You may not have to pay for gas and parking with a traditional commute to work, but as a small business owner, you may want to travel from time to time to attend conference, give presentations, meet others in your business, and more. Travel can get to be expensive, especially if youre a new entrepreneur, so here are seven tips you can use to keep your costs as low as possible:
- Apply to be a speaker.
Conferences typically have panels and speakers, and many open it up to everyone to apply by submitting a speak proposal. Some pay, but even if they dont, theyll likely reimburse you for your ticket and may help you out with the flight and hotel room as well.
- Travel mid-week.
Instead of flying into town on a Friday night, try to plan your travel for Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday instead. Flights are cheaper and you can even find inexpensive hotel rooms mid-week.
- Use your job to get perks.
Youre probably pretty familiar with Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites that can be used to promote your business. Use this to your advantage – many companies offer travel discounts and coupons. If you have a large email list, you can also pitch airlines, hotels, etc., offering promotion/advertising in exchange for a discount.
- Choose a hotel with a refrigerator.
You can save a significant amount of money on food costs if youre willing to travel with your own groceries. Instead of paying for expensive meals (or even worse, room service), stock your hotels fridge with bread and lunchmeat, fresh veggies, cereal bars, and other foods appropriate for breakfast and lunch.
- Find a sponsor.
If youre traveling to a conference, a business that cant be in attendance might be willing to sponsor you. What are you willing to do in exchange for them helping you with the costs – are you willing to hand out their business cards? Wear their t-shirt? Write some blog posts for them about the conference? Come up with your offer and pitch a few companies (local business are especially good for sponsorship).
- Check in.
If you have a smartphone, check in whenever you travel using Foursquare or other location-based services. Many places offer discounts or even free food/services to people who check in or become mayors. Plus, your friends/fans/followers will be able to see where you are and can give you some good recommendations for saving money in that neck of the woods.
- Save your receipts.
Business-related travel is tax-deductible. While you wont be saving money now, come April 15 next year, you could save a ton of money just by holding onto your receipts for meals, flights, lodging, and other related costs.
Remember, before you leave on any business-related, make sure you have a great travel insurance policy. For little money, a travel insurance policy ensures that youre not put in a tough spot financially if your flight gets delayed/cancelled, the hotel was overbooked, your get sick while on vacation, you have to cancel your trip at the last minute, or theres another problem while youre away from home.
This guest post is from Allison at TravelInsurance.org, where you can go to get a great travel insurance quote.
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