How To Build Your Business While Traveling 

There’s nothing wrong with going traveling – in fact, there’s a lot right with it – but if you’re trying to start or build up a business, do you really have time? A lot of business owners wouldn’t think so, and instead of seeing the world they stay at home and work on their business. While this is a great plan for building wealth and securing a financial future, it isn’t really ideal if you want to have adventures and travel the world. If you’ve got itchy feet and you want to go exploring, what could you do? Do you have to give up on your dreams of owning a successful business? 

Not necessarily. 

The fact is you can do both things. However, in our experience this isn’t easy and you’ll have to do a lot of planning and preparation before you go. If you really do want to take the plunge and travel while building a business, here are the things you’re going to need to know.

Use Technology

Even if you only take one thing from this list to heart (it’s best to use a few of the ideas, though), it’s to use as much technology as you can and know how to use it to your best advantage. That’s going to ensure that it’s far easier to run your business and to build it even while you’re away, and although it might mean investing in some tools before you leave home and taking the time to actually learn how to use them, it will be worth it, as this will allow you to boost your profits while you’re happily traveling from place to place. 

One thing that’s definitely going to be useful is using cloud technology as much as you can. This will essentially allow you to run your business remotely without needing to carry loads of portable hard drives with you. All you’ll need is an internet connection and you can access all of your files and programs from everywhere (that’s not always going to be readily available, so it’s a good idea to check that out before you start your planning, just in case). There are loads of different platforms and programs you can use to store and access important documents so you can get to them and work on them no matter where you are. 

Using cloud technology also provides a layer of security against the potential theft, damage, and loss of your hardware. It’s a little difficult to run a business abroad if you lose access to all of your files and software.

Technology can also help when it comes to communication too. Rather than having to hope for the best, if you’ve got the right communication and collaboration tools in place you’ll be able to connect with those who need you from anywhere in the world. Of course, you can’t be available 24/7, but even if you only check in a few times a day, at least you can get back to those who need your help or advice, for example. 

You might also want to get some project management software so you can keep track of tasks and deadlines while you’re on the move. If you don’t do that, you might find that you forget to do things (especially if you’re really enjoying your trip!), which can damage to your business and reputation. This is probably the last thing you need when you’re away from home and it might not be so easy to make things right. 

Plan And Prioritize

If you’re trying to do two things at once – in this case, building your business and traveling – you’ll need to plan ahead and prioritize the most important tasks. Without doing this, you might get lucky and get everything done, but it is more than likely that you’ll fall behind or waste time, and that’s not going to help your business or your travel plans. 

Planning really is the key to balancing travel and your business, so before you set off on your journey create a travel-friendly work schedule and think about what can be done and when. Also, don’t forget to take any time differences into account as well — otherwise you might accidentally miss an important deadline or miss out on a tourist attraction you desperately want to see. The fact is that not all tasks are created equal, and some will be more urgent and/or important than others, and if you can work out which ones are most important you can be sure to get what you need done each day while still enjoying your travels.

Another way of working that many business travelers use to their advantage is to batch process their work. It might sound strange, but it also makes a lot of sense – if you’re able to group similar tasks together (like answering and sending emails, creating content, working on social media, holding meetings, and so on) it saves time and increases the chances of getting everything done. So rather than constantly switching from task to task, you can get everything in one batch done in a block before moving to the next task; ideally with some time to enjoy some traveling in between. It’s a great way to stay productive without losing your flow or creativity, and it can often mean you get a lot more done in the same space of time than if you kept changing from job type to job type. 

Network And Expand Your Reach

Even though you’re away from home that doesn’t mean you can’t still connect with people who might be able to help you grow your business. You could look around for some local networking events and take a morning or a few hours to attend a local business owners meetup – you never know who you’ll meet, and it could be the start of a fantastic partnership. Or why not join in with some more local-to-home networking online? You only need to take an hour out of your sightseeing and you might connect with just the right people and be able to take your business — or even travels — in a completely new direction. 

And of course, wherever you are, you should always have access to social media. Just answering a few queries or posting some interesting content about your products or services on a regular basis is ideal (and you can even schedule some of those posts in advance – perhaps you could make it part of your job batching, for example) to save time and effort during your trip.

Or how about just showcasing your business whenever you can? Drink from custom tumblers with your logo all over them, wear a cap with your company name on it, have a t-shirt embroidered with what you do and how to get in touch with you, and so it goes on. You might get a few people interested, and even if they don’t connect with you there and then, they might still contact you later on, and that sale is just as good as any other. 

Manage Your Finances 

One thing you’ll definitely need to keep an eye on when you’re traveling and trying to grow your business is your finances – both personal and business. The first thing you have to do is make sure you can check in on your bank accounts on a regular basis to ensure that all is well. You will also want to have some good accounting software – in that way, you can make sure you’re getting paid and that you’re paying your bills. Both of these things are crucial if you want to keep up a good cash flow. 

It’s also a good idea to make a travel budget and stick to it, especially if you’re not currently making money in your business. You don’t want to run out of cash before you’ve seen everything you want to see, otherwise the trip would have been a potential waste of time. Plus, you don’t want to run the risk of being tempted to take money out of the business to fund your travels because that’s just not what it’s for and could lead to some bigger issues further down the road. 

Make sure you’ve got access to your bank accounts and you can safely make transactions online. When we say safely, we mean that you shouldn’t use free wifi, for example, as that can easily be compromised. It’s best to have a VPN (virtual private network) so you can log into your accounts safety and securely to check things over on a regular basis while you’re away. 

Stay Motivated

One issue that sometimes comes up when business owners go traveling is that they can lose motivation for their business and not do things as well as they otherwise would because they’re enjoying their time away and getting nice and relaxed. Relaxing isn’t a bad thing, of course, but it is a problem if it means you’re not balancing that relaxation with work when you’re depending on your business for income. 

In order to run your business successfully when traveling, you need to to stay as motivated as possible. Try to make some small, achievable goals and check them off your to-do list – that’s one great way to stay motivated. Or you could make sure you always celebrate getting work done in some way, giving you something to look forward to. Whatever you do, striking the right balance is vital. 

Other than that, be sure to enjoy the journey when it comes to both traveling and running a business.