As part of The Travel Franchise’s series to support the work of Encouraging Women into Franchising, the Uk’s fastest-growing travel franchise tells the story of successful women building businesses on their own terms.

Staffordshire mum-of-two Ami Wood made herself a New Year’s Resolution that she was going to start a side hustle as a bit of a hobby, working one day a week.

That side hustle has turned into a full-time job and Ami has hit the £1.5million in sales mark. After five days of training as a home working travel agent with The Travel Franchise, Ami wasted no time in getting down to business, but was astonished by the results.

She made a staggering £51,000 of sales in her first week, including £17,000 worth of bookings in just one day.

Ami came across The Travel Franchise website while researching home working opportunities. She was tempted by its promise to pay back initial set-up franchise for hitting sales targets within a set time. The Travel Franchise’ Unique Money Back Challenge focused her efforts and gave her something solid to work towards. Ami said: “Being honest, I was sceptical that the money-back challenge was achievable, but it’s incredibly motivating. I did it and won my franchise fee back, which means I started my business for free.”

It offers a choice of three start-up packages: the Lite Package which charges £2,995 plus VAT and £299 a month; its Elite Package charges £14,995 plus £99 a month; and its Entrepreneur Package charges £29,995 plus £99 per user.

“The team is very supportive and encouraging. I enjoyed the training process. You have 1-2-1 management to help guide you throughout. This job feels like a hobby.” 

As part of the perks of being a travel consultant Ami has also gone on lots of free or discounted holidays including a ski trip to Colorado, a cruise on the world's newest liner, a Virgin Voyage’s luxury cruise and a holiday to Turkey.

The work fits around working for her husband’s uPVC business, as well as family life, household jobs and overseas trips. “I’ve made bookings sat on my sun lounger in Jamaica, sipping a cocktail. Life doesn’t get better than that.”

Her advice for others considering a side hustle? “Just do it. Commit to it. If you have a passion and have been thinking about making the leap for a long time as I did, just go for it else you will never know. It might just be the best thing you ever did, which is what happened to me."

The Travel Franchise is  supporting the work of industry organisation Encouraging Women Into Franchising (EWIF) by sharing a series of stories from a number of women to show how its possible to build highly successful full- and part-time businesses around other jobs or busy family lives.  

EWIF is a not-for-profit organisation run entirely by volunteers, providing advice and guidance to women looking for a route into the franchise industry. Its aim is to encourage women to consider buying a franchise, to encourage businesswomen to franchise their existing operations and to help franchisors attract more women to their networks.