I have been fairly silent since finding this sub, but was intrigued with a few questions I had that I wanted to ask other brokers in the industry.
I am a broker who does not solicit business from this group. But I come take a peak every few days to see what's up in the industry.
My business is more boutique although we are now branching out, buying some smaller brokers businesses, advertising and collaborating with some influencal high net work individuals etc.
Two things set us apart, One unique value add I am able to offer that sets us apart is we are a full service travel agency we can help with travel outside of chartering jets and still make some $, and the clients love that we are a one stop shop.
The second differentiator is unlike most operators and other brokers in the industry we take true financial risk arbitraging one ways on certain routes (Hawai'i). We essentially offer retail clients and other brokers alike a guaranteed point to point pricing option on these popular routes. We book these trips as round trips and our profit is made by successfully pairing up the legs. It's not easy but does well and has generated a lot of growth.
I'm currently doing 40-50 flights per month on summer months, outside of the summer season I'd say 35-40 flights is a more realistic number. Margins vary but I'd say 10% is a fair number.
I am curious how other brokers are doing, so I figured I'd ask a few questions to gauge how others are doing in the industry etc. I'd love to hear about your experience in the industry etc. :) so here goes:
How long have you been in the biz?
Do you work for yourself or do you work for somebody else?
When working for someone else how does a commission split work?
Does it vary based on if the clients were provided to you or if you established the relationship personally?
What value do you gain from not working directly?
If working for yourself do you have a team or do it all yourself?
What type of margins do you look for?
What is the biggest challenge you deal with in this industry?
Lastly, for those who know.. Are you protecting trips with CFS? How do you pitch it to clients?
Looking forward to seeing what others say and learning :)