Not all business trips are as rewarding as others. In fact, some can be time-consuming, dull and expensive. And with video conferencing technology enabling us to see and speak live to people all over the world, are they still necessary?
“Conference calls are fine, but you don’t really chat like you do in face-to-face meetings, which is how you build relationships and learn valuable things,” says Adam Ewart, founder of SendMyBag, an international door-to-door luggage pick up and delivery service. The young entrepreneur also runs Northern Ireland-based musical instrument retail business Karacha.com.
New York times
“In 2011 we’d started importing instruments into the US and I was in New Jersey looking for a distribution warehouse,” he recalls. “A contact told me about his brother-in-law, whom I remembered some years later. I got in touch and he was instrumental in setting up SendMyBag in the USA.”
Ewart travelled to New York in 2014 to help. “Although we’d been active in the US for a while, the market was opening up and we needed to show greater commitment. I rented an apartment in New York City for three months, so I could meet key contacts and be better placed to capitalise on opportunities.
“What made that trip really memorable was I was actually invited onto the CNBC evening news to talk about SendMyBag – I couldn’t have asked for better launch publicity. If I hadn’t have been in New York, that wouldn’t have happened.”
Jamaican jaunt
Rob and Paul Forkan survived the devastating 2004 Asian tsunami that claimed the lives of their parents, Kevin and Sandra. In 2012 they launched their now popular flip-flop business, Gandys, which donates a percentage of its profits to the brothers’ Orphans for Orphans foundation. The money helps underprivileged children in Asia.
“We’ve had so many memorable trips, but our latest trip to the Kids Campus in Sri Lanka that our foundation helped to create is right up there,” says Rob. “Whenever we go back to Sri Lanka, it gives us new ideas and inspiration. We love the people and culture.”
Paul believes business travel still has a place. “It’s much better to see things with your own eyes and meet people in the flesh,” he says. “With technology, you don’t get a genuine feel for things. It’s easy and relatively cheap to travel, while technology helps you to stay connected.”
The brothers recommend trying to fit in as much as possible. Rob adds: “We went to Jamaica in 2014 – another memorable trip – and as well as visiting the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship and the Bob Marley Foundation, we met many local business people too. We were extremely busy, but we were determined to pack in as much as we could.”
California dream
Award-winning entrepreneur Antony Chesworth is CEO of Lancashire-based e-commerce software company EKM Systems, which he set up in 2002. “My most memorable business trip came last year, when I was invited to Google’s headquarters in Silicon Valley with 30 other CEOs. We also visited NASA and YouTube, and I had a couple of days off in San Francisco.
“The people I met were very inspiring – several were billionaires – but when I was on my own walking around the Google campus or driving around Apple’s complex, it reminded me why I am in business – to create something special and, maybe, in a small way, change the world.”
Chesworth says seeing some of the world’s most successful companies up close made him feel that anything is possible for his own business. “I wouldn’t have got that feeling from a phone call,” he says. “I am a big fan of email, and although some meetings can be pointless, meeting people in the flesh is what we as humans are designed to do.”
Nashville inspiration
Shaun Pulfrey also attaches great value to overseas business trips. “There’s no better way to gain an understanding of another culture,” he says. “Travel also brings inspiration. I come back buzzing with ideas.”
Having been a hair colourist for almost 30 years, Pulfrey set up his pioneering detangling hairbrush, Tangle Teezer, in 2007. A trip to Nashville, Tennessee, a few years ago inspired Pulfrey’s most recent innovation, his Tangle Teezer Blow-Styling Tool. “I spent time with American hairdressers at a trade show, which helped me to better understand their techniques.
“I could also more clearly understand the problems women experienced when trying to blow-dry their own hair at home, with most unable to achieve the same result as a stylist. The trip made me realise that there was an opportunity to create a solution.”
Pulfrey says meeting contacts in person is essential in some overseas markets. “Distributors in China value relationships very highly and ours wanted to build one with us before doing business. You can only really get to know someone by meeting them in person.”
Midlands meeting
Many business trips are much sorter, of course, but no less worthwhile. “I went to Ireland for three days with Enterprise Nation in early 2016, seeking to grow our customer base there,” says Akeem Ojuko. He launched his flavoured nut butter business, The Wild Peanut, in 2014.
“I was able to find out about our target customers’ likes and dislikes directly, while also speaking to potential distributors and major supermarkets. Nothing beats being there in person, because you can make a genuine connection, although for speed and ease, sometimes a video conference or phone call does the job,” he says.
Even closer to his Essex base, Ojuko visited leading healthfood retailer Holland and Barrett in Nuneaton at the beginning of 2015. “It was a very important meeting,” Ojuko stresses. “One I’ll remember for various reasons.
“Technology can let you down. I was reminding myself of key financial information on the way up there, but my smartphone suddenly froze and I couldn’t get it to work again. This meant I had to use more traditional methods to find their offices. I got there in time – but only just. The meeting went well and soon my products were on the shelves in Holland and Barrett stores. Great things like that just don’t happen to your business unless you travel to meet people in person.”
Content on this page is paid for and produced to a brief agreed with Kia Fleet, sponsor of the Guardian Small Business Network Accessing Expertise hub.
