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Critical Question:
How much time do you spend weekly developing new marketing strategies, analysing test and measure results, instigating relationships with other businesses and the host of other necessary activities that make the difference between a successful business and an average (going broke slowly) business?
As a business coach with experience in owning, managing or consulting to over one hundred small to medium size businesses this key question above and more importantly the answer to it, determines more than any other factor whether your home based travel agency will succeed or not.
You see the simple fact I have noticed with successful businesses is that they spend 5-10 + hours per week working on the key critical success factors of their business.
The under performing small business simply DOES NOT spend enough time working on their critical success areas. I am sorry to be so black and white about this but this is the simple truth.
What are these critical factors? I believe there are only 4 main areas to spend the majority of your "working on the business time".
1. MARKETING: Work on marketing promotions which will lead to more prospects enquiring with your home based travel agency. Work on marketing promotions that lead to repeat customers coming back more frequently and work on marketing strategy to enable clients to spend more with you on average.
2. SALES AND TEAM TRAINING: Put focus on training of your team or your self (if you are a sole trader). Directly getting better at product knowledge and sales skills enables a better sales result over the long term.
3. SYSTEMS: Create and fine tune internal systems around customer service, and the most important day to day functions. These must be put in writing.
4. FINANCIAL: Do you have a profit and loss monthly? Do you review daily or weekly your cash position, your debtors and creditors? Do you have a budget for the year ahead with regards to income and expenditure?
The key to your success as a business is to spend some proactive, quality time each week working ON your business. I believe all home based travel agency owners or manager should spend 3 - 5 hours per week on average working on these crucial areas.
This is a fundamental truth of ALL highly successful businesses yet from our experience working with hundreds of others, spending proactive time is largely neglected or ignored. This is never done intentionally. Everyone strives to do the best they can but if you think that travel consulting is all you should do every day then this is flawed thinking.
After all someone needs to do the planning, marketing, sales and product knowledge training, financial mastery, systemizing, managing and set clear goals for the future.
If I mentioned that working on the critical areas is the key to dramatic business improvement and massive success would this change your mind? You must continually work on the key performance areas in your business proactively each week rather than always be the technician in your business.
Without looking to constantly improve, your business is heading towards the scrap heap of mediocrity. This is how 90% of all small businesses play the game. Unfortunately this is why 80% of all small businesses will not exist 5 years into their existence.
Critical Question 2: Can you spend 3-5 hours per week every week working within the critical areas of marketing, sales and product knowledge training, financial mastery and systemizing a key policy or procedure?
Michael Gerber, in his groundbreaking book, "The E-Myth," tells the story best. Michael comments about the "E" which stands for "Entrepreneur." By the way, you must read this book if you have not already.
Michael talks about the challenge with virtually all small business owners is they are the technician or the practitioner in their own business.
A great baker thinks he can run a very successful bakery. A great real estate agent thinks he can completely successful running their real estate agency and a great café owner thinks she can run a fantastic café.
But just because you can technically provide your service, does not mean you will be good at running a very profitable and successful travel business that offers this service.
Critical Point:
The fact is that running a small business requires a completely different set of skills to the travel services and product you provide.
Therefore if you are only working in your business, providing your service and acting as the technician, you will constantly miss out on the opportunity to grow the business.
To be successful in business you have to be good at
1. Marketing
2. Sales
3. Teamwork and product knowledge
4. Systemizing your policy and procedures
5. Financial mastery around your business
6. Leadership and having a long term and short term vision
7. Time management and day to day management of your agency
Be weak in any of these areas and your business will struggle.
This is a crucial point we find is lacking in EVERY business failure regrettably or ever under performing or mediocre business. This fact, expertly told by Gerber, should be essential understanding for everyone in a home based travel agency business.
In the past 15 years, business coach Brian Jackway has owned, trained, managed and coached 146 different businesses to develop sustained, relentless business growth. To take advantage of this inside knowledge and to get your free report on successfully building your travel business go to http://www.travelagencysuccess.com
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