The concept of traveling is a tempting one. You explore the world, experiencing countless different cultures, meeting new friends and hopefully becoming a more rounded person as a result.
Traditionally, traveling was an activity you embarked on after college, or after your children have flown the nest. Basically, whenever you had a window between jobs and other commitments, and had the money to sustain yourself.
However, thanks to the digital age, it has become possible to start a business remotely and earn money while you travel. In theory it is the best of both worlds, but it throws up crucial questions.
The most important question to answer is how you can use tech to make it viable for you to jump between countries and hold down a business.
Here is how tech can help you run a business when you travel:
You Can Base Your Business In a Particular Location Using a Virtual Mailbox
One of the most obvious problems that a remote business throws up is what address you put on your website and business cards. After all, you cannot have people send you a package to Bali, when you have just boarded a plane to Brazil.
Thankfully, this is no longer a stumbling block because of virtual mailboxes. These are mailboxes in physical locations that can be used as your company mailbox.
What makes these virtual mailboxes even more useful is that you can choose from a number of locations around the world, allowing your business to be based in an entirely different country from where you are currently living.
You can have your mail forwarded to your current location, held in your virtual mailbox or even disposed of if requested.
Virtual mailboxes can be found at ipostal1.com/virtual-mailbox.php.
Automate Your Admin Processes
You can also use tech to help you run a business remotely by automating time-consuming admin tasks. No one likes to sort through paperwork at the best of times, let alone in a hotel room or airport lounge, so outsourcing these tasks is a good option.
There are, for instance, many apps which make completing admin far easier, ordering your invoices, taxes and orders in an easily digestible format.
Alternatively, if this still sounds too much like hard work, you could hire a freelance assistant to manage these tasks for you. If you choose carefully, this could be a great boost to your company efficiency.
Store Your Sensitive Data In The Cloud
If you are traveling around with nothing but a laptop and a suitcase, you inevitably run the risk of having your valuables stolen. This is bad news if you store sensitive data on your laptop hard drive. Precious business details and project work could be irretrievably lost.
Although external hard drives are a good option, they also run the risk of being lost or stolen.
Instead, consider using cloud-based software to store your data. It is easy to access from anywhere in the world, makes it easy to conduct group work, and is incredibly difficult for anyone to steal your data.
