How to prepare for a business trip
Making travel arrangements for a business trip can be exciting. However, you should know how to prepare for a business trip.
There are a few things you should consider when you plan your business trip that is different from when you are planning a personal trip.
Whether you may be planning an International trip or an Interstate trip, you should know some of the things below which will help you to plan a successful business trip.
1. Get documents ready
First thing you should do when you know that you need to go on a business trip is to make sure you have documents to travel, especially if you are planning an overseas trip.
You need to check if you have a valid passport before traveling. You may also consider getting an International license if you are planning to drive.
2. Book your flights
You should then book your flights. You need to know when you are going to arrive at your destination so you can plan the rest of your trip.
Depending on how many days you need for your business trip, you should think if you prefer to arrive in the morning, afternoon or at night.
If you are planning a short one day trip, then you will probably start your day early and book the earliest flight possible. It also depends on the distance you are planning to travel and how many meetings you will need to attend.
You don’t want to be too tired as well for your meetings. If you don’t like an early start then you should consider flying a night earlier and stay at your destination overnight.
If you are planning a longer trip, then you may not want to wake up early. You can take an afternoon flight or a late morning flight so you don’t get tired of your meetings.
You can use websites like Skyscanner or Google Flights to help you plan your flights.
3. Book your hotel room
Once your flight is booked, you know when you will arrive at your destination. You should then start thinking about where you will stay for your business trip.
Depending on how many meetings you are planning to attend, you may prefer to be close to the place where you will meet your customer. It will save you time to travel to your customer meetings.
You can compare your hotels and prices of hotels on Bookings.com which has a comprehensive list of hotels.
4. Book your transportation
If you have planned a few meetings, then you need to think about how you will be traveling from one meeting to another.
You should think if you will catch a cab, train or if you want to hire a chauffeur for a day so you can travel comfortably between your meetings.
Chauffeur service has shows your potential customer that you have a level of standard and you can do deals inside the car while traveling comfortably.
5. Where should you eat?
You should think about the places where you should eat. The places you should think about is not just for yourself but also think about where should you take your clients.
The places where you may want to have lunch meetings, coffee or dinner should be comfortable. It should be a place where you can have a good conversation, quiet enough to discuss your agenda but also be able to order quality food or drinks.
You should ideally look for places close to where your customer works so it is easy for your customer to get to.
You should check the website and reviews of the place before you decide to go to that place. You want to impress your customer and make the meeting a memorable one.
6. Do you have time to explore?
If you are planning to mix business with pleasure then you should think about exploring the city. It may be an overseas trip that you are planning or an interstate business trip.
One of the best ways to explore the city is by foot. You should check out if there are any Free Walking Tours available at the place you are going.
Walking Tours are becoming more popular all over the world and in a couple of hours, you will be able to explore the city. You will be able to see most of the places that a tourist would explore and know about the city that you may not have known before.
You will also be able to meet new people who may be on a business trip or on a personal trip. The guide will also most likely talk about places you should eat as well where you can go after the walking tour.
If you have more time, you can also hire a private drive or you can book a tour to explore the city. You can get on a hop on hop off bus as well.
There are a few options, it depends on how much time you have and how much you want to explore.
7. Think about what you will pack
When you are traveling for work, you should take only essentials. You will most probably carry a laptop bag, make sure that you carry your laptop charger. You will need your mobile and mobile charger.
If you are traveling overseas, you should also think about how you will make calls. You may want to set up roaming on your sim card or you should look into getting a sim card that works where you will be traveling.
Make sure that you pack everything you need for your meetings like any print out for presentation, any documents you want to give to customers, company brochures or contracts.
Besides that just pack essentials for yourself like toothbrush, toothpaste, medicine, change of clothes. You should also consider packing snacks and a lightweight water bottle like this one available on Amazon.
You should take a light but a strong suitcase with 4 wheels which is easy to manoeuver.
8. How much money do you need?
If you are traveling interstate you probably don’t need to think about carrying cash. However, if you are planning an overseas trip you should consider taking some cash.
You should think about how much money you may need. You may be able to use your credit card in most places.
However, depending on where you are going it is a good idea to take some cash with you as not all places may have a credit card facility.
If you are traveling overseas, the best place to exchange local currency would be at the airport where you arrive. So, plan ahead and think about how much money you need for the trip and take some cash.
If you are traveling overseas, you should let your bank know so they know you will be overseas and they won’t block your credit card thinking fraudulent activity.
If you must take cash, you should make sure that you have to carry the cash safely. Perhaps consider carrying your cash in a money belt similar to this one that’s available on Amazon.
9. Should you get insurance for your business trip?
Yes, you should have travel insurance when you are traveling whether it is for a personal or a business trip.
If you are paying for your flights with your credit card, you may want to check your credit card company as they may offer travel insurance.
The travel insurance that the credit card company may be sufficient for most of your trips. If it is not enough, then you can consider using companies like World Nomad.
Conclusion
Business trips can be exciting and daunting at times. We hope we have helped you to prepare for your business trip.
We’d love to hear from you what you have learned from your business trip. How do you prepare for your business trip?
