Travelling abroad for business is an exciting and promising sign for any business owner. Whether you’re off to a meeting, conference or Expo, heading overseas on business requires a little logistical planning.
From cultural customs to insurance, there’s plenty to consider before booking those plane tickets. With that in mind, here are some of the key things to think about when you’re travelling for business.
Create an itinerary
Often when travelling for business you’ll only be at your destination for a matter of days at best. To maximize your time, it’s best to plan an itinerary in advance so you can make the most out of the time available to you. This can include travel times to and from where you’re staying, any relevant booking documents, and where and when you’re having your meetings.
When travelling, it’s a great idea to check out some options other than hotels. For example, serviced apartments are a professional alternative to a hotel that offers more amenities and is far more comfortable to work out of. Serviced apartments come aplenty in any major city, so if you’re off to the big apple, for example, make sure to research into available serviced apartments in New York.
Staying connected
Every entrepreneur or business owner will know the importance of staying connected while out of the office. When travelling, however, you’re more than likely to be in areas with no Wi-Fi, or worse, no phone signal. Before grabbing your bag and rushing to the airport, make sure you’ve checked that your hotel room has Wi-Fi and that your phone contract covers the country that you’re travelling to. This way, you can arrive at your destination with the peace of mind that you’ll still be contactable.
Travel insurance
As with any trip abroad, travel insurance is incredibly important. However, with a business trip, this is something that is imperative. You will without a doubt be taking your laptop, phone and possible tablet devices all on one journey and all of these are high-value items.
While they say a lot of business is a risk, it’s not worth potentially failing to insure your most important items abroad. Getting these covered means that if your items become damaged, lost or stolen you will at least be able to claim their value back if nothing else. It is also for this reason that you should always back up your files on a hard drive or a Cloud service.
Research the culture
If you’re meeting a potential new business partner or client, nothing screams professionalism than showing some cultural understanding. While you’re not expected to learn the language overnight or know the customs like the back of your hand, it is at least courteous to show some awareness.
Quick 20-minute research while you wait for your flight will work wonders when it comes to building relationships. Plus, you might even discover some handy phrases that can help you to navigate your destination when you get there.
Travelling for business isn’t like hopping on a flight for your annual summer holiday, it requires a little more foresight and planning. Hopefully, these few tips will give you a little guidance when organising your next business trip.
