Table of Contents
Corporate travel is pretty expensive. For many companies, it is the biggest portion of their budget. This can be tough on small businesses.
But corporate travel isn’t just for huge companies. It can be for small businesses as well. All it takes is a bit of planning and budgeting.
Here are some ways that you can plan for your next corporate trip. The key is to start early.
Research
Begin your research at the beginning of the year.
Ideally, you should always be doing research. You should always be aware of what the big conferences in your industry are.
Plan a few hours of research into your schedule every other week. Read industry newsletters and stay on top of networking.
Ask colleagues to do some looking as well. They might run across something that you’ve missed. Don’t be afraid to ask friends to keep an eye out.
You should probably be sending employees to conferences at least once a year. Conferences and events are expensive. But they will help you win over customers and find good talent.
Search for events that your competitors will be at. But also look for smaller, more low-key events.
Small events give you the opportunity to shine.
Budget
Put corporate travel into your budget.
Ask your accounting department to find ways to make it work. One way to help them out is to use a professional booking service.
Companies like Hotel Engine are the best way to go.
Using a booking service will cost you some money upfront. But it will end up saving you money in the long run. That’s because they have industry connections that you don’t have access to.
They will also save you lots of time. And as any good businessperson knows, time is also money.
Hotels usually make up for the largest part of a corporate trip. But hotel rates are almost always negotiable. And it’s best to leave that negotiating to the professionals.
Hotels and event centers are always looking for repeat customers. Booking agencies are those repeat customers and they have established relationships with most major hotel chains.
They are also experts on business travel. You need to ensure that your employees’ needs are met.
Travel experts know what business travelers need better than you do.
People
Plan who is going to be doing the traveling.
Some employees might not actually want to travel. Most of them will jump at the chance, though.
But you should make sure to send your best people. Not everyone is good at traveling, and not everyone can handle the pressure of a business trip.
Traveling is stressful, especially while you’re working. Send people who are used to traveling and understand the stress.
Prepare new employees for travel if they haven’t traveled before. Send them with more experienced travelers so they can learn the ropes.
Make sure not to send your best talent away at once. You need some people to run the office while people are away.
Scheduling
Travel requires a lot of time.
Your employees will expect to be paid for their travel time. If they aren’t, they will require another form of compensation.
Invest in scheduling software like the ones on this list from Software Advice. It will save you a lot of trouble.
Larger scheduling programs can be useful, but they aren’t always as secure. It’s best to find something that works for your company.
Writing things down in your own planner can be useful, too. It’s always good to have an analogue backup of everything.
Risk-Management
Things can and will go wrong.
The employee who was planning on traveling might quit. Or the conference might get canceled.
Someone could get stuck in an airport overnight. When this happens, you’ll need extra cash to deal with the problem.
Always place a cushion into your budget. Add extra time to the schedule in case something comes up.
Talk about an alternative plan before the trip. If you are hosting a large conference, make sure to have multiple backup plans in place.
Conclusion
Corporate Travel doesn’t have to be just for the big companies. Any business can take advantage of business travel.
Image Credit: Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash