Surprise Travel Agency

11 Tips For Starting A Successful Surprise Travel Agency (2024)

Pat Walls

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Updated: January 19th, 2023

Want to start your own surprise travel agency? Here are some tips you should know:

Learn more about starting a surprise travel agency:

Where to start?

-> How much does it cost to start a surprise travel agency?
-> Pros and cons of a surprise travel agency

Need inspiration?

-> Other surprise travel agency success stories
-> Marketing ideas for a surprise travel agency
-> Surprise travel agency slogans
-> Surprise travel agency names

Other resources

We've interviewed thousands of successful founders at Starter Story and asked what advice they would give to entrepreneurs who are just getting started.

Here's the best advice we discovered for starting a surprise travel agency:

#1: Charlotte Curry McGhee, founder of Whisked Away Surprise Travel:

We chatted with with Charlotte, founder of Whisked Away Surprise Travel ($15K/month). In our interview, Charlotte says:

Don’t give up on your business- there are so many ways to position yourself to come through this.

Read the full interview ➜

#2: Lillian Rafson, founder of Pack Up + Go:

We chatted with with Lillian, founder of Pack Up + Go ($550K/month). In our interview, Lillian says:

If you have to pay customers, get on the phone with them! Be open and honest with them that you’re a new business trying to get off the ground, and ask them for their insight.

Additionally:

If you’re just getting started, don’t let your planning become procrastination. Whatever you’re building will never be perfect, so you just have to start somewhere. Commit to a deadline, and hold yourself accountable.

Read the full interview ➜

#3: Lillian Rafson, founder of Pack Up + Go:

We chatted with with Lillian, founder of Pack Up + Go ($550K/month). In our interview, Lillian says:

Leap, then work really, really hard to make it work once it’s up and running. You’ll thank yourself later!

Read the full interview ➜

#4: Lillian Rafson, founder of Pack Up + Go:

We chatted with with Lillian, founder of Pack Up + Go ($550K/month). In our interview, Lillian says:

Stay focused on your goals, the reasons you started your business in the first place, and the impact you want to make on the world.

Additionally:

Always keep your customers at the heart of your decisions. Ask yourself how you can best support them and how you can make your customer service your differentiator.

Read the full interview ➜

#5: Charlotte Curry McGhee, founder of Whisked Away Surprise Travel:

We chatted with with Charlotte, founder of Whisked Away Surprise Travel ($15K/month). In our interview, Charlotte says:

The biggest lesson I learned is this: success is not immediate. When I hit “publish” on my website I carried my phone around the rest of the day because I was so sure that orders would start flying in. Ridiculous!

Additionally:

Personal connections win out over Facebook ads any day.

Read the full interview ➜

#6: Lillian Rafson, founder of Pack Up + Go:

We chatted with with Lillian, founder of Pack Up + Go ($550K/month). In our interview, Lillian says:

Whether you’re just starting out or growing your business, some things that you try are just going to fall flat. That’s okay!

Additionally:

Something that works for someone else might not work for you! Stay true to who you are, keep your eye on the prize, and keep building.

Read the full interview ➜

#7: Roshni & Jeff, founder of The Vacation Hunt:

We chatted with with Roshni, founder of The Vacation Hunt ($40K/month). In our interview, Roshni says:

When we came back from the trip, we told a friend about the whole surprise aspect and she asked us to plan a similar surprise vacation for her - and it just kind of went from there!