Going on a business trip, might get you excited if you are an employee but not so much if you are a small business owner. Did you know why? Because business travel is expensive, especially if you are taking many people with you and your trip will last for weeks. To ensure that you don’t end up spending too much on your next business trip, here are six business travel hacks you should use to keep your business travel expenses in control.
1. Have a Travel Budget and Policy
First thing is first. Have a budget. Most businesses tend to overspend on the business trip because they either don’t have a budget or they don’t have a travel policy. Businesses that do have both still struggle to keep their expenses in control. Create a realistic budget and stick to it. Ensure that your employees are fully aware and understand the travel policy so that they don’t splurge money when they are on a business trip. Each employee should know which expenses are covered by company policy and which ones are not.
2. Automate Your Expense Management
Instead of tracking everything manually, you can also automate the whole process of financial management especially when it comes to business travel. There are many tools that let you set your financial management in autopilot. This will nofine-tunene tune your expense management but also streamline the reimbursement process. More importantly, you will be constantly be updated with how much money you have spend and how much is left.
3. Avoid Last Minute Trips
Business trips are arranged in a jiffy, right. Your boss tells you that you will be accompanying him on the next business trip and you will fly for it two days’ time. The problem with this approach is that it will cost you much more to book everything from flights to hotel rooms at the eleventh hour. Unfortunately, that is how business trips usually go, which is the main reason why it tends to cost businesses an arm and a leg.
By planning your business trip weeks in advance, you can easily save your business a lot of money. Everything from air tickets to hotel room is cheaper and you can also get your desired seat in the airplane and desired room in the hotel. More importantly, it can also save you from a lot of hassle.
4. Ask Clients to Visit You
Yes, this might seem like an unrealistic suggestion but if you can not afford to spend thousands of dollars on a lavish business trip, why go for it. You could ditch the idea of cruising in Dubai and ask your clients to visit you instead of going to meet them with your team. You will be surprised to know that clients will be more than happy to pay you a visit to discuss projects and get updates on projects. Use this opportunity to brief clients about the progress of the project and take feedback from them. You can save thousands of dollars which can be put to good use.
5. Teach First Time Travelers
One of the biggest considerations for business owners is to which members of your team you will take with you on a business trip. If you are planning to take someone who has never gone on a business trip before, it is better to educate them and guide them. In most cases, these first-time business travelers are the main reason why your business travel expenses have exceeded the budget. They might indulge in retail therapy and spend frivolously on everything without realizing that they are denting their own company financially.
6. Use Business Credit Cards
Last but certainly not the least is to use a business credit card. Instead of paying for everything via cash, use your business credit and debit card to make purchases and collect reward points in the process. When you have collected enough reward points, you can redeem these points for making future purchases. Use your debit or credit card to book fishing trips in Dubai and avail discounts.
Additionally, you can avail discounts on your purchases made via debit and credit card. Collect air miles and you could enjoy a free flight. Using the plastic money for making purchases is not only more convenient but it also saves you from carrying cash all the time which is not a safe option especially if you are traveling to a new country.
How do you keep your business travel expenses under control? Feel free to share your tips with us in the comments section below.