Are you building the travel business you actually want, or are you just reacting to whatever comes your way?
You have goals. You have ideas. You know what you want your travel business to look like. Maybe you want more income, better clients, more flexibility, or a business that doesn’t require you to be available 24/7.
But here’s the question: Are the decisions you’re making every day actually moving you toward that vision?
Because knowing what you want and building a business that supports it are two very different things.
As travel advisors and entrepreneurs, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day responsibilities of running a business. We’re answering client emails, researching destinations, managing bookings, creating content, attending trainings, and trying to keep up with everything happening in the travel industry.
Before we know it, another week has passed, and we’ve been incredibly busy without necessarily making progress on the things that matter most.
It’s time to change that.
In the final episode of my October podcast series, The Business You Actually Want, we’re talking about what it really means to become the CEO of your travel business and start making intentional decisions that support the life and business you want to create.
1. Knowing What You Want Isn’t Enough
Throughout this series, we’ve talked about defining success on your own terms, understanding your business finances, and creating a travel business that gives you more freedom.
But having a vision isn’t enough.
You can write down all the goals you want. You can create a beautiful vision board, buy a new planner, and fill it with exciting ideas for the year ahead.
But if your daily actions don’t support those goals, nothing is going to change.
For example, maybe you’ve decided you want to specialize in luxury cruises or river cruises. You know that’s the direction you want your business to go.
But you’re still marketing yourself as someone who sells everything to everyone.
Or maybe you want to work fewer hours, but you’re still accepting client calls whenever someone asks and responding to emails late at night.
Your actions need to match your ambitions.
Start asking yourself:
- Are my daily activities supporting my bigger business goals?
- Am I spending time on the things that actually move my business forward?
- Am I making decisions based on what I want or simply reacting to what’s happening?
Clarity without action is just a really nice daydream.
It’s time to start turning that vision into decisions.
2. Stop Running Your Business Reactively
There’s a difference between owning a business and actually leading one.
You can spend your entire day responding to emails, answering client questions, handling booking issues, and putting out fires.
And while those things are part of running a travel business, they shouldn’t consume every minute of your workday.
When you’re operating reactively, everything feels urgent.
An email comes in, and you respond immediately. Someone asks for something, and you drop what you’re doing. You see another advisor promoting a new offer, and suddenly you feel like you need to do the same thing.
Before you know it, Friday arrives, and you’ve been busy all week without making progress on your actual priorities.
This is why it’s important to shift from simply managing your business to intentionally leading it.
Start asking yourself:
- Does this task support my current goals?
- Does this need to happen right now?
- Am I the person who needs to handle this?
- Is this the best use of my time?
- If I say yes to this, what am I saying no to?
That last question is especially important.
Every opportunity comes with a cost. Sometimes it’s money, but often it’s time, energy, and attention.
You don’t have to say yes to every opportunity that comes your way.
A successful business owner knows how to prioritize what matters.
3. Let Go of What No Longer Serves Your Business
One of the hardest parts of growing a business is recognizing that some of the things that helped you get started might not be helping you grow.
When you first became a travel advisor, you may have taken every inquiry that came your way.
You wanted experience. You wanted bookings. You wanted to build relationships and figure out what you enjoyed selling.
And that made sense at the time!
But as your business grows, your priorities and strategies may need to change.
Maybe you’re spending too much time creating multiple proposals for clients who aren’t ready to book.
Maybe you’re offering services that take hours of work but aren’t profitable.
Maybe you’re still marketing yourself to everyone because you’re afraid of narrowing your focus.
Or maybe you’re doing repetitive administrative tasks manually when you could be using automation or better systems.
Here’s something to remember:
You cannot keep adding things to your business without eventually taking something away.
Growth isn’t always about doing more.
Sometimes it’s about simplifying, eliminating unnecessary tasks, and making room for the opportunities that align with your goals.
Ask yourself:
- What am I still doing simply because I’ve always done it?
- What tasks could I automate or delegate?
- What services or activities are no longer a good fit?
- What could I stop doing to create more time and energy?
You’re allowed to outgrow the way you’ve always operated.
The strategy that helped you start your business doesn’t necessarily have to be the strategy that helps you grow it.
4. Stop Asking Everyone Else for Permission
Let’s talk about decision-making.
Have you ever had an idea for your business that you were really excited about, only to immediately start asking everyone else what they thought?
You ask your business friends, your coach, your spouse, your Facebook group, and maybe even a few other travel advisors.
Getting feedback is valuable. Learning from people with experience is important.
But sometimes we collect so many opinions that we lose sight of what we wanted in the first place.
Here’s the thing:
Someone else’s successful business model isn’t automatically the right business model for you.
Maybe another advisor tells you that you need to build a team.
But you actually love running a solo business.
Maybe someone says you need to quit your full-time job to be taken seriously.
But you enjoy your career and want your travel business to remain a side business.
Maybe someone tells you that you should focus exclusively on luxury travel.
But you genuinely love planning family vacations and cruises.
There isn’t one correct way to build a travel business.
You can listen to advice, gather information, and consider different perspectives without letting other people make your decisions for you.
At some point, you have to trust yourself.
You’re the person who has to live with the business you’re building.
You don’t need everyone’s approval to make a decision that supports your goals.
And remember, you don’t have to make every decision perfectly. Sometimes you make a choice, learn from the experience, and adjust.
That’s part of being an entrepreneur.
