Neil Wainwright - CEO, Nexonia
As an entrepreneur building a startup, I’ve found that every second counts when it comes to making the most of my business trips.
By spending a few minutes less on a task, I can free up valuable time to focus on what really matters: meeting customers, engaging with partners and having conversations with new acquaintances about how I can help them improve their business processes.
There are three key areas where I can save time and get more out of my business trips.
1) Make the most of mobile capabilities. Although I’m in the business of expense-report technology, managing my own expenses is not my full-time job, and it shouldn’t be a huge responsibility for any traveller. By using Nexonia Expenses mobile app, I can take photos of my receipts and track all my expenses online. I can also accelerate the expense reimbursement process by completing it on the plane and submitting the report the moment I land.
2) Streamline processes to prevent delays. Beyond the expense reporting, I streamline as many of the necessary but time-consuming tasks that can steal time away from the important elements of the trip.
3) Use time wisely. I try to always capitalize on every spare minute when I’m travelling for business. If a meeting finishes early or my flight is later in the day, I use that time to visit nearby partners and customers. Every unused minute is an opportunity to demonstrate commitment, get feedback and updates and build on the personal connections of loyal customers.
Roger Harrison - President, Radius Logistics
Transportation is the core of our business. From small parcel to truckload, we manage all supply-chain logistics.
While we are professionals at handling transportation needs for others, we can understand how business trips can become unproductive or exhausting. With clients across North America, I travel quite a bit for work. Here are my top three tips to make the most out of your next business trip:
1) Plan ahead and build cost-effective travel relationships. Planning ahead and knowing what you want to accomplish at your destination will save you time and money and could potentially bring in new business. In our business we are always trying to find cost-effective solutions for an organization’s transportation needs, so I try to integrate money-saving methods into my business travel as well. Try to pick a brand and stick with it. Join its loyalty program and take advantage of the perks, savings, expedited check-ins and points that you can use on future trips.
2) Make the most out of airport downtime. Buy a pass that allows you access to airport lounges with Wi-Fi. It will save you money in the long run and give you a quiet, comfortable space to get work done while you wait for flights.
3) Get a GPS and save yourself time. Most rental car companies offer them. Better yet, take your own. You can save a ton of time and stress by having clear directions to each stop. The added benefit of having your own is that it allows you to save addresses of the places you visit frequently.
Thomas Beattie - CEO, Voleo Inc.
A successful business trip is a balancing act that takes careful planning.
1) Optimize your schedule. When the Voleo team has to travel we aim to fit as many meetings, events and connections as possible into each day. To do so, we begin planning far in advance, filling in the first days first so that introductions made during early meetings can be used to fill any gaps later in the trip. Typically, I aim for a three-week planning period, as calendars begin to fill up with less than two weeks’ notice and sufficient time needs to be given in order to organize back-to-back meetings that are geographically close together.
2) Be realistic. Business travellers often assume that they’ll be able to work while in transit. However, experience has taught me that while I’d like to think I can get four hours of work done during a flight, in reality it’s tough to be productive on a plane. As such, taking a red-eye flight can be a time-effective option.
3) Think economically. While some might attempt to use flexible plane tickets, this alternative not only takes away from the structure of a well-planned business trip, but also is costly. It’s long been a rule of mine to treat business travel costs as if I were the one paying. Most of us really do fit just fine in economy class.
I’ve taken well over a hundred flights in the last decade, and if there’s one key lesson it’s that time is the only resource that nobody can buy, so make each journey count for yourself, your business and your investors.
