Experiencing solo travel, exploring the world and discovering new things can motivate anyone to start a side hustle, and there is no denying the power of a strong personal brand! Crafting your own brand can be an incredibly rewarding process, allowing you to express yourself in unique and meaningful ways. Yes, it isn't easy to launch your own business, you will need guidance and insight. But you won't be alone, nowadays plenty of solo travelers have started their journey by inspiring others as they launched their very own businesses and while the process may be challenging I’m sure you can enjoy every step along the way! So here’s my 5 best tips to start your brand this 2023.
By Maria Varela
Founder of My Layover Box
I started my business in 2019, following a solo trip to Hawaii. After exploring the city, taking surf classes, swimming with the turtles, and enjoying plenty of restaurants alone, I realized the power and joy of solo travel. It inspired me to encourage more women to get to know themselves, trust their intuition, and build confidence through their own adventures. This trip was also the inspiration for my brand, My Layover Box. A gift experience service that curates the best items from destinations around the world, in order to make every trip a unique, meaningful adventure for female travelers.
Since starting the brand in 2019, I’ve learned so many lessons. Building my own business has truly been one of my greatest adventures and I’m excited to be able to share some of my favorite tips I’ve gathered on my own journey, in case you’re thinking about starting your own travel business.
What's great is that there are now more resources available online than ever before to help get your business started. Whether it's networking or creative idea generation, you can now get advice and support in many ways. And while the process may be challenging I hope these five tips will help you find clarity, confidence, and truly enjoy the business you’re building!
1. Figure Out Your Why
You know that feeling when you have a GREAT idea but as your to-do list piles up, you find yourself wondering “why did I even start this in the first place?” As a small business owner you’ll wear multiple hats and overwhelm can often be inevitable. Returning to your why is critical in keeping you motivated and allows you to enjoy your entrepreneurship journey. It’s also important from a marketing perspective, as a strong why will help you better connect with your audience.
2. Define Your Niche
Your products or services aren’t for everyone — and trust me that’s ok! When starting a brand, it’s important to research your target audience as in-depth as possible. Including determining things such as: What’s their age? What do they do for fun? For work? Where do they like to travel?
When I was first starting My Layover Box, I conducted polls on Instagram, surveyed my closest friends, and did plenty of Google keyword searches in order to gather this information
You also don’t want to forget to look up your competition. Of course, this doesn’t mean copying someone else’s work, but by checking out what potential competition is doing, can lead to inspiration and help you see what is working for them. It will also help you understand what makes you unique. I love the below quote which is such a great reminder of doing YOU when it comes to building a brand.
3. Give Your Brand Personality
If your brand were a person, who would it be? By giving your brand a set of human traits and characteristics, you’re creating a personality that can make it feel less daunting and more inviting for your customers.
4. Create a Memorable Aesthetic
We talked about mission, audience, and brand personality, all very important pieces in this process, but now the fun part! What does your brand look like? Now more than ever, we’re living in an aesthetic-oriented world, so it’s important to make sure you are building something eye-catching and memorable.
Here are a few key elements to consider:
Brand Name: Choosing a name for your business is an incredibly important undertaking! It’s the face of your brand, and one that customers and potential customers will remember. While you do have the freedom to pick whatever strikes your fancy, it's wise to consider how that name may communicate what type of service or product you offer.
For example, Layover was born after playing with ideas and travel words, so what did I do? I googled it and this is the definition “a period of rest or waiting before a further stage in a journey”. Boom, this concept fit perfectly with one stop before your destination, a moment to empower yourself and celebrate your destination. So do your research, play with words and ideas! You’ll find what fits into your brand and what feels right for you.
Logo: Your logo is not your brand, but remember that this is the first approach with your new customer, so make sure it communicates how you want them to feel when they think of you.
Colors, Fonts and Images; The colors you choose for your brand can make a huge impact on how people perceive you and your products. Beyond just being visually appealing, they can also convey emotions and feelings to the people who view them.
Picking the right palette and fonts will back up your branding message, making it easy to recognize each time someone sees it, along with the aesthetics of your images–make sure they’re free to use or pay for your font once you pick the right one. Creating a mood board on Pinterest is a great place to start experimenting with these elements of your brand.
5. Get Clear on Your Timeline
Being a successful business owner takes more than having an amazing idea—it’s all about understanding how to put together and execute a plan.
Milestones are the perfect way to keep track of your progress each step of the way and make sure you're heading in the right direction. These measurable achievements help you identify how well you’re meeting goals, managing responsibilities, evaluating results, and ultimately, transforming your concept into a functioning business. So, whether you feel like you’re cruising along or have hit some bumps on the road, having milestones in place is essential for staying on track. Here are some great milestones to aim for in your first year of business:
1. Your business launch: Celebrate all the hard work you’ve done and enjoy this big moment
2. Your first sale: Yes! This will confirm what you’re doing and for sure a boost of motivation and inspiration
3. Launch your website: Make sure to have a website for your business. Instagram or any other social media can disappear any minute and you want to keep all the hard work in one place. This will generate brand awareness as well, with good SEO people will find your business by googling keywords.
I hope these tips will help you create the life and business you want for yourself!
Questions? Feel free to connect with me on Instagram to chat more!
About Maria
Maria Varela is a graphic designer and founder of my layover box. An immigrant, who left the traditional expectations of her country Chile to discover herself. In 2011 she moved to California in search of new challenges and beginnings. In California she fully realized the love of connecting with people and women on the same journey as herself - to grow and explore the world.
She spent the last 10 years living in the DMV area and it’s been actively working with local entrepreneurs to help them grow their businesses through strategic marketing and critical thinking. Maria found a way to connect her passion of traveling with her creative mind, and being inspired by many solo traveler women, help the community and a being a fierce advocate of women-lead business.
In 2019, Maria left her 9-5 job and took the leap of faith to work on layover full-time and she hasn't looked back since. Maria combines her design creativity with her passion for traveling, with this box she brings excitement to those who purchase any destination box. The company was born in an effort to make every trip a unique, and meaningful adventure for women.
Connect with Maria through Instagram @my.layoverbox and @nubelicious and her website, www.mylayoverbox.com
