Janine Marshall says she ‘accidentally fell into travel’ during COVID when a green tea business she’d been running since 2010 started to fail, which she put down to the pandemic.
A friend recommended she joined InteleTravel, just to book her own trips, but she left after only ‘about a year’ when she realised she wanted the freedom to sell her own packages, with her own ATOL.
“Selling travel wasn’t something I was looking to do, but I have built and grown other businesses in the last 15 years and I fell in love with travel during what was quite a depressing time for the world,” she said.
“I realised this was something I wanted to pursue and grow. However, I didn’t want to follow InteleTravel’s recruiting process and instead I built my own website.”
Janine launched Janine Loves Travel, under the Protected Trust Services umbrella, last year, and now has ‘around’ 250 franchisees signed up to her homeworking agency, which sells easyjet, Jet2, TUI and many other suppliers.
She attracts new agents via her website, which has, over the past year, ranked highly on Google for the search terms used by those looking to become travel agents, she said.
“I’ve started other businesses in the past so I have all the resources and the contacts to run my own business,” added Janine, who juggles running JLT with looking after her two young children.
Agents pay a joining fee of £197 plus between £47 and £107 a month, depending on the level of support they need, and in return receive a commission split of 80/20, which is more generous than most other franchises.
They also receive training from JLT’s inhouse training academy, which has just been re-launched, and support from the management team of eight, who are all self-employed.
“We are definitely not a corporate business, I want it to be a very friendly, supportive environment,” said Janine. “We have an amazing support system. One thing we get told a lot [by agents who have moved from other franchises] is that our support is by far the best they have come across.”
Many of JLT franchisees are new to travel, but Janine said experienced agents, including ‘a couple from The Travel Franchise’, and some ex-tour operators have joined her.
“We are a very active agency,” said Janine, adding that one of her top bookers is a paramedic who runs her travel business ‘on the side’.
JLT’s sales were around £2 million in the last six months, which, when spread across 250 members is an average of just £8,000 per agent, so clearly some JLT recruits are busier than others, but Janine said it’s not intended for those who only want to book their own travel.
The blurb on the JLT website says its members can sell holidays full-time as a ‘side venture’ or ‘hobby’, but Janine said: “We don’t focus on it being used for anything other than a business, it might be a side business or people might be doing it on a small scale but it is to be used as a business.”
Her top seller in July made sales of over £180,000, mostly booking Ambassador cruises, which is her specialist area. Three others made sales of over £20,000. One of her top cruise bookers has opened his own shop, along with another agent.
In the short-term, Janine said her focus is on improving the JLT Group systems, including its supplier database and adding more training for its agents. “We are just streamlining at the moment,” she added.
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A friend recommended she joined InteleTravel, just to book her own trips, but she left after only ‘about a year’ when she realised she wanted the freedom to sell her own packages, with her own ATOL.
“Selling travel wasn’t something I was looking to do, but I have built and grown other businesses in the last 15 years and I fell in love with travel during what was quite a depressing time for the world,” she said.
“I realised this was something I wanted to pursue and grow. However, I didn’t want to follow InteleTravel’s recruiting process and instead I built my own website.”
Janine launched Janine Loves Travel, under the Protected Trust Services umbrella, last year, and now has ‘around’ 250 franchisees signed up to her homeworking agency, which sells easyjet, Jet2, TUI and many other suppliers.
She attracts new agents via her website, which has, over the past year, ranked highly on Google for the search terms used by those looking to become travel agents, she said.
“I’ve started other businesses in the past so I have all the resources and the contacts to run my own business,” added Janine, who juggles running JLT with looking after her two young children.
Agents pay a joining fee of £197 plus between £47 and £107 a month, depending on the level of support they need, and in return receive a commission split of 80/20, which is more generous than most other franchises.
They also receive training from JLT’s inhouse training academy, which has just been re-launched, and support from the management team of eight, who are all self-employed.
“We are definitely not a corporate business, I want it to be a very friendly, supportive environment,” said Janine. “We have an amazing support system. One thing we get told a lot [by agents who have moved from other franchises] is that our support is by far the best they have come across.”
Many of JLT franchisees are new to travel, but Janine said experienced agents, including ‘a couple from The Travel Franchise’, and some ex-tour operators have joined her.
“We are a very active agency,” said Janine, adding that one of her top bookers is a paramedic who runs her travel business ‘on the side’.
JLT’s sales were around £2 million in the last six months, which, when spread across 250 members is an average of just £8,000 per agent, so clearly some JLT recruits are busier than others, but Janine said it’s not intended for those who only want to book their own travel.
The blurb on the JLT website says its members can sell holidays full-time as a ‘side venture’ or ‘hobby’, but Janine said: “We don’t focus on it being used for anything other than a business, it might be a side business or people might be doing it on a small scale but it is to be used as a business.”
Her top seller in July made sales of over £180,000, mostly booking Ambassador cruises, which is her specialist area. Three others made sales of over £20,000. One of her top cruise bookers has opened his own shop, along with another agent.
In the short-term, Janine said her focus is on improving the JLT Group systems, including its supplier database and adding more training for its agents. “We are just streamlining at the moment,” she added.
The post From green tea to travel: JLT founder talks about the rapid growth of her homeworking agency appeared first on Travel Gossip.
Continue reading...
