Making Major Pivots When Business Stalls

Today’s conversation is a must for all my fellow travel lovers and anyone whose business has been derailed by circumstances outside of your control. 

We’re chatting with Tara Cappel, the founder and CEO of one of the fastest growing group travel companies in the US. Her company, FTLO Travel, hosts group trips for solo travelers in their 20s and 30s who are looking to connect with new people through sustainable, curated travel experiences in amazing destinations around the world. Similar to my own journey from Cubicle to CEO, Tara left her corporate job without a backup plan to leap into entrepreneurship. In this conversation, we talk about what she would have done differently in her business if she could start over, why FTLO Travel advocates for sustainable, slow tourism, and how she has pivoted her company multiple times through difficult situations, most recently in the midst of a global pandemic that shut down travel for months.

Connect with Tara:

1. www.ftlotravel.com 
2. IG: @ftlotravel 
3. IG: @taracappel

Favorite Takeaways From This Episode

• Slow travel is slowing down and being in a place. Being immersed in the culture and understanding and appreciating the place for what it is.
• Slow travel comes from slow food: knowing where your food comes from and understanding and appreciating it. The same principal applies to tourism.
• It’s not about checking boxes to get you to a certain place, it’s about constantly pivoting as you learn.
• Her top 3 airports in the world:
• Oslo
• Rome
• Hong Kong
• There’s no one thing that works. It’s constant pivoting when there’s something that DOESN’T work and moving forward.
• SEO is important to learn for long term growth.
• There’s no golden ticket that is going to change things for your business. It’s many things.
• Think about easier entry points from a time and money standpoint at first when you’re first building your business.
• Find where your customers are and be there.
• Do small tests before you make big commitments with your business.
• You do not have to have your “ducks in a row” before you start. There’s so much you can do BEFORE you launch.
• Get things in writing when you work with others.
• Attitude trumps experience when you’re hiring team members.
• A sale is not a sale until you’ve been paid.
• Approach business in terms of opportunity cost.
• Resources come in more than JUST money.
• Being a CEO means taking care of people.

What Did You Think?

What was your biggest takeaway from this episode? Leave a comment below.

----- 

Are we not email friends yet? Make sure you download my income report at ellenyin.com for my "6 figures in 6 months" case study for a transparent look at how I made $102,721.44 in a 6 month time span in 2019!

If you enjoyed today's episode, please:

1. Post a screenshot & key takeaway on your IG story and tag me @missellenyin & @cubicletoceo so I can repost you
2. Leave a positive review on Apple Podcasts
3. Subscribe for new episodes every Monday 

----- 

FREE RESOURCES:

Service-based entrepreneurs, are you tired of being on the content hamster wheel + hustling for more followers without more income? I created a FREE, on-demand training just for you on how to use my step-by-step client attraction system to create your first $10K month, WITHOUT a large audience or complicated marketing strategies! Claim your bonus gift by watching now:ellenyin.com/class