It can be a daunting prospect – travelling the world whilst trying to maintain your business and keeping up with the demands of this full-time responsibility. However, it is possible, and more people than ever are deciding to take the plunge. It is easier than ever to be a travelling businessperson. Even the most remote locations have a WiFi signal, and you will never be alone when setting up your laptop in a café or coffee shop. The truth is if you can work from home then you can work on the move. And here is how.
Stay Compliant
No matter where you conduct your work from, your business is registered in the UK and thus you need to stick to the strict guidelines and regulations. Without a finance team to help, you may need to work out how to calculate VAT in order to keep your finances compliant and prevent any nasty fines from being incurred, as well as helping you when it comes to tax return season as you could get yourself a hefty rebate. Run things exactly how you would if were working in the office.
Get The Right Equipment
You will of course need a high-quality laptop and mobile phone to keep you connected but there is plenty more that you can invest in to make your workday more productive. Many of us work with two screens and you may think that working on the move means you have to make do with just your laptop but this is not the case. There are plenty of portable monitors on the market that will fit nicely in a laptop bag for easy transporting. A mobile hotspot means you can make sure you have a strong internet connection no matter where you are. In addition to cloud storage, consider getting a backup hard drive and memory cards to ensure the maximum amount of storage.
Keep Communication Channels Open
Your mobile phone and portable Wi-Fi hotspot are essential for keeping communication lines open which in turn is essential for running your business effectively. You need to be contactable and accessible at the very least during usual working hours – if your clients cannot contact you and you are regularly late with getting back to them then you are seriously putting your professional relationships at risk. If necessary, set aside days or hours in which you are “on-call” and give this information to your clients or staff.
Do Not Get Lazy
We all procrastinate from time to time and let things slip a little bit, but this is not something that should be taken lightly when you are working remotely. There is no one checking up on you or helping keep you on track and you will also be contending with more distractions than ever before. You may decide to push back a personal deadline in favour of a day of sightseeing or a local event that you have been dying to attend but the key to working from abroad is being strict. Create your work schedule and stick to it regardless of what you might rather be doing instead.