At this stage space travel is not one of Spencer Travel’s main divisions, so marketing efforts are focusing on media releases, in the hopes that the media will get the word out. Spencer is hoping to identify a target audience once enough interest is sparked. “Some people ask: ‘Why don’t you look at Star Trek club?’ Well those people are into Star Trek, they’re not necessarily into space. So then there’s the BRW top 500 richest men. Yes they might be rich, but they might be scared about going into space.” Spencer is adamant she will not let this initial hurdle stop her, and will have a clear target in sight before long.
Creating a Business Plan
Spencer’s secret to overcoming hurdles is a map. “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re never going to get there,” she explains. In fact, Spencer’s own business plan is so carefully mapped out she is now quite comfortable leaving the business for six months on maternity leave. She even set up a management team last year, before becoming pregnant, as part of her succession plan. “I realised that if I wanted to start expanding the business, I needed to have more of a helicopter view, as opposed to working in it day to day. I needed to implement a management team, so that I could work more strategically.”
“The team are ready to do the job. It’s about trust too. You have to trust other people to do the job and look after your business, otherwise you will be tied to it forever, and then it’s not really a business, you just have a job,” she adds. “I don’t want to be tied to the business 24 hours. The first five years I was, but after five years you start looking at succession planning and exit strategies.”
Spencer’s approach to mapping carries into other sections of her life as well, and allows her to maintain a healthy work─life balance. “I have a plan everyday. People probably think I’m very boring, but I diarise and know what I’m doing, and once it’s in the diary it happens,” she explains. “I always say, give a busy person something to do and it’ll get done.” But Spencer also knows she is lucky because of the support she receives from her mother, husband, and five-year-old daughter. “It helps having good support.”
As always, forward thinking Spencer is looking ahead, and her next goal is to double the business in three years. Having already taken out the necessary office space, the infrastructure is in place. “It’s about building new markets,” says Spencer. Alongside Virgin Galactic space trips, the newly added divisions include travel with kids, a leisure division, and servicing after hours for other travel agencies. “So with all of that, plus the growth that we’re planning, I think we’re on track.”
Bookmark article at:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. powered by moSociable 1.0.1 by www.waltercedric.com
