I remember when I started my business. I recently lost my corporate job, was newly married and between the two of us, Lou and I had five daughters.
Lou was a teacher and so I knew I needed to work to help support the family but wanted a job that allowed me to have a flexible schedule so I could put being a mom first.
Randomly, a person told Lou about travel business and that idea made my spirit leap!
Okay, now what? The only decision I really made was that I wanted to be a travel agent. I had no idea what to do and how to make it happen and this was 2007, so there weren’t any courses or videos out there to guide me in this journey.
Fast forward a few months… I realized that I couldn’t be all things to all people. Not only would this be an impossible task in the travel world, but it wouldn’t separate me from anyone.
I needed to be known for something. I needed to become an expert.
Long story short, I found myself searching for a niche that fit my personality, would give me clientele that I would enjoy working with and would be somewhat recession proof. Can I advise you to read that sentence again and ask yourself if you’ve done the same?
I decided on the wedding industry and focused on honeymoon travel to the Caribbean and Mexico but still found myself working really hard just to keep the business operating. In order to go from frustration to freedom I needed to make some changes.
Everything I had been doing up to this point was really me out there pounding the pavement, trying to get customers and I was getting tired of working so hard just to get a lead.
There are 3 things I did to pivot my business model without having to start from scratch in my knowledge base:
- I decided to face my fears of the unknown and add destination weddings to my list of services.
- I hired a coach to fine tune my message and my services so I could start getting a large upfront professional planning fee.
- I created a funnel. Can I just say that without a funnel in today’s virtual world, you will be left behind, and this is why we teach the planners in our community what a funnel is and how to set up.
Did things change overnight? Nope! Consistency is key, but what I want you to ask yourself is what is your knowledge base, and can you pivot just a little to redesign your business model and get the results you want?
Going from honeymoons to the Caribbean and Mexico to honeymoons & destination weddings to the Caribbean and Mexico was an easy transition where I had confidence in my knowledge of the locations and resort choices, I just needed to learn the wedding side of the biz.
It’s okay to reinvent yourself. It’s okay to start saying no to clients who aren’t a match for your expertise or the services you offer. In making this change I quickly multiplied my income and stopped chasing after business. I attracted awesome clients who wanted to hire me before they even talked to me and I put my mark on the industry as a destination wedding expert. 🙌
Are you looking for more tips on how you can build a successful & thriving destination wedding business? Register for one of my upcoming FREE Masterclasses! 👇
