Becoming a personal travel consultant wasn’t in Jane’s plans for retirement. Then, she realised it could be the perfect next career.
When Jane was about to retire from the police force she knew she wasn’t ready to stop working. Then a conversation with some ex-colleagues about their travel business made her realise what she wanted to do next.
Watch her interview and find out:
- Why she chose to start a travel business
- The reason it’s perfect for her retirement
- Her favourite holidays to plan and book for customers
Jane didn’t have a fixed plan at first
Originally Jane planned to go and work in a supermarket, but it rapidly became clear that wouldn’t be the right choice for her. Then, she spoke to ex-colleagues Rachael & Colman Coyne who’d set up their own award-winning Not Just Travel franchise.
After their conversation, Jane realised she had the same passion for travel. And that meant she could follow in their footsteps.
“I hadn’t considered travel at first, if I’m honest. But I do all the family travel anyway. So why not do it for other people and then get rewarded for it?
There’s that extra layer of responsibility when you’re looking after other people. But it’s helping people, and making them happy. What more could you want?”
Jane also loves the fact that the business is totally flexible and works around her.
“Because it’s your own business, there are no targets.
You can do as much or as little as you want. That really appealed to me.”
Now Jane loves her second career as a personal travel consultant
With full training and daily support, Jane’s found the switch of careers to be seamless.
Although she didn’t get off to the fastest start, business has now built up to become a successful long-term endeavour.
In fact, she recently made £28k in bookings from ex-colleagues in just one week, including a £19k booking to Disneyland.
“When I was retiring, I was telling people what I was doing next.
Over the four years since I’ve retired, we’ve not really spoken.
But she’s on my friends list on social media. She remembered me, so she rang me up out of the blue.”
But making big bookings isn’t what drives Jane. It’s doing a great job for customers that gives her the most satisfaction.
“I’m a bit strange, because I really like doing the research. I I think ‘if this was my holiday, would I stay in those hotels?’ I want it to be good for the customer. It doesn’t matter where my customers go or how much they spend, they all get that level of service from me.”
Jane’s a big fan of all the support and guidance she gets
When travel shut down during the pandemic, we’re proud to say we did everything possible to support franchisees and their customers. As your business partners, we’re here to help you be successful long-term.
Jane was particularly appreciative of the support she got while people couldn’t travel, ensuring she could come back stronger.
“The head office was absolutely brilliant. All of the things that they did for us, with all of the support, advice and guidance. And we had training sessions and regular updates. I can’t fault their support.”
