Elaine Osgood: When It Comes to Going After Your Goals, the Sky’s the Limit

“Sometimes, people become encumbered by all the ways you can fail instead of all the ways you can succeed, and I think we have to change that mindset.””—Elaine Osgood, President and Founder, Atlas Travel International

She had no capital, no business experience, and not much travel experience either. But what Elaine Osgood lacked in means, she made up for in persistence and guts. In 1986, the former social worker and elementary school teacher mortgaged her home, and with her husband Peter’s support, opened up a Uniglobe travel franchise. She started out with one employee and zero clients, and grew her business painstakingly, one customer at a time. By the end of her 10-year contract with Uniglobe, Elaine had won every franchise award and surpassed 20 million in sales, so she decided to continue with her own agency—Atlas  Travel International. Today, Atlas has two office locations, 110 employees, 165 million in sales, and is the exclusive Northeast Regional Affiliate for BCD Travel, a $13 billion travel network.

“I had mortgaged my home, so failure wasn’t an option,” says Elaine, who was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for New England in 2006, among other honors. “I would read every company list I could get my hands on to create my database. If I went out for an appointment, I would write down contact details of other firms in the area. My husband and I would even ride around for hours on weekends and look for prospects.” When asked what advice she would offer NAWBO members and women entrepreneurs, Elaine has this to say: “Sometimes, we become encumbered by all the ways we can fail instead of all the ways we can succeed, and I think we have to change that mindset.”

On Being a Woman Business Owner

Indeed, where other people might see disadvantages, Elaine sees opportunities—including being one of few women travel agency owners in a largely male-dominated field. “When I think back to the early days, I was incredibly advantaged because I stood out in crowds,” she says. “I would go to industry meetings, and most of the agency owners were men. I joined the rotary and was the only female there, so I stood out in a room full of suits. I never isolated the point that I’m a woman business owner, only that I’m a business owner. I never looked at it as a hurdle to get over.”

On Surviving a Down Economy

Even the recession and the fact that sales slipped 10 percent is not a problem for Elaine—she’s confident that her company will not only weather the hard times, but will reach its projected 200 million in revenue over the next year and a half. “We have an incredible team, and in addition to referrals, we’re working hard to bring in new business,” she says. “There are agencies that had to lay off folks or close locations. Just last year, we added a couple of staff. We’re not participating in that decline.”

On Taking Care of Employees

The key, Elaine says, is to take excellent care of your team, so that they in turn will be motivated to take excellent care of your clients. Like most travel agencies, Atlas is largely comprised of women, the majority of whom work from home. Elaine gives them generous family-friendly benefits, and the flexibility to take their kids to the doctor or to their baseball games. She has a dedicated internal training department that works with staff to improve their customer service, technical skills and industry knowledge. And, she personally takes time to celebrate each employee’s anniversaries and milestones. “I ask [my team] how I can improve the work environment for them, then I listen,” she says. “You have to act on what you hear, otherwise you lose credibility.”

On Taking Care of Customers

The strategy works. As of last year, 40 percent of Elaine’s clients are referrals, and the Atlas Web site is populated with testimonies and stories of employees going above and beyond. One agent, for example, took the initiative to locate and arrange for the return of a camera that a client had left at a hotel, even though it wasn’t her responsibility.

“Our staff feel that they are appreciated and they pass that on to clients,” says Elaine. “There’s a level of caring here that people experience when they do business with us that they don’t find anywhere else. About two to three times a week, I get calls from people who have heard about us, and to be able to get new business without soliciting is such a reward.”

On Staying on Top

That doesn’t mean Elaine is content to rest on her laurels, however. To make sure Atlas maintains its competitive edge, she’s continually looking for ways to improve. One is by listening to and acting on feedback from her internal advisory board (made up of frontline staff) and client advisory board (made up of clients, vendors and one non-Atlas customer). And two, by investing in resources to enhance the way they do business—such as technology.

“I think one of the keys to our success is that we embraced technology long before our competitors,” she says. “For example, all agencies use an itinerary system, and we were the first to build our own from scratch. Since we wrote the code for it, we can program it and customize it for each customer, which makes the process easier for them.”

Currently, Atlas Travel International offers business travel management, vacations, meeting planning, employee incentive programs and even a clothing and merchandise shop called Savvy, located in its Lexington office. So what else can we expect from Elaine and her team in the future? “We’re in the process of building a site where you can purchase stuff online,” she says. “We’re also kicking around ideas on other ways to use technology in an industry that isn’t typically innovative. Creativity and innovation are key components of everything we do, so you’ll continue to see more of that.”