Just out of curiousity, how did all of you become agents? Did it just 'happen' after a good hunt with a PH you got along with? Or do you get up one day and contact dozens of people and ask to represent them? Just curious, as many of you seem to be very close to the people you represent, quite a personal relationship. It's good to see that.

Bog

I used to work for a company Chubb NZ Ltd. for 22 years and at the ripe old age of 54 I was suddenly made redundant. At that advanced age to find another job is not the easiest thing in the world, grey hair and all (-: .....

So to cut a long story short I contacted my brother based in SA whom has the private owner operated hunting ranches in South Africa and Zambia, asked him if he wanted a sole booking agent for the company, and someone whom could do a bit of general marketing and webpage design, bingo, he said yes so I took the job on and here I am sitting at home in NZ using one of my bedrooms as an office and booking worldwide for Balla-Balla Safaris on the internet

Regards, Peter

I grew up on a big ranch cowboying and guideing hunters, hunting and fishing and did every thing I could to keep from working..Then I leased some ranches for hunting and some for hunting and cattle to subsidize my meager income, then went to work for the Gov. and got away from it for a while, then again leased some ranches, bought one and booked deer hunts for a lot of friends, then some for friends in Africa and very few at that and on and on, in and out of the business, then went to Africa, and met some people and started booking for them and sold may one hunt a year, then 3 or 4, then more and more until I was booking full time and working for the Gov. full time, then retired and just kept on booking until now I book more hunts per year than I can handle it seems, I book them day and night, all hours, and it really interferes with my hunting. well almost.

One thing I did was keep my word with all those who I booked for and to the clients that I sold hunts to and if things went bad, I made it good at all costs, and it hurt and we went hungry several times when I had to borrow money to satisfy the cleintele because some guide split with the deposits so I paid them off, gave them a free hunt or discounted hunt the next year, taking a double hit, but it worked and it paid off in the long run like I knew it would. Remember a booking agent cannot be bonded or even get insurance to protect himself...

Bottom line is it just happened, it wasn't my plan, it came from a higher source..I know too many people that have tried to break into this business that have failed, in fact never got off the ground, and I did every thing I could to help them, but it is terribly competitive, and all have failed....

That's just my story, I have no clue how anyone else got into this business, but I will say that we are truly blessed, and I am gratefull every day when I see the sun coming up that this is where I ended up...I work with the best people in the world, we have a lot in common, and we can talk guns, hunting and the good life all day long and I have never made a real enemy in this business.

except on the internet from time to time!

In March of 1985 my wife and I were on our third safari (in the Omo Valley) with Ethiopian Rift Valley Safaris, we had become fairly good friends with Nassos Roussos, the owner, and one evening he was commenting on the problems he was having with his bookings. Seems that none of the agents he was using understood what it took to operate in Ethiopia. The clients were showing up at the wrong times, with the wrong equipment and without proper payments. He said he needed someone on the out side that understood the operation to co-ordinate the various entities involved. My wife chimed in,� Richard would be good at that� and we all had a good laugh. Two weeks after I returned home I had a call from Nassos asking if I really would be interested in taking on that job he had mentioned. What was to be a part time USA only job was full time and international in scope within 6 months. As the company agent I was/am also responsible for advertizing, scheduling, collecting, investing, purchasing, etc. I try to spend at least a month each year in Ethiopia just to stay in touch with the actual operation. In the past I hunted for myself but now mostly enjoy taking other hunters over there. I try and treat the clients like I would want to be treated and co ordinate this process with the Addis Ababa office. 19 years later we are still in business so we must be doing it right.

Rich Elliott