Palvi Harvery "I have no previous experience in travel and I started part time, but I still made £3 million in sales in five years while juggling work around my family."

Seven years ago Palvi felt frazzled, trying to juggle family life with inflexible hours, a limited income and a long commute to work in marketing.

Just five years later she loves her new career as a homeworking travel consultant and is celebrating reaching a milestone – £3 million in holiday sales – despite no previous experience in travel.

Says Palvi: “Launching my own travel business has changed my life. I can juggle my hours around the girls and take them on luxury holidays, too.”

Palvi loves the fact that her new career enables her to take free or subsidised ‘work’ trips abroad to destinations which have included Florida, South Africa, Peru, Vietnam, Morocco, Mauritius and Dubai. “It felt like a big risk, but one I’ll never regret,” she says.

Palvi’s new life began in August 2015 when she decided to launch her own business by joining The Travel Franchise and becoming a Not Just Travel consultant.

As the package provided her with her own website, training, company mentor and access to hundreds of suppliers, it was only a few days before Palvi was booking holidays alongside working part-time in her marketing job.

Beginning with friends and family, she would ask them for travel wish lists and then source the best holiday possible within their budget. When their friends commented on an inspirational travel post on social media she would be quick to message them that she could make it happen. “It was a simple, but effective tactic,” she says. “Making dreams come true was a buzz.”

Palvi loved it so much that in December 2015 she quit her marketing job to become a full-time travel consultancy owner. “Reporting my figures each month was thrilling. The numbers kept creeping up and up. I still can’t believe I made £3 million in sales in my first five years.”

In her first three months Palvi made her biggest ever booking – a holiday for eight people to Peru worth £46k. She later made another big booking to Peru and so the tour operator, recognising her talent in selling South American holidays, sent her on a free trip to Machu Picchu. She’s still making big bookings, but loves the small bookings too.

There's no hidden secret to her success. Palvi puts it down to doing the basics really well:

• Really caring about customers
• Being available when they need her
• Taking up all coaching and mentoring opportunities
• Ensuring she was organised and disciplined
• Making great relationships

If you too, like Palvi, want to switch careers and do something you love, choose your own hours and travel the world, The Travel Franchise could be the answer. You don’t need to have any previous experience in travel as the company will teach you everything you need to know.