As a travel advisor, there comes a point where, after you’ve been in the industry for a while and are well-established, you start to think about what’s next. As a small business entrepreneur, you’ll want to preserve the legacy and integrity of what you’ve built.
This can be a bittersweet thought; it can be hard to move on from something you’ve spent so much time and effort building. But it also means that you’ve built your business to a point where it is a known and desired commodity.
When it comes time to form a succession plan for your travel business, there are many different factors to consider. If you’re feeling any apprehension around letting go or anxious about how you can make sure whoever takes over your travel business will be a good steward, here are some tips to keep in mind.
Consider Relevant Questions
One way to make sure you’re properly creating a succession plan for your travel business is to prepare as if you’re handing it over tomorrow. Think about the relevant questions that would need answers immediately were you not the leader of your business. What happens to existing bookings? Who’s in charge? How should future bookings be filed? These and any other questions you think of should be addressed properly and promptly so that when the time comes to step aside, your business is ready.
Chart Your Business Processes
If you’ve been in business long enough, a lot of the processes you use to carry out your day-to-day routine might be second nature by now. But that doesn’t mean that they will be for the person you’ve chosen for the succesion plan for your travel business.
Make sure that when the time comes to hand your business over, you’ve created a thorough guide of your operations. This should be more than just a cheat sheet. Even if you feel like something you write down feels silly, it might not feel that way to the person reading it.
Determining Skills and Experience Required for Key Positions
For each critical role within your travel agency, create a detailed job description that outlines the essential skills, experience, and qualifications required for success in that position. Consider the current and future needs of your agency, and anticipate how these requirements may evolve over time. An added benefit: these job descriptions can be used as a benchmark when evaluating potential successors and identifying any skill gaps that need to be addressed through training and development programs.
Creating a Timeline for Implementation
Of course, you’re not going to hand over your business and everything you’ve built on a lark. Careful and thoughtful consideration needs to be given for the succession plan for your travel business. You need to think about when the right time might be. If you know when your busy season is, it might not be the smartest move to commit to handing things over.
Ideally, your succession process and planning should be gradual over the course of a few years so that you have a clear exit point to aim for. You should have at the very least the broad strokes outlined for someone else to take over – especially to be prepared for an emergency.
Balancing Short-Term and Long-Term Needs
Succession planning is a long-term process. But in the short term, you also have business to attend to. There’s clients to serve, revenue to generate, fires to put out. It's a balancing act.
You can't neglect your day-to-day operations, but you also can't sacrifice your future for short-term gains. The solution? Integrate succession planning into your regular business operations. Make it a priority, not an afterthought.
It can be hard to think about moving on where you’re still very much a practicing travel advisor. But if it’s important to you, make the time for it. Maybe clients who come to you that would usually be “yeses” can be a “no” here and there. After all, creating a gradual runway off to handing off your business will make the transition feel more seamless rather than being extremely busy and then stopping altogether.
Take the Time for Gratitude
Letting go of something you love can be hard. We’re all in the travel business because we love it, and if you’re a travel advisor, you want to share this passion with others and plan trips with and for them that they’ll remember the rest of their lives. That’s not something to be taken lightly!
If you’ve built a successful travel business and are planning on moving to the next step in life, you should take the time to celebrate what you’ve accomplished. Leaving your business as an entrepreneur is a big life change. When you decide it’s time to walk away and try something new, take a step back to see all that you’ve accomplished. You’ll be grateful you did and feel excited about the direction your business is headed next.