ou can sell travel anywhere, even on a
beach," said Joanie Ogg, president of the National Association of
Commissioned Travel Agents. "I've done it." A long-time
work-at-home professional, Ogg is enthusiastic about the
arrangement, which, she submitted, has its good and bad points.
The best part of the arrangement, she said, is that it places
you in charge of your own destiny. But that advantage comes with
pitfalls, notably the opportunity to procrastinate, and,
conversely, not knowing when to quit for the day.
For Ogg, the pluses outweigh the minuses: Overhead and commuting
costs are minimal; time saved on commuting enables you to get
involved in the community, also creating an opportunity to build
your database with people in that community; and you are less
likely to be away from your family for long periods.
Ogg offered the following advice for those considering setting
up their businesses at home:
• Get an expensive and comfortable chair. "You will spend a lot
of time in that chair," she said.
• Get the best computer equipment possible. You also need an
e-mail address, a fax machine, a copy machine, a telephone with
voice mail and two phone lines, "minimum." These phone lines must
be separate from home lines; use cable, if you can.
• Keep taking advantage of educational opportunities to enhance
your professionalism.
• Create a structure for your work life, with regular hours that
the family is aware of.
• Find a host agency. The easiest way might be by tapping
someone you know, your current employer or an industry
colleague.
However, the host does not have to be nearby; Nacta offers a
list of possibilities among host agencies that belong to the group,
at www.nacta.com/host.
• Obtain errors and omissions insurance. It's "so important
now," Ogg said. "You have to get it."
• Come up with your own business name; and for tax purposes, the
host agency's name should not appear on your letterhead and
business cards.
• Prepare a generic brochure that describes your business.
• Create and use a database. Your database is especially
important if you work at home, according to Ogg.
"Put all the [customer] information you can get in there," she
said. "[Also] create for yourself your personal selling system,
which includes all of your selling resources."
• Get a desktop publishing program for creating mailers and
newsletters. Ogg suggested MS Publisher. Direct mail is an easy and
effective promotional method for home-based agents, she said.
• Provide service by calling on clients. And, "it's OK to tell
your clients you don't have a life," she said. "Tell them you are
available at off hours."
Rounding out the short list of what's not so good about working
at home, Ogg lists a feeling of isolation, without the traditional
office camaraderie, and the danger of not being taken seriously as
a full-time income earner.
Ogg said she found the one fear expressed by many agents who are
contemplating taking their business home -- that clients will not
stick with them -- is not a big issue at all.
-- Nadine Godwin
Home-based biz at a glance
learly, setting up an at-home
agency business isn't just about installing phone lines, getting
business cards and finding a host agency. But, what is it
about?
Joanie Ogg,
president of the National Association of Commissioned Travel
Agents, offered a snapshot of elements and issues to be
reviewed.
• Host agency deal.
Consider what business elements the independent will be
responsible for and what will be provided by the host, such as
licensing, errors and omissions insurance; CRS costs; trade group
membership; and ARC and other identifying agency numbers.
• Revenue sharing.
When a host agency is involved, it might charge a monthly fee
for access to the services described above. There is a correlation
between the amount of that fee and the split on commissions and
fees.
For example, Ogg said, the average host keeps 30% of
commissions, but others give all the base commissions to the
independent while charging higher monthly fees for its services
and/or keeping all the overrides.
• Permits and licenses.
Check with local zoning authorities and other government bodies
for any requirements for permits to do business in the home.
Town restrictions could keep you from having ARC approval for
your home site, assuming you want one.
Also, some airlines could lift their plates just because you are
in a home setting.
• Banking.
First, Ogg said, file a business name statement, and with that
name establish two bank accounts, one for client money and the
other for the agency's operations.
The first functions as a trust account for client funds and may
be required in some states, anyway. The agency's portion of client
money eventually goes into the operations account.
• Errors and omissions insurance.
Determine if you can be covered at a reasonable cost by your
host agency.
• Waivers and disclosures.
Ogg urged agents to prepare and use such documents, which
involve getting client signatures, so the agency is not held liable
for something it cannot control.
• Insurance.
If clients come to the house, the agency needs coverage for
things like accidents on the property.
• Taxes.
Plan ahead to ensure the business is structured in the best way
for tax purposes.
The three faces of at-home agencies
here are three basic types of
at-home agencies, according to Joanie Ogg, president of the
National Association of Commissioned Travel Agents. She named them,
convoluted names and all, as follows:
• Host agency-dependent/independent agency.
In this, the fastest growing category, the at-home agents are
independent contractors who have their own legal identity, business
cards and business licenses, but they place all business with a
host agency.
The supplier identifies sales with the host agency, pays
commissions and overrides to the host and collects from the host,
and the independent receives promotional materials, travel
documents for distribution and an agreed-upon share of commissions
or fees. The host is an operations center.
The agent could get an International Airlines Travel Agent
Network (Iatan) ID card if he/she qualifies and his/her name is on
the host agency's list.
This is popular, Ogg said, because the host takes care of or
helps with so many things: errors and omissions insurance,
technology, backup services, industry knowledge, buying power,
override possibilities and networking. The host also frees the
contractors from operations chores.
• Host agency-independent/partially dependent agency.
The difference between this category and the previous category
is that only part of the business is booked through a host and some
goes directly to suppliers.
Most likely, this type of agency is depending on a host for air
bookings but obtaining pseudo ID numbers for dealing directly with
tour operators and the like.
As an alternative, Iatan offers a travel services intermediary
appointment to accommodate agencies that want approval for nonair
sales but not a full-blown ARC approval for air business.
• Totally independent agency.
This refers to agencies that hold ARC approvals for offices
located in a private home. The location has to satisfy requirements
that apply to others, Ogg said, such as being accessible to the
public and abiding by standard ticket security rules.
Ogg warned that it can be very costly and time-consuming to get
a new ARC OK for a home site. It is easier, she said, to move an
existing ARC number to a home location. -- N.G.