In episode 172 Steph welcomes Carolyn Orf of KHM Travel as a co-host! They will cover a ton of helpful topics, including the following: 

1. My friend and I are interested in launching an agency together. We each bring slightly different skill sets to the table and have already worked together and been students together (and have been close for decades). 

When evaluating host agencies we see that only Travel Quest / WorldVia host agency seems to have a membership option geared towards a two person agency. 

Do other host agencies have a way to structure things so that two advisors are working together under the same hosted agency, sharing their clients and working together towards revenue goals and tiers of membership? From the outside looking in it appears that if we went with an agency like Fora we'd each have to independently reach revenue goals to unlock certain perks and access. —Shannon A.

2. What merchant account service should you use to take payments for bookings and what is the difference between Travefy, TravelJoy and Tern? Thank you!  –Robin B.

3.  Hi Stephanie! I've been loving your podcast and all the content you provide. Thank you for all you do! I'm working through the 7 Day Setup Lite and am brainstorming a name for my agency. I came up with one I keep coming back to. I Googled it as you recommend and there is not much competition. Then I searched the trademark database and there are 3 trademarks similar to my name but they are all dead. Should I be concerned about using this name if all similar trademarks are dead? Don't want to give up this name unnecessarily but also don't want to set myself up for trouble down the road. How would you advise? Thanks so much for sharing your expertise! -Anonymous

RESOURCES:

Host Agency List of over 235 hosts with reviews from their travel advisor members. 

Travel Agent FAM Trips: What They Are + How to Find Them + Etiquette (https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/travel-agent-fam-trip)

Friday 15 with Tern on things to think about before going into a business partnership. 

Over 200+ travel agent rates and info on how to access them

More on Travefy (https://www.hostagencyreviews.com/travel-agency-software/travefy)

More on Tern (https://www.hostagencyreviews.com/travel-agency-software/tern)

More on TravelJoy (https://www.hostagencyreviews.com/travel-agency-software/traveljoy) 

How Seller of Travel Laws Affect Service Fees. (https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/seller-travel-laws-service-fees)

HAR’s brand new travel agency software profiles with software details and reviews! (https://hostagencyreviews.com/travel-agency-software)

Tips for choosing travel agency names + examples. (https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/tips-for-choosing-travel-agency-names) 

Scott Lund trademark/patent attorney (https://dbclaw.com/our-lawyers/scott-lund/)

HAR’s 7 Day Setup LITE is a free online course that helps you start your agency. It does not have support and takes you through resources to help you make things happen. (https://www.hostagencyreviews.com/7-day-setup-lite)

HAR’s 7 Day Setup Accelerator course with 70+ easily digestible videos, 48 exclusive resources, monthly live meetups with HAR team and others for support and accountability, + priority email support. (https://hostagencyreviews.com/7-day-setup-accelerator)

Submit your very own Friday 15 questions here! https://hostagencyreviews.com/friday15