Entrepreneur
and Mom by: Jennifer Dugan
When I was 12 years old, I had surgery
with complications. I was told there was a chance I would not be able to
have children. Growing up I could not imagine my life without children
and worried about it often. When I got married close to my 21st birthday,
my husband and I hoped that we would be lucky enough to have children.
Luckily, I found out I was pregnant almost a year later. However, soon
after the great news, I got very sick. I was working full time at a corporate
travel agency and I could not work. My doctor told me that I had to take
care of myself or I would be at risk to lose my baby. My employer got very
nasty with me and was not compassionate about my sickness. I almost lost
my job, but my doctor was able to get me medical leave from the family
leave act. The experience was horrible. I vowed to never have to choose
between my career and the health of my baby. I began to look for ways to
work from home. I tried Mary Kay Cosmetics but I was terrible at it. It
didn’t feel comfortable and I really had nothing to make me want to be
successful.
When my son Dillon was born in February
1997, it was one of the best days of my life. I quit my job and tried to
stay home full time. I was able to stay home until Dillon was three months
old. Then I went back part time at a travel agency. I hated leaving him
even for the few hours I had to. So I decided to start my own travel agency
from my home. I knew the travel business well enough to be on my own, but
I did not know very much about being a home business owner. For the next
two years, I had to learn so much about running a home business. I got
help from other work at home moms. I met them online and it was so helpful.
I created a website and began actively
advertising for business. I read anything I could on having a home business.
I learned as much as I could about the internet. I began brainstorming
on how I could expand my business. I decided to specialize in family vacations
since I had a growing family. My second child, Travis was born January
1999. I began to learn how to balance having a family and a business. I
worked whenever I could. Many nights I work late at night when my children
are sleeping. My husband is very supportive.
I finally started becoming successful
and was gaining more customers each day. I started taking on independent
agents and helping them start their own agencies. I let them work with
my agency because I had already paid what it took to start the agency.
I trained them and began building my business by helping others get into
the industry. I took a small percentage of their commissions for running
the agency. It slowly turned into a full fledge training program with a
handbook and a website dedicated to my agents. I also created a website
for people who wanted to join the agency. I marketed to find those who
would be interested. The agency has continued to grow as the word has spread.
What I offer people interested in the travel industry is unique since I
accept those without prior experience and train them for free.
I have been interviewed by several
magazines and featured in books on home businesses. Currently I have over
200 independent agents working with my agency. Our sales have skyrocketed.
In 2002, we did $20,000 in sales for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. In 2003,
we did $147,000 in sales. We are growing in so many ways. I am still very
active in the agency. I still answer my emails myself and strive to personally
know all my agents. I do not have anyone helping me at my home office.
I do have my very first agent as well as many who have been with me for
years helping out. I handle all the bookkeeping, shipping, daily business
issues, advertising, website maintenance, and many other of the important
operations needed to run this business. It has become a part of me.
My goal is to have 300 agents by
the time I am 30. I hope to be able to get some help handling day-to-day
operations. I would also like to continue to grow to become more recognized
in the travel industry. I want to help as many people as I can who want
to start their own home based travel agency. I want to continue building
my business and each year find something new that I can do to be more successful
at this business.
I wrote my own ebook on starting
a home travel agency. This offered information to those interested and
helped spread the word about my agency’s program. Each year we grow more
and more. I have written two other ebooks since my first one. One is on
juggling a home business and family. The other is on marketing a home business
on a small amount of funds. I am just now beginning to have more money
available for advertising. What I have done to date has been still on a
limited budget. I am just now beginning to spend more money on advertising.
My family has been very supportive.
My boys are now 5 and 7 years old and they try to help me out as much as
possible. We go on family vacations and I can use it to help my business.
I have been able to save on childcare from not having to work outside the
home. I was able to be with my children as they have been growing up. I
didn’t miss their first words or steps. I also have been teaching them
that anything is possible. I want them to know that if they have the drive
to do something, they can do it. Every day that I got discouraged, I would
think of the fact that if I did not succeed, I would have to go back to
work full time and put my children into daycare.
My 5 year old was diagnosed with
type 1 diabetes last May. This was a hard adjustment for our family. He
needed me more than ever. I was able to be there and everyone involved
in my agency understood. I was able to take the time I needed to stay with
him in the hospital and learn how to handle his diabetes. My agents pulled
together and helped me out. I can’t imagine how things would have been
if I had a full time job outside the home. I was able to take care of my
child without worry.
I feel very fortunate. I had a dream
and I was able to make it come true. I also have something I can call my
own. I love being a mom. I also love being an entrepreneur. It is very
satisfying looking at what I have accomplished in 6 years. I know the possibilities
are endless. I know as long as I continue to work hard and be creative
in growing my business, I will continue to be successful. I am now able
to help others who want to start a home business. I wrote three e-books
and I get to write articles to help others. 6 years ago I would have never
imagined this would be my life. It just proves that anything is possible
if you really want it bad enough.
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Jennifer Dugan CTA
Owner of Dugan's Travels
About The Author
Mother of two who started a homebased
travel agency in 1997. She has over 200 outside agents working with her
agency and is active in the travel industry. She has been an agent since
1993. She is the author of three ebooks.
Courtesy of http://www.ArticleCity.com/
