elliott, a university graduate who had never worked in travel, invested in a franchise with us at just 23 years old.
Like many of our franchises, he saw it as a sideline, a way to earn money and build a business in his spare time.
Four years later in 2022 – despite his full-time job in event management – he still found time to arrange over 200 holidays taking over £700,000-worth in bookings working weekends and evenings.
With an average commission being somewhere between 10-15 per cent, Elliott is understandably happy with his investment.
“2022 was a positive year with really good sales, repeat business and good money earnt.”
So what made someone who studied sport and social science, train to become a consultant under our customer-facing Not Just Travel brand and, could you, too?
Elliott says he always loved travelling but had never thought about working in travel. But when someone asked him how he arranged such amazing trips he began looking into options on how to become a travel consultant.
“I’ve never been the creative type who would start a business completely from scratch so when I came across franchising I thought it was a good route for me to try.”
Elliott is one of thousands of people who chose the security of a franchise over starting his own business. While many new business owners struggle to become their own brand manager, accountant, lawyer, web designer and salesman, a franchise can provide many of these roles, tools, training and support as part of a package.
“I’m happy to work hard, build a client base and relationships but it’s good to have a support network at head office as well as the freedom to build your business as you want.”
So how did Elliott find all his customers? It’s easier than you think, he says. While Elliott’s partner, Bethan, helps him with social media and bringing in enquiries, most of his 600 clients come via networking groups including Business Network International (BNI) plus referrals.
“We love social media and utilise it, but word of mouth or recommendations seem to result in better leads and clients.”
When Elliott takes holiday from his full-time job, he travels as much as he can – there’s always plenty of opportunities for agents and he has a busy year of trips lined up.
Last year he enjoyed a fam trip in Las Vegas with Gold Medal and he also joined our Seminar at Sea on NCL’s new ship, Norwegian Prima.
“We try to get away as much as we can and make the most of travel perks. We can take commission off holidays and suppliers often offer incentives. When you go to a hotel you can sometimes get a nice upgrade or you can meet the manager which means a good contact for the future.”
Elliott and Bethany are currently on our International Retreat in Cyprus and Elliott will attend our Elite Experience abroad in May. Each retreat is aimed at helping agents network, experience a new destination and learn more about being an entrepreneur. They are fun-filled trips, but transformational too in terms of learning how to skyrocket your business.
He’s already experienced one of our Millionaire’s Retreats in Marrakesh and says it was a great opportunity to meet other consultants and co-founders, Paul Harrison and Steve Witt.
“They inspire you to think big and not to put a limit on what you can achieve.Between Paul and Steve and the business development managers (BDMs) there is always someone to motivate you.”
This year Elliott has a goal of selling £1.1 million-worth of holidays. Having already taken £200k in the first two months of 2023, it looks more than achievable.
Like many of our agents, he is experiencing record sales and when you consider the commission on some of the big bookings, it’s easy to see how a travel consultancy becomes more than a sideline for some franchisees.
But it’s not just about the money for Elliott.
“I love being a travel consultant. You meet so many different people and when you get to know clients you become good friends. It’s a nice feeling knowing that we are working hard and building a good business for ourselves but making sure people are having good experiences and leaving a good impression on their lives.”
So would he recommend the job to others? And how easy is it to succeed?
“It’s great to see how much Not Just Travel is growing and how many people are doing so well. As long as you work hard, follow the model and believe in yourself there’s no reason why you can’t make a success out of it. What you put in is what you get out.”
