How To Be An Entrepreneur And A Tourist – At The Same Time!
When you have dreams of being a wildly successful entrepreneur with your own business, there are a lot of things that you have to sacrifice - especially when you are first starting out! There's no frivolous spending just because you really want something, because every cent you have is going towards your business. There's no eating out, no luxury groceries, no cool new gadgets and definitely no travelling!Well so you thought! Because thanks to the power of the internet, these days it is possible to run your business from just about any location in the world! So for those entrepreneurs who want to run their business while embarking on a series of adventure tours, here are some tips to help you out.
When you have dreams of being a wildly successful entrepreneur with your own business, there are a lot of things that you have to sacrifice - especially when you are first starting out! There's no frivolous spending just because you really want something, because every cent you have is going towards your business. There's no eating out, no luxury groceries, no cool new gadgets and definitely no travelling!
Well so you thought! Because thanks to the power of the internet, these days it is possible to run your business from just about any location in the world! So for those entrepreneurs who want to run their business while embarking on a series of adventure tours, here are some tips to help you out.
Plan Entire Weeks In Advance
When you’re travelling through any of the most beautiful places in the world, it can be very hard to stick to a schedule. But when you’re trying to run a business from the road, a schedule is your best friend. So learn to create detailed itineraries and highlight the top priorities for each day.
Remember to factor in travel time, but always leave a little bit of a cushion for when those unforeseen circumstances arise (because they will!). I use calendar apps for this, but a simple diary will also work – although it doesn’t include reminders or have space for detailed notes!
Learn To Be An Early Bird
When you’re travelling the best time to get actual work done is in the early morning. Not only are the tourist attractions not yet open to tempt you away from doing important work, but because most of the world around is still asleep – there are fewer distractions in general.
I usually wake up between 4 and 5am, although this means I have to get to bed earlier than I sometimes want to! But if I get boring work stuff out of the way early – then the rest of the day is free to do whatever I like!
Start Using A Note App With A To-do System
One of the most important things you can invest in when you’re an entrepreneurial tourist is a combined to do and note keeping system. Because when you’re travelling it is impossible to immediately handle every single task that comes up.
Or remember contact details of potential customers you meet along the way, or every suggestion about travel destinations you just have to see. I am a digital person who loves their gadgets so I use apps for this, but a small pocket sized notebook will work just as well as long as you don’t lose it!
Make Sure You’re Connected At All Times
When you’re running a business you need to be able to stay in touch with the world. So being able to access your emails is absolutely essential. Messaging apps that use data and include a call feature are ideal, but you should also look into a VOIP app if you’re calling a lot of landlines.
Then find out about your destinations wifi and data network coverage, and also how to get a local prepaid SIM with a data package - because roaming costs will kill your budget in a heartbeat! Make sure your personal phone is unlocked first, or else look into getting a second unlocked phone.
Backup Everything!
Whether you’re travelling by land, by sea or by air there is absolutely no guarantee that all your belongings will complete the journey undamaged – or complete the journey at all! So an important part of your daily routine is to backup everything.
Before your journey starts you need to have certified copies of ALL your travel documents, then scan them in and upload the digital copies to cloud storage. Invest in tons of SD cards, thumb drives and durable external drives and make sure you have enough cloud storage for on the go backups.
Some quick takeaway tips for the entrepreneurial tourist:
● All your devices need to be fully charged at all times so invest in travel adapters for your plugs, a few extra batteries for cameras and laptops, and a sturdy external powerpack for phones and tablets.
● Evernote is probably the best all in one notepad, day planner and to-do list app there is, although Google Calendar combined with Any.do is a pretty good alternative (sync them with Zapier)
● Tour packages can be expensive and don’t allow for working on the side, but use them as inspiration by turning a 3 day tour into a weeklong trip that costs half the price!
● Learn to harness the power of freelancing websites, local directory sites and social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter to find work and earn money while you travel – even if you’re a plumber or repair computers!
● Pay the money for good travel insurance that covers both medical costs and the loss of valuables (trust me, you’ll be glad to have it!)
● Look at getting travel reward credit cards to help you cut down on travel costs as well as credit cards that don’t charge fees for foreign transactions
● And always, always leave your options open because plans will often change when you’re travelling (even on short business trips!)
Author Biography
Over the past 10 years, Laura Knight has been a motorcycle rider. She has built up an incredible passion for travelling by motorbike and always wishes to contribute to motorcyclist and traveler community. This is the reason why she created MotorManner.com where her passion is turned into useful and interesting information about safety gear review and motorcycle traveling tips for motorcyclists and travel lovers.
