The balancing act of building a startup, traveling, and maintaining a successful career can be quite cumbersome. Only the strong will survive before throwing in the towel, because it takes blood, sweat, tears, and grit.
We constantly hear stories about successful millionaires and billionaires and how they got their starts. Take for example, billionaire Sara Blakey, founder of Spanx, the largest selection of slimming intimates. She worked as a salesperson at an office supply company, while traveling to hosiery mills pitching her product.
Or take 32-year-old Markus Persson, creator of Minecraft, a sandbox video game. Persson worked as programmer for jAlbum, a photo sharing company while spending his spare time building Minecraft. In 2015 he told the program to Microsoft for $2.5 billion cash.
While many entrepreneurs like to hear and learn from those who in their eyes have reached the pinnacle of success, sometimes it’s nice to pick the brains for other entrepreneurs. Learn the tricks of the trade that are current. Surrounding yourself and listening to other like-minded entrepreneurs can have a major impact on your success.
I spoke with Patrice Tartt, an entrepreneur and writing coach, to gain a better understanding of what it takes to manage a business while traveling and holding down a full-time career.
Tartt assists clients in the journalism and media industry. As an author, speaker, and writer, she’s assisted dozens of clients sign publishing deals and successful pitch national media publications. A true grinder, works 40 hour weeks at her day job and consults with clients on early and late lunches, breaks, and weekends. It takes a lot of discipline to stay focused and have excellent time management skills.
Here’s her advice on how you can do the same:
Keep your schedule organized.
Being organized helps when you do have a window of opportunity to schedule travel for your business or take a client call. Investing in time management software or virtual assistance is key when you also have to focus on excelling for your employer. It’s okay to wear many hats at the same time, but organization is king if you want to be successful at it all.
Stay flexible.
Always stay ready for the next level when it comes to being able to cross state borders for opportunities. Tartt, a speaker and media correspondent, is always on the go. That means that she needs to use her vacation time at work wisely.
Being flexible is a must. It’s easier to work with individuals who are flexible and can make moves with short notice. Everyone makes time for whatever it is they like, and to get the next level, the aforementioned is required.
Travel with someone.
Tartt highly suggests always having someone to travel with you for business. It’s hard to manage and do everything on your own, and to be at the top of your game, too.
If you have someone that can benefit from what you are doing as well, act in the capacity of assisting you, and they know how to leverage the opportunity as well as, then you have the perfect match. This also allows for you to focus on why you’re traveling on business in the first place.
Be consistent.
You have to walk the walk. Consistency is how you continuously get to the next level within your business.
If you aren’t working your business, it wont work for you. You must always be on the forefront of what it is that you are doing, to maximize the potential of your business and you grow your brand and scale your business.
For Tartt, she’s invested in her brand to find success. “Investing is important, and key to any entrepreneur–along with implementation and putting in the work to reap the benefits that you desire,” she says.
Taking that advice, and running with it, will help you gain the momentum you need to reach your own success.