Do you have to work full time as a travel consultant to achieve our Money-Back Challenge where we refund your franchise fee if you make a set amount of commission in your first 12 months?
Not if you’re Jarrad…
He achieved the Challenge in just over six months and not only was he new to travel but he was only working part time!
“I’m over the moon. My goal was to achieve it in 12 months but the business has gone so much better than i imagined!”
Based in Wales, Jarrad, 30, studied business finance at university before gaining a professional accountancy qualification. After seven years working for a range of large multinationals Jarrad did some soul searching.
“I didn’t really feel a sense of worth in that I was one very small cog of an almighty wheel and I didn’t get that sense of I’m actually making a difference to people’s lives and that’s what I always wanted.”
Jarrad began working part time as a finance manager for an arts charity in Wales and loved it. Finally he was making a difference!
However, at the back of his mind he kept thinking about his passion for travel and after researching The Travel Franchise and having a chat to our co-founder Paul, he realised that he could work in travel without any former experience AND run it alongside his other job.
All he needed to do was to take the plunge and at the end of 2023 Jarrad did – spurred on by the knowledge that a milestone birthday was around the corner.
“It’s undoubtedly the best decision that I’ve ever made… 12 months ago I was working 40 hours a week doing a job that was really taxing, really rigid and I didn’t have the flexibility to be able to get that work-life balance. Now I’m in a position where I’ve got the business and the part-time job that really works around me and my life. It’s been life changing.”
And Jarrad has also found the time to travel, attending a ‘fam’ (educational) trip with Fred Olsen cruises and joining us on our company Seminar at Seas, a week-long cruise where we host onboard seminars to help improve consultants’ knowledge of what’s one of the fastest growing sectors in the industry.
“The Seminar at Sea is a concept where basically everybody gets an opportunity to attend a cruise with game-changing training sessions from experts. It was a great opportunity to meet people and learn about the product first hand.”
Jarrad says that the funniest thing is that he didn’t used to think much of cruising.
“I went on my first cruise back in 2019 after I was dragged kicking and screaming by my granddad who was in his eighties. I had a lot of misconceptions about cruise but when I got on board I had the best two weeks’ holiday I’ve ever experienced. I caught the bug.”
To show his appreciation, he invited his grandad on the Fred Olsen fam trip cruise around the Norwegian fjords. “It’s a place he’d not been to and always wanted to visit and now he has, aged 83! It was a real dream come true moment for us both and memories that will last a lifetime!”
While Jarrad admits the learning curve has been steep and it took hard work to beat our Challenge, he says it was all possible thanks to the support given by our business development managers (BDMs).
“Training is an intense week but you learn so much and the business development managers are just incredible at what they do. The amount of experience that they bring to the table really allowed me to get up to speed with that knowledge of travel.”
In fact Jarrad says the training and support was one of the reasons he chose The Travel Franchise.
“I did a huge amount of research into all the different franchises out there and for me, as I was new to travel, I needed something that was going to give me that intense training, that was going to give me that support that I needed in the early months. Not Just Travel and The Travel Franchise just jumped out a mile from the competition.”
And if Jarrad needs help crafting an itinerary to a destination he doesn’t know very well, our amazing partners – over 450 travel suppliers – are always on hand to help.
“It may be the case that I’m not an expert in a specific destination, but I know we’ve got a BDM who will know it like the back of their hand and a supplier who specialises in that destination as well. So together I think we can form a specialism in any destination or holiday type in the world.”
And Jarrad has also carved out his own specialism. Perhaps it’s his gift for numbers combined by his altruistic nature, but he’s clearly gaining a reputation locally for helping families achieve their dream holiday no matter what budget they have.
“With spend pressures and budgets getting tighter for lots of families many feel initially that they can’t get a holiday that fits them. I’ve had a lot of feedback from clients who can’t believe what I’ve been able to put together for their families within their budgets. Hearing that the kids were ecstatic and crying happy tears have been some of the nicest things to hear so far!”
