In the past, operating a business on a multinational level tended to remain within the realm of major corporations. Only bigger and more successful companies really had the funds to set up base in overseas territories at the same time as running things in their home country. It would mean renting commercial property to sell goods from, hiring on a whole new workforce to operate these stores, and carrying out major marketing campaigns to ensure that people in the newly explored area knew what your brand was and what it has to offer. However, nowadays, increasing numbers of small scale businesses seem to be reaching out further afield. There are various reasons for this, but perhaps the most poignant is the fact that we are engaging with the internet more and more. By operating online and selling online, we open up our brand to an international audience immediately – anyone with an internet connection will be able to see your content, no matter where they are in the world. The simple addition of international shipping also opens your products up for sale to individuals living overseas. This, of course, should be embraced! If there’s a market out there interested in your goods and wares, you should capitalise on it. It isn’t all too surprising, then, that many small business owners do tend to travel overseas more often nowadays. While you might not need to set up official stores overseas, it is a good idea to get to know the places and markets that you are trying to infiltrate. Business trips can prove extremely profitable in various ways! Let’s take a moment to look over this subject area in more detail!

Benefits of Business Trips

There are plenty of benefits that come hand in hand with overseas business trips. A few to consider include:

• Getting to Understanding Local Culture – if you’re aiming on selling to the average person, it’s good to get to know this average person. Spending all of your time in boardrooms with professionals isn’t necessarily going to let you get to know your target demographic. So, by heading overseas, you can actually get to know your target demographic and see what it is that they want!

• Gaining the Opportunity to Meet New Partners – if you’re operating overseas, chances are that you will eventually get an overseas business partner, or hire people to work overseas on your company’s behalf. It’s good to actually meet these people in person! Sure, we can make use of video calls, but there’s just something different and better about meeting and communicating with people in person.

• A Change of Atmosphere – sometimes you need a little change to see a boost in your productivity. Heading away on a business trip can give you an opportunity to get away from the same-old same-old routine and breathe a new lease of life into your business and the way that you see things! Who knows, you could come across something that truly inspires you or sparks a great idea in your mind.

Booking Your Trip

Generally speaking, when you’re booking a professional trip, it is best to steer clear of commercial airlines and travel companies and make use of business travel agents. These people are more likely to be able to tailor a trip that suits your business needs down to a tee, rather than trying to fit you into a scheme that is designed for the average leisure traveller.

Be Wary of Bleisure

If you haven’t heard of “bleisure” before, you might benefit from a short introduction to the concept. Bleisure is essentially a hybrid term that mixes the words “business” and “leisure”. It is used to refer to the growing numbers of travellers who are blurring the lines between business trips and leisure trips. The phenomenon is so popular, in fact, that various different studies have been conducted into the area. It has been found that around 83% of people surveyed actually admitted to spending a significant portion of the time that were on a business trip to explore the place that they were staying. Believe it or not,about 30% of candidates had actually added an full pleasure excursion to their business trip on at least one occasion in the duration of their careers. Around 50% of people who end up engaging with bleisure actively plan on doing this before even leaving on their trip – they might invite their partners along to accompany them on the getaway. If you think that this might just be a passing set of coincidences, it’s worth bearing in mind that bleisure is anticipated to stay and, if anything, increase in popularity. An average of 6 out of 10 people stated that they would be more likely to take bleisure trips today than they would have been five years ago.

The Benefits of Bleisure

Now, there are, of course, benefits to bleisure – every coin, after all, has two sides. If you are travelling to a country you haven’t visited before, of course you’re going to want to explore and get around. It’s highly likely that you’ll want to try out some local cuisine, get to hear the local language, and probably see some local sights. So, if you anticipate and accommodate for leisure within your business trip, this could prove extremely enjoyable. Just make sure that you are away for long enough to complete business and engage with leisure activities. Don’t try to cram everything into one trip. This is where things can start to go wrong. You don’t want to find that you’ve gone away to profit, only to spend time and money focusing on unassociated tasks. The key to engaging with bleisure successfully is moderation. Prioritise your business and spend extra time engaging with leisure activities.

As long as they are properly managed, business trips can really prove beneficial for your company as a whole. So, if you’re planning on expanding into overseas territories or targeting overseas consumer markets, it’s definitely a good idea to fit a few into your diary in the near future!