What does the future hold for home-based agents and small agencies?
Jill Wykes, PAXnews
We asked The Travel Agent Next Door founder, Flemming Friisdahl, to look in his crystal ball and predict the future for home-based agents and small agencies.
Why do so many agents go the home-based route?
Travel agents who work in a storefront today often make between $25,000 to $40,000 and yet those agents can be bringing in well over $100,000 in commission. Those agents often feel that they should be getting a bigger piece of the pie. Many storefront location agents have to work flex hours, and this can be hard on their personal lives.
Going home-based allows more flexibility in the time you spend at work versus being free to enjoy your life. You will not work less, however you will work the hours that best suit your lifestyle.
Most agents want to sell what they want to sell, and often in a storefront the owner makes the decision on what should be sold and determines things like service fees for a client who is buying a net air ticket with a cruise. Being independent allows you to decide what you sell and how much you charge your clients.