Picking the Right Partner

I wouldn’t say any step of setting up a travel agency was easy, but this next one may be the most difficult. Try finding a travel name that’s short, easy to say, and has the same handle available across all social media platforms. Or, setup a business in Texas. They charge you every time you login to their platform, Ugh, that one still gets me. So then, what is more difficult? I’m small and new so I need to partner with a larger network. That may not seem so bad, but how do I pick a network as a newbie for clients I don’t have yet, and a niche I’m still nailing down?

My thought is to start with what’s the most important to me. First, though I needed to narrow that down too. I’ve got a long list of what’s important. Things like value, authenticity, trust, and experience topped my list. The good news is there are a lot of great travel partners out there. The bad news, for me at least, is that still didn’t narrow it down enough.

There was something that had been slowly working its way to the top of my list. If feels like, not just here, but most of the world seems like it’s becoming less welcoming, less inclusive, and less safe for my community. While I am only a belong to of a few of the letters in LGBTQIAA+ I still love and support all of them.

Get this though, when I filtered down the networks that were either gay owned, operated or had a plurality of members from the community I went from over a hundred to three. I added in a few other networks that had good reviews from lesbian and gay members (there are no ratings for the BT or any other letter in the acronym).

They were all so great. I can’t express what wonderful people this industry contains. The networks were pretty similar in what they offered, but there were only two that came directly from the community I was looking to work with. The good news is that both agencies were fantastic. Having only good options though is its own kind of difficult. You’ll have to tune in next time for the exciting conclusion of the new guy picks a partner.