Adventures in Entrepreneurship with Jeremy Hanks

2008: My Year of Travel. And 7 Reasons Why Smart Entrepreneurs Will Make 2009 Theirs

“Voyage, travel, and change of place impart vigor” – Seneca (Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD)

I feel vigorous. I traveled much more in 2008 than I’ve ever done before. Between business travel, personal JerCore adventure trips, and family vacations, I spent 85 days last year sleeping somewhere else than the bed in my bedroom. That’s 12 weeks. That’s almost 25% of the year.

Here’s how it played out: New York, Vegas, Midway, Phoenix, Bay Area, Grand Canyon, Burley, Salt Lake, Boston, New Jersey, Bay Area, Atlanta, SoCal, New Orleans, Park City, Bay Area, Chicago, Tennessee, Chicago, Tokyo, Burley, D.C., Driggs, Grand Teton, Vegas, D.C., South Dakota/Wyoming, Bay Area, Paris, Phoenix, Vegas.

I estimate I traveled 77,000 miles in 2008 (via plane, car, bus, or train). That gets me around the earth 1.925 times.

60% of that travel was business related. Conferences, business meetings, speaking engagements, etc.

I have a love/hate relationship with business travel. I don’t like all the logistics of travel, it’s a hassle, and I get migraine headaches from all the movement/motion. But, I love business travel because of what it allows you to do.

So here are my 7 reasons why smart entrepreneurs will burn some fossil fuels and get out there in 2009:

1. GTD. For those unfamiliar with those 3 letters, it stands for: Getting Things Done. There’s an almost cult-like following that follows David Allen’s methodology/book. IMHO, sitting down with someone face-to-face is significantly more efficient in getting things done that anything else. I know, it’s 2009. There’s Skype and IM and the telephone still works too. But I’ve said before that sometimes you have to get on a plane or hop in a car. If you want to build relationships and turn those relationships into something getting done that benefits your business, travel is a home run.

2. Gas is Cheap (for now). Travel pretty much involves burning some sort of carbon based fuel to move atoms around, and right now, that’s cheap. You know how they say to buy low? Buy travel now, it’s low. Think of it like an investment. Flights will get cheaper with the gas prices low and demand in the toilet.

3. Conferences/Trade Shows. Actually, quite genius. It’s like they’re providing a ‘people platform’ to bring people together to get business done. In a couple of days (sometimes only 1) you can accomplish more business than in weeks and weeks. Do your homework in advance and set up all the meetings you want. They’re going to be there, you’re going to be there, it’s like this uber confluence and vortex of GTD. Especially if you’re a new entrepreneur looking to develop or bring products to market, you HAVE to attend the relevant conferences/trade shows/events. It’s like the key to unlocking markets; you’ll learn more and meet more people in a concentrated time than any other way.

4. Conferences are cheap. Every single conference/show I’ve attended last year are emailing to drum up attendees. They’re extending their early bird discount windows. Demand for conferences isn’t just in the toilet, it’s been flushed and is sitting at the waste processing facility. Buy low.

5. ROI. Track your travel expenses to the penny. Then look into your business for deals that got done and business activity that progressed, and I guarantee you’ll see a positive ROI on that expense. And then compare that to the deals that are hung up and not moving forward and the relationships that are going stale and not doing you or them any good, and you’ll see that you haven’t had face-to-face communication either ever or at least recently.

6. Hotels are cheap. I’m planning some trips to Vegas for conferences in the next 6-8 weeks and hotels that were $350 a year ago are now $80. Demand for hotels isn’t at the waste processing facility, it’s been turned into fertilizer and is growing next year’s potato crop.

7. People are Social Creatures. We just are. Relationships are stronger when you have that face-to-face time. You want to know who your real friends/followers/contacts are? Log onto Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or your “social network” of choice. Think about it then. Skim through all that data. Guaran-damn-teed people you’ve shaken hands with somewhere sometime are infinitely more connected to you and your life and ultimately your business dealings and entrepreneurial success.

Have fun. So far this year, I’ve been to Vegas and St. Louis. Lots more to come I’m sure. What travel do you have planned?

“I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine.” – Caskie Stinnett (American writer)

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