How Support Varies For Homeworking Travel Companies

All travel businesses have different support needs, but when it comes to homeworking travel companies, those needs can vary quite widely not just from other types of businesses, but from each other. While travel agents and tour operators tend to follow a basic structure based on their type of business, there are so many factors that can be changed in how you work within your homeworking business.

So, of course, the way that support works for homeworkers can be a little complicated. This depends on so many factors that you might find it overwhelming. That’s why here we’re going to try and simplify things a bit. If you’re not certain what makes homeworking travel companies so different, or you want to know where to start searching for support, we can break that down for you.

Why do Homeworking Travel Companies Differ So Much?

First, let’s distinguish the two levels of a homeworking business that we’re discussing:

1. Homeworking Consortia: these are the overarching homeworking travel companies that establish a brand, a marketing strategy, an outline of what is being sold, and sometimes a client base. These are essentially the businesses hosting homeworkers.
2. Homeworkers: these are the indiviuals working under an existing brand. A homeworker tends to work alone as a travel agent, but will earn a percentage commission in return for the consortium taking charge of select areas of the business that the homeworker doesn’t want to control.

The fact that homeworking travel companies fall into these two areas is part of the reason why they can be so incredibly different from one to another. The niche, branding, and operation of the larger consortium can vary in all the same ways that a travel agent or tour operator can. On top of that, the way they manage their homeworkers, what they allow them to control, and how they support them can also vary in a myriad of ways.

If you are a homeworker, the kind of support you want can also be completely different to another homeworker. Maybe you want to work under a brand because you hate marketing, but you want to feel completely independent in all other areas. Another homeworker may just want to do the front-end work of talking to clients and booking holidays, but want all of the admin, supplier relationships, marketing, and more dealt with by someone else.

It’s also important to keep in mind, that some consortia will already have a support system of their own, like PTS. This can make a difference if you are a homeworker joining a consortium, because they will already have a lot of elements set in a very specific way.

All of these things can change how homeworking travel companies are run, and therefore the type of support you may need as a homeworker or homeworking consortium.

What Support Should Homeworking Travel Companies Look For?

So, depending on where your business falls on some factors, let’s go over a few of the biggest support elements you may be looking for.

1. Legal

Most travel businesses will be looking for legal support. Regardless of what else you might need help with, legal compliance is mandatory, and therefore, many will need a simple solution.

This could just be about complying with the Package Travel Regulations, or there might be extra legal requirements based on your niche. Regardless, on the most basic level, you will most likely be looking for support that can immediately ensure you don’t have to worry about legal compliance more than necessary.

2. Financial

Second to legal compliance, financial protection is something most businesses will be looking for support with. Whether you’re just looking for financial protection to comply with the PTRs, you’re looking for specific protection for areas of your business, or you want the best financial protection to support your client-base, that is where businesses will differ in preference.

3. Marketing

This is one that applies more to consortia and homeworkers than other types of travel business. This is because most homeworkers will be looking for a consortium to support them, while some smaller consortia may be looking for some extra support marketing while they manage a large pool of homeworkers.

Regardless, this is an important one to consider. That’s because marketing support can make a support system significantly more expensive to join. If you do not want or need support with your branding or marketing, then ensuring you aren’t wasting important funds paying for support you won’t use will be a priority. On the other hand, if you do want that support, then finding the right marketing support for you may be worth a large chunk of your budget.

4. Software

Software can be a complete game changer for homeworking travel companies. If you are a homeworker, finding a consortium with efficient software could save you a lot of time on admin, even if you’re not looking for the consortium to take care of that area for you. Equally, for a consortium, finding the right software to host you and all your homeworkers can be vital.

Your homeworking business could skyrocket to success with the right software. It will be most important to find a system that can:

1. Host as many users as you need (with PTS, you can have unlimited users without the price changing, but depending on your other needs, this could cost extra with a different support network);
2. Give you control over what your homeworkers are and aren’t allowed to do;
3. Be simple and easy for your homeworkers to pick up and use; and
4. Do all of this without causing network issues, lagging, or crashes that will delay your business.

We recommend doing a demo with any support company you’re considering so you can see the software and ask questions to ensure your business and homeworkers will work confortably on your chosen system.

Beyond these 4 things, other support elements rely completely on your preference for your business. Whether you need an ATOL, if you want card payments, currencies, FX exchange, and set suppliers, all these things depend more on how you choose to run your business, and where you want to put your budget.

But, if you’d like to discuss your support needs further and find out if PTS (or one of our consortia members) might be a good fit for you, don’t hesitate to get in touch by emailing hellopts@protectedtrustservices.com or calling us at 0207 190 9988.