COVID19 Won't Stop Me

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Not only is travel being affected around the world, it is now being affected right here at home, in the good old USA. My travel business was born after a layoff from a mom-and-pop shop in Brandon, FL, laid me off in 2018. I had worked there just shy of 11 years. It was horrible timing and bad judgement on their part as I had just come back from a trip to Paris, France, Lucerne, Switzerland and Munich, Germany with my daughter, Tori, who was a Senior in High School at the time. We absolutely loved the trip! A week later, I was unemployed.

While I was interviewing and job hunting, I had several people (including my daughter, Taylor, and my mom) say that I should go into business for myself. I got to thinking and it was weighing heavy on my mind. Being a single mom, I didn't feel it was necessarily something I should do just yet, as I needed to support my kids. After running into a Franchising Consultant at a local job fair, I felt that God was trying to tell me something. So I started looking into opening a Franchise. But then there was another issue...what kind of franchise?

After I set up a free consultation with the Franchising Consultant, I found that most franchises wanted you to have a net-worth of $250,000 - $400,000 or more before they would allow you to invest. What kind of "Normal Joe" off the street would have that kind of money to invest? I was a single mom with no job, a 12-week severance package and approximately $25,000 in a 401k. When he heard of what I actually had to my name in the way of finances, he informed me that he would not be able to help me get into a franchise. However, he did offer up a piece of advice. Someone had once told him that there are some smaller franchises that allow you to buy in for approximately $10,000 and one was Chick-fil-A. 

This sparked my interest and I took to the internet to start my research. After mulling through tons of articles, business websites, franchise information, etc. I happened to come across a franchise for a cruise agency. This piqued my interest as a year prior I had taken my first cruise. While I had started researching this, I thought of how much I loved to travel. From an early age, my mom had opened my eyes to it. We had taken many trips back home to Wisconsin over the years and she always found new places to stop along the way. The road trips were always the best! We had been to Mammoth Caves in Kentucky, Ruby Falls, Rock City, Lookout Mountain in TN, Boone, IN, Chicago, IL and so many other cool places. However, I felt that this cruise franchise was not for me as I wanted to do more than just cruises. Don't get me wrong, I love to cruise and hopefully will be going on another one in May (if it doesn't get cancelled from COVID19!). Cruises are where you only unpack once, and travel to many destinations with tons of fun activities onboard. However, I loved the Europe trip and the ability to visit multiple land destinations in one trip.

Now that I was a little more versed in the art of finding inexpensive franchises, I was on the hunt again for a travel franchise where I could help many people check off their travel bucket lists. Lo and behold, I found the mother load!!! Cruise Planners is a travel  agency franchise that is not just about cruises but also an expert in land destinations. So I started researching Cruise Planners with the BBB, blogs, websites, the franchise home website, etc. I was seriously considering this route. So, I contacted them and obtained all of their franchise paperwork. It took me days to read through it and I prayed on the decision to buy into this franchise or not.

Obviously you know the next part as you are reading about this on my website's blog :) 

Here I am, almost two years into my franchise and loving every moment. However, due to how the travel industry payments work, you do not get paid until after your client travels and then it is commission based. So......

After three months in the travel market, I had burned through most of my savings, the 401k funds I had cashed out to buy the franchise and my severance, so August 2018 I went back to work as a Business Analyst full time. This time, I had a plan in place. I planned that in three to five years I would replace half of my income with people traveling every month and I would quit my full time job to just work the travel business. I also figured that during slow months, I could consult or contract as a Business Analyst/Product Owner/Project Manager with all of my experience.

AND THEN COVID19 happened!!!!!

Now we are all "isolated" to our homes to work remote, many travelers or cruise lines/hotels/land suppliers have cancelled travel until at least May and us Travel Advisers are losing money and no one is wanting new travel booked. 

The travel industry is not the only business to take a hit during the pandemic. While I was working remotely as a Sr. Business Analyst in my full time role, I was laid off (again) just two days ago. While this is a horrible time to be out of work, it also is giving me a much needed break from working two jobs for the past year and a half. Just the breather that I needed (even if only for a few weeks).

However, I am still a single mom with one daughter in her junior year of college (yes, I know that doesn't add up if she graduated high school in 2018, but she entered as a sophomore from all of her dual enrollment courses) and the other as a sophomore in High School. I receive little to no support from their dad and neither one has a job so I am fully supporting them (and their car insurance which now that Taylor is driving is astronomical). I have no doubt I will be working another full time job by the end of April (if I need to).

I can't help but think that this might be a catalyst to get me closer to my dream of running my agency full time. I am currently job hunting again for a full time job to get my girls out of high school/college where I will have the ability to travel more and to be able to live on less money in the long run. My three to five year plan is still in the works, but might be closer to five years now instead of three. This COVID19 is slowing down business substantially. UNLESS, you all help me out and then I can make this dream a reality NOW.

My hopes are to be able to find a consulting/contract position in my field of software, preferably by working remote. I would love to travel while I still work remote. Who says that you have to be strapped to a desk in your home/city for you to be able to work remotely? Did you know that the country of Georgia allows you to visit there for a full 365 days without a visa? All you need is a US passport. Although, this pandemic has everyone panicked, and rightfully so, it is going to be over eventually and I would like to keep my options open. 

If I am to book a lot of people to travel this summer, fall and winter now during the pandemic (you KNOW that everyone's cabin fever is going to make them stir crazy), then I could possibly speed up that three to five year plan to be fully into my business by the end of year two and it would be a complete success. If I can do this, anyone can, BUT I NEED YOUR HELP!!

So where do you want to go next? What destinations are on your Bucket List? What is your budget? When do you want to travel? Support a small business owner in her time of need and contact me today (or fill out below form) to plan your next trip (I currently have the time!! LOL)

Stay healthy and safe out there everyone!

#COVID19 #SupportSmallBusinesses #TravelISLife #BUCKETLISTTRAVEL #CPStrong #NOTgoingtoletCOVID19getmedown #COVID19Layoff #CruisePlannersofValrico #BucketListTravelUSA #KonitzerFamilyTravel

 

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