Travel consultant Ross is celebrating this week: his franchise has just cost him nothing (that’s right, £0)! After joining in December 2020, there was only one goal on his mind and that was to sell enough holidays to become a ‘Money Back Challenge’ winner.
“9 months of hard work and sometimes late nights have paid off. All those initial set-up costs are now for FREE. I hope this shows others out there that the money-back challenge is 100% achievable.
The money I paid to join, get trained, get instant access to the suppliers (not to mention all the support I’ve had to date to build my business to where it is today) – I now get all of it back!
My total commission earnings to date are £40k, which I’ve now made on top of getting a free franchise. My travel business is continuing to grow with a strong client base, I have a very exciting journey ahead of me.”
Ross Johnson, Not Just Travel Consultant
What 3 things were most important to your success to date?
“Number 1 is: Referrals and repeat bookings.
15% of my turnover is from repeat bookings. So, doing an outstanding job the first time around, giving that extra level of care and attention pays off as the customer will come back.
Number 2 is: Building great relationships with your suppliers.
It’s very easy to overlook the importance of building great relationships with your favourite holiday suppliers, yet this is absolutely necessary for success. I have one person I have invested in and have a great relationship with in each of my key suppliers from Classic Collection, to Carrier, Gold Medal and Jet2.
Number 3: Take risks and reinvest profits.
Not everyone is a risk taker but it does pay off if you get it right. In the past 9 months we’ve invested approx. £10k in marketing and PR. The commissions I earned I chose to reinvest back into the business. We’ve featured in the Sunday Times, London Evening Standard, twice in the Guardian. We are about to feature in the National Geographic luxury collection.”
For those who are not familiar with the Money-Back Challenge, what is it?
“When I first booked my call with Paul, I was set on joining with the Lite package. I had another job alongside so I wanted to start slow.
But after speaking with Paul I decided to go with the Elite. I wanted access to all the business support and most importantly the money-back challenge.
After my call I Googled ‘how to start a travel business’ and realised A) How expensive the licenses were B) How complicated it would be to get started and the work involved to start from zero. Rather than join a franchise with a proven model and everything you need to earn from day 1.
So, after joining The Travel Franchise and doing the training I set in motion my business plan with 1 sole outcome: To win the money-back challenge.
You do this by selling an agreed amount of holidays within a certain timeframe. You’ll get more details by speaking with Paul.
Seeing as I was starting a travel business I was planning to sell holidays anyway and this extra incentive to win my full franchise fee back in full was too good to miss.”
Want to take advantage of the money-back challenge? Book a call with Paul here
What’s a key differentiator for your travel business?
“The level of customer care and personalisation is a big one. We go much further than a traditional travel agency. As personal travel consultants we help with every aspect of holiday planning, from flights and hotels to cruises and package holidays.
Another differentiator is the Climate Hero initiative. When you join Not Just Travel you have the opportunity to be part of the amazing environmental initiative there. Rebecca Woolford heads up the project within the business.
Every booking can help to protect and restore our planet, so your customers can feel even better about going on holiday.”
Now that you’ve achieved the Money-Back challenge, what’s next?
“My aim is to get to platinum 1-star. This is the top-level within the franchise where all the heavy hitters are. I would also like to reach a half-million turnover within my first year.”
What would you say to someone sitting in the same place you were 9 months?
“If someone is deciding whether to do it or not I’d say, ‘it’s yours for the taking!’
It’s 100% what you make it. If you want to make it part-time and have a side hustle, at bare minimum you’ll get cheaper holidays. But if you put the time and effort, the zoom calls and networking mornings, it’s your business to grow and make as successful, as quickly as you want to.
I’ve reached the Money-Back Challenge all without reaching out to my immediate friendship circles.
Over the next year I will explore my ‘everyone you know’ list more.”
