Find Out How To Prepare Yourself For A Successful Business Trip Abroad
When you run a business, there will be times where you have to make trips abroad to see current and prospective clients. You might also need to meet with suppliers, attend trade shows or even meet with government officials.
Is this going to be your first time going abroad for business? If so, you might be panicking a little. But don’t worry, because help is at hand! By following the tips in this blog post, you will learn how to plan and prepare for your first overseas business trip. Feel free to print this page out if you need to refer to it offline.
Your itinerary
You will doubtless have a specific date and time to meet with the people you are going to see. That’s great, but you need to organise how you are going to get there and where you will stay for the duration of your trip!
Planning a business trip itinerary is quite important. If you don’t get it right, you could waste a lot of time and money. You could also be in danger of missing your schedules meeting; that’s obviously bad news!
The Internet is a great place to book your flights, accommodation and airport transfers. Websites like Kayak help you to find the best deals so that you can save your business money.
When booking your flights and accommodation, I recommend you allow flexibility for unexpected delays. It’s not uncommon for flights to get delayed or even cancelled. So if your meeting is on Friday, for example, get to your destination for Thursday afternoon.
Ensure that the things you book allow for last-minute changes. The last thing you want to do is pay for new flight tickets because you are not allowed to change your booking details!
Clothes
As you are going for a business meeting, you will need to take a fresh, clean suit with you. When you book your hotel, ensure that there are ironing facilities available at your destination.
You could always take a travel iron with you in your suitcase, but this will just add weight to your baggage allowance at the airport. Be sure to pack extra clothes in case there are delays coming back, and you need to stay an extra night or two.
Getting online
Most major hotels offer Internet facilities. The only downside is that they are sometimes slow and are often expensive. One popular way around this problem is to use a mobile broadband dongle and foreign SIM card abroad.
I recommend going for a 4G solution as this will give you the fastest way to connect online and download large files. 4G dongles plug into your laptop’s USB port. You can also get “MiFi” devices that act as wireless routers. They are useful for connecting several devices at the same time.
mbrochh / Flickr
Adapter plugs
Unless you are going to another part of the UK or somewhere like Gibraltar, you will need an adapter plug. These cheap and useful gadgets enable you to use your UK devices with foreign power sockets.
Make sure you get some with surge protection in case you are going somewhere with questionable electricity flow. Good luck!