Your digital business Nomad
This is your life journey, probably your only source of income and the machine that feeds your wallet and allows you to continue to travel and survive. Be sure to set up your business for easy remote management. The typical business of Digital Nomad is to provide some non-physical remote services, so your accounting should not be too complicated. However, make sure that you set up your company correctly, with good administrative support and in accordance with all laws and regulations. There are many actions that are ideal for remote control - fighting permissions not one of them! Keep in mind that Digital Nomad Lifestyle can be considered unorthodox or even slightly suspicious for certain people; one more reason to make sure everything is in perfect order is administrative.
A few words about income
Digital nomads usually spend most of their time in low-cost countries, so they can survive at a lower income than in a highly developed country. Here are a few important things to consider when budgeting for Digital Nomad business:
- Be prepared to withstand remote work! Many managers want you to sit at your desk, in a place where they can follow you.
- Customers generally pay far less for remote work than for on-site work.
- Local daily life in an inexpensive country can be inexpensive - just do not forget that the cost of international travel, software licenses, hardware, etc. remain the same no matter what country you are in
- Consider your professional training, new tools and methods, participation in conventions, fairs, off-line courses, etc.
- Don't forget about the budget for health and travel insurance for your staff (= YOUR!), Accounting and auditing, visas and possible work permits, and sometimes legal assistance depending on where and how you set up your business.
- Consider retirement provisions - no employer will do it for you like a digital nomad
- It is much easier to “translate” into a cheap / low-income lifestyle than what you need to “prepare” for a high-priced / high-income lifestyle.
- Avoid low cost / low income traps: you may be tempted to lower your work and income to a level where you have a comfortable daily life in an inexpensive country. However, returning to your home country (sometimes destiny calls ...) can be a real problem if you are not satisfied with sufficient funds.
Company secretary or related service
You will need a qualified and reliable agent to handle your business practices and administration; for example, a physical address and, possibly, a phone number for your business, forwarding mail, tracking applications and returns and when done, updating a business license, accounting and auditing ... Proper support will give you the freedom to focus 100% on productive work and develop your business - improper support can cause unnecessary and extremely annoying pain and headache. Take your time and be meticulous who you hire!
Keep track of your expenses, income and income.
It is important for any business! However, Digital Nomad's office is usually “located” in a suitcase or backpack, daily work is transferred from new sites in different parts of the world, and the entire operation must be able to easily and repeatedly pack / unpack. It is important to have a good and simple system for your papers and records, so that it is convenient to bring them when traveling. Check everything regularly as a backup and / or send it to your company secretary (using notorious mail!). Occasionally.
Responsive customer
This is also true for any business, but it can be a problem for Digital Nomad. I found that email is the preferred means of communication, and I use the message outside the office when outgoing Internet coverage. Rate it the next time you read your email and don't forget to indicate which time zone you are referring to. I use Skype and other voice services on the Internet, but I do not use them for the first contact with a new or potential client, as the quality of service may be unreliable.
Data and Account Management
This is especially important for digital nomads, since we are, by definition, mobile in our work. A laptop thrown by a frequent traveler has a higher probability of failure than his college in the office or at home. Frequent trips also cause a higher risk of theft. Make sure that you back up important data several times and to multiple media and to store different backup media in different places — for example, a small portable disk in a backpack and a memory card in your pocket. There is also the possibility of cloud storage. I do not use this personally, as this makes it impossible to work offline, and I definitely prefer to keep the data in my hands.
You can use some software services for your user IDs and passwords.
Lean but orderly project management
I recommend scant, simplified, but effective and orderly administration of projects for Digital Nomad! I use my smartphone, GTasks and Google calendar to track projects and customer actions. I also perform a simple, but bulletproof RFQ: s processing process and new projects.
Iron and software
This is not negotiable. If your smartphone is stolen, your computer crashes or needs updated memory, or that a new software program requires certain software, there are few opportunities besides buying the necessary one. And you will most likely find the right offer in the nearest big city, almost anywhere in the world. However, if you are in a country with a different character set (for example, in most Asian countries), it may be difficult to find your old familiar keyboard. English keyboards are usually available, but be prepared to solve several problems in the language area. It is worth mentioning that the software for copying occurs in certain places, so be careful.
Insurance company
Assuming that you have already arranged insurance for your personal protection, it may be advisable to also study the insurance company. To cover liability if you make a mistake in your work, get your laptop with important confidential information about customers lost or stolen or hacked ... It's hard to get and can be terribly expensive, but at least worth seeing.
