Your Business

Planning for 2018: Don’t Look Back

By John McMahon Nov 28, 2017 9:00am

It’s that time of the year when you read so many articles about the year in review. It’s also the time when you take a few moments to reminisce and total up your earnings for the year. You consider your accomplishments and the challenges you’ve overcome.

My opinion is, do all this quickly, put it to bed and start thinking about next year. As you plot your goals for 2018, challenge yourself to create five new commercial opportunities. Don’t just settle for a business-as-usual attitude and hope your clients decide to take a few more vacations that will add to your bottom line. Why not step out of your comfort zone, push yourself and take a risk? I always say, “It’s better to fail falling forward than to fail standing still.” Who knows, you may surprise yourself and realize that once you empower yourself to succeed, you will. The luxury travel advisor business is an entrepreneurial one, which means you have to seek out opportunities; the business is not merely going to fall into your lap. Never be satisfied with what you have. You are always one click away from losing that customer as the technology world spends billions of dollars to find high-touch solutions to win your clients away.

One agency that has evolved with a forward-thinking attitude is Bayside Travel in Bronxville, NY. I recently attended Bayside’s 30th-anniversary celebration. Shown above with me is Barbara Nichuals, Bayside Travel’s owner and luxury travel advisor extraordinaire. She took this agency from its roots in the borough of Queens, NY to Bronxville, home to some of New York’s wealthiest families. Congratulations to Barbara and her team, several of whom have been with her for decades.

And to all of you, our Luxury Travel Advisor audience, may your new initiatives in 2018 pay off and may this be your best year yet.

Planning for 2018: Don’t Look Back

Related Articles