Learning that you’ll need to travel somewhere for business is one of the most exciting things to hear if you’re an employee or one of the most rewarding decisions to make if you run your own business. If traveling helps open your eyes to new cultures and new ways of doing things then traveling for business does exactly the same thing. Whether you’re going to a different city, different state, or different country, you’ll have an enriching experience all on company time. Not only will you be conducting useful work for the business, but you will be feeding the travel bug while you do it. So what should you remember if you’re traveling for business?
Research Your Destination
The first thing to do when traveling is to do research on where you’re going. When running a business, going somewhere exotic could provide some killer content for social media. You could also find some interesting cultural places, relevant to your business, to give you more content to talk about. Find out whether the weather is likely to be warm or cold and whether you’re going to need to pack executive wear befitting a hot or cold climate and in-keeping with local cultural trends. Your packing list should also include anything you need to continue to run the business, ledgers, power banks for your laptop, any information on USBs and any physical materials for meetings - that sort of thing.
Travel Expenses
If you are forced to travel as part of the running of the business, you may be eligible for some money back when you do your taxes. Finding out what is a travel expense that you can claim back should be a priority and can often help you plan your trip. These travel expenses can be anything from the cost of the trip, shipping costs, meals (half the cost) and accommodation, as well as expenses in communications that you might need to make there, such as phone calls. Knowing what you can claim travel expenses on can help you to plan what you might do. If you know you might get the money back at a later date, you could spend more and be better suited to fulfill the nature of the business trip.
Legal Protection
One of the most important things to remember when traveling for business is to ensure you are fully covered. Not only will you need to ensure you have travel insurance – you don’t want to lose your laptop! – but you’ll also need business insurance. As explained by Next Insurance, it’s important to have business insurance in order to protect your business and personal finances from any accident, incident, or emergency that might happen on a professional level. Big companies are sued daily, but they often have crack teams of lawyers and finances to fight the battles. Many smaller companies are forced out of business because they weren’t adequately protected. This is just as true when traveling as it is when being stationed in the office.
Traveling for business is a unique experience that differs from traveling for pleasure. Not only do you have a job to do there, but you will be able to soak up a different type of culture that you wouldn’t have access to if you only traveled for pleasure.
