Business momentum is volatile. What you’ve spent months, even years building, evaporates in one indecisive moment, while quick and decisive action taken imperfectly is rewarded with opportunity.
What started as a simple one-week trip to New York turned into a whirlwind month-and-a-half trip in no time. The adventure covered seven countries, six large cities, four climates and three coasts. By the end, I had changed flights 12 times, had to hire new people, buy new equipment and figure out how to continue normal operations.
When the momentum starts, your only viable option is to walk away. As a business owner, this means making last-minute arrangements with no travel fees. Maintaining flexibility, cost efficiency and workflow becomes a daunting conundrum.
Here’s how to catch lightning in a bottle to make it happen. Even if you are a small company like us.
Choosing the right airline is make or break.
Choosing the right airline is make or break.
Maintaining cost efficiency starts with choosing the right airline because you are in situations where uncertainty is paramount, flexibility is a requirement and unexpected interruptions in your plans are guaranteed. This may interest you : When to buy travel insurance, and when to skip it.
Choose an airline that allows you to change your flight without fees and gives a full flight credit in case of cancellation. This is not the time to choose a premium airline, but it is also not the time to use the cheapest option possible. The cheapest carriers usually fly to alternative and remote airports and are not very comfortable to drive. You’re running a marathon and ease of airport access and basic in-flight comfort are important to maintaining your stamina.
We have had situations where we had to rebook flights up to an hour before take off. Stick with one carrier because it’s easier to manage changes with one carrier than with a third party or multiple carriers on the fly.
Be strategic in determining where you will stay and how you will move.
Be strategic about where you stay and how you get around.
Car rental and hotel accommodation are expensive. Don’t be shy about asking for a place to stay with friends, family or clients. A big advantage of owning a small business that works with other small businesses is that clients value the relationship as much as you do and are more than happy to help. See the article : Paper Girls and more streaming on Prime Video this week. Just make sure your clients don’t feel obligated to give you a place to stay. This means that it is very easy for them to say no.
If you have to move frequently, it is best to take a rental car. If you’re going to mostly stick to one part of town or go short distances, stick to ridesharing. Since we were strategic about transportation and where we stayed, we only had to rent a car for 7 days and stay in a hotel for 6 days.
Pack for a third of the day of the trip, not the full length.
Pack for a third of your travel days, not the full length.
Too much luggage means exhaustion from lugging around while changing seats. If you’re going to be away for a week, pack for three days. See the article : The best airlines in the world for 2022, ranked by AirlineRatings.com. If you are gone for a month, pack for a week.
We knew we would be in four different climates that ranged from super hot to chilly nights and ranged from formal engagements to casual. This meant we packed five shirts, three pairs of trousers, two pairs of long-sleeved shirts, two pairs of shoes, two formal outfits and a jacket plus socks and underwear for a week.
Be extremely open in communication with clients.
Be extremely open in your communication with clients.
Communicate twice as much as you normally would with clients and let them know you’ll be traveling, while still keeping your work flow as it’s not a vacation. Tell them to expect flexibility and some uncertainty with schedules that change and are a bit unpredictable.
You might fall behind on something and you’ll definitely have to reschedule meetings at least six times. Clients are not frustrated by reasonable delays or moves. They get frustrated when they don’t feel taken care of, at the last minute, changes in appointments and confusion. Proactive communication prevents this from happening.
Cover those four basic areas and you’ll find that other unexpected problems will take care of themselves. Plus, at the end of the trip, you’ll have a list of clients in awe of what you just managed to pull off.