5. You Don’t Have to Wait Until January to Make Changes
I love a fresh start.
I love a new planner, setting goals, mapping out my year, and getting organized for what’s ahead.
But here’s something I want you to remember:
You don’t need a new calendar year to start making better business decisions.
It’s easy to get to the final quarter of the year and start telling yourself you’ll make changes in January.
You’ll update your systems next year.
You’ll start charging planning fees next year.
You’ll get serious about marketing next year.
You’ll finally establish boundaries next year.
But why wait?
If you want better boundaries, start communicating them now.
If you want better systems, build one new workflow this week.
If you want to attract different clients, start adjusting your marketing.
If you want to improve your profitability, take a look at your numbers today.
You don’t have to wait for January 1 to become more intentional.
In fact, the decisions you make during the final months of the year can help determine how you enter the next one.
Remember our September conversations about finishing Q4 strong?
Now is the time to revisit those plans.
Look at your goals and ask whether they actually support the business you want to build.
You might discover that you need to adjust your strategy, simplify your workload, or focus on different opportunities.
That’s not failure.
That’s being a business owner who is paying attention.
6. Start Making CEO-Level Decisions Today
You don’t need a huge agency, a fancy office, or a million dollars in sales to lead your business like a CEO.
You can be a solo travel advisor working ten hours a week and still make intentional, strategic decisions.
Being a CEO isn’t about how impressive your business looks.
It’s about taking responsibility for the direction it’s going.
Here are three ways to start.
Make Decisions Based on Your Priorities
It’s easy to get distracted by new opportunities, industry trends, and what other advisors are doing.
But your decisions should come back to your priorities.
What are your income goals? What types of clients do you want? What kind of schedule are you creating?
Does this opportunity support those things?
You don’t have to chase every exciting idea or abandon a strategy simply because it isn’t producing overnight results.
Make Time to Work ON Your Business
If every minute of your workweek is spent serving clients and handling bookings, when are you making time to plan for the future?
Schedule dedicated time to review your finances, evaluate your marketing, improve your processes, and think strategically about your next steps.
Even one focused hour a week can make a difference.
Treat that time like an appointment and protect it.
Be Willing to Make Decisions That Aren’t Popular
Sometimes the right decision for your business won’t make everyone happy.
You might need to increase your planning fees, establish new office hours, turn down a client, or stop offering a particular service.
You can be kind, professional, and helpful while still protecting your time and your business.
You cannot build a business that works for you if every decision is based on making everyone else comfortable.
That’s leadership.
7. Write a Letter From Your Future CEO Self
Now it’s time for a little homework!
For this week’s challenge, I want you to imagine it’s October 2027.
One year from now, you’ve spent the past twelve months intentionally building the travel business you’ve been dreaming about.
What does it look like?
What kind of clients are you working with? How much money are you making? How many hours are you working? What does your typical Tuesday look like?
Have you created better systems? Are you taking more time off? Have you started specializing in a particular type of travel? Are you finally making the decisions you’ve been putting off?
I want you to write a letter to yourself from that future version of you.
Start with:
“Dear Me,
It’s October 2027, and I can’t believe how much has changed in the past year…”
Describe your business, your accomplishments, your schedule, and how you feel about what you’ve built.
Be specific!
Then identify three decisions your current self needs to make to create that future.
Maybe you need to:
- Establish clear business hours.
- Raise your planning fees.
- Focus your marketing on your ideal clients.
- Invest in better systems.
- Stop accepting every inquiry.
- Delegate repetitive tasks.
- Make time for strategic planning.
Choose three things that will actually move you forward.
Then pick ONE that you can start implementing this week.
You don’t need thirty new goals.
You need a few intentional decisions and the commitment to follow through.
Final Thoughts: Become the CEO Before You Reach the Milestone
Here’s what I really want you to take away from this October series.
You don’t become the CEO of your dream business when you hit a certain revenue milestone.
You don’t become one when you book your first million dollars, hire a team, or finally leave your full-time job.
You become that CEO when you start making intentional decisions.
When you define success for yourself.
When you understand your numbers.
When you protect your time.
When you stop chasing every opportunity.
When you create systems that support your life.
And when you trust yourself enough to make decisions that align with your goals.
You don’t have to have everything figured out.
You don’t need to know exactly what your business will look like five years from now.
You just need to be willing to make the next right decision.
Because the business you want isn’t waiting for some future version of you.
It starts with the decisions you make today.
-Lindsay
Links & Resources
🎉 Join the 2027 Planning Party! November 7, 9–11:30 AM ET. Let’s map out your goals, priorities, and action plan for a profitable, intentional 2027. Includes a planning workbook, live Q&A, and replay!
https://lindsaydollinger.myflodesk.com/2027planningparty
🎧 Listen to More Episodes of Passports, Profits, and Pixie Dust:
https://www.lindsaydollinger.com/podcast
✈️ Interested in Becoming a Travel Advisor?
https://atlastiseetheworldtravel.com/become-a-travel-agent/
🎯 Take the Travel Advisor Quiz:
https://atlastiseetheworldtravel.com/quiz/
🌎 Explore At Last I See The World Travel:
https://atlastiseetheworldtravel.com/
If this episode inspired you, share it with a fellow travel advisor who’s ready to stop dreaming about her ideal business and start building it! 💕
If this episode inspired you, share it with a fellow travel advisor who’s ready to stop dreaming about her ideal business and start building it! 💕
