Become a Home Based Travel Agent

An Ideal World
By: Jan Shaughnessy

Remember when you were a teenager and you thought your thirty something parents were old?  You used to ask them "What was it like in the olden days? "  I  look at pictures of my mother when she was the age I am now.  She did indeed look much older than I think I  look now, at that same age.   I remember my great grandmother, Grandma Nelson.  She always looked old to me.  She even had an old name; Bertha.  Whenever I  saw Grandma Nelson she always looked the same; old.  She was a robust lady, her hair was gray and always pulled back in a bun.  She always wore those homemade cotton calico dresses, seamed nylons, and black leather tie up shoes with one inch heals.   Year after year Grandma looked the same.  Only the color of the calico dress changed.   I liked visiting Grandma Nelson.  She made the best sugar cookies.  They were sprinkled with sugar,  soft, big and round with fluted edges, and a raisin pressed in the middle.   

Now that I am well in my fifties someone who is thirty sounds young, and sixty doesn't sound so old.   I have often wondered what would happen to my home based business and clients if something happened to me.  The recent unexpected death of Pop singer Michael Jackson, and pitch man Billy Mays, both age 50; brings home even closer the question.  What would happen if you suddenly died?  Have you prepared your home based business for your death?  Would a family member or close friend be able to just pick up your business and take care of everything?  In an ideal world,  yes.  But most of us don't live in an ideal world.

In an ideal world we would all have a will.  We would have a buddy system and our buddy would be listed as a second agent with all our suppliers.  We would all have a CRM program and our buddy would know any passwords and have total access.  Our buddy would be able to pick right up where we left off and no one would be the wiser.  What?  You don't have a buddy.  Ok, let's look at ideal world #2. 

Ideal world #2.  You have a will, and you've also designated someone as power of attorney.  Preferably this is not your spouse.  You most likely travel often with your spouse and worse case scenario you both could be tragically killed in an accident.  In ideal world #2 you've made it easy for anyone to come in and take care of your business.  You've put together a  notebook with all the information needed.  The  notebook sits in a basket within easy reach of your computer.  It contains the name of your agency, address and phone numbers you use to register with suppliers and your IATAN or CLIA numbers.  It contains your lawyers and accountants name and contact information.  It contains your agency bank account numbers, agency credit card numbers,  and any special accounts you may have,  like Bank of America Global Commissions. You will list any special accounts or associations that need renewing such as Error and Omissions, insurance policies, and associations you belong like NACTA.  You will have a separate list with all supplier websites you use and the passwords and contacts number of the supplier. email accounts and passwords, and a list of any special programs you use and their passwords. You definitely would have a CRM program updated with all client names and contact information.   Our ideal world #2 would have an updated print out of all our current bookings with a minimum of passengers last name, supplier and booking number, and date of travel and when final payment is due.   The notebook would also have an updated accounting spread sheet of bookings with last name, booking number, supplier, commission owed, and whether commission had been paid and date if paid.   

If only we lived in an ideal world.  I'm sure you may think of other things your ideal world notebook should have. Hopefully, you will never need your ideal world notebook and you will live a long and happy life.  But just in case, is your ideal world ready?