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I’ve been looking for freedom
I’ve been looking so long
I’ve been looking for freedom
still the search goes on..
Have you found it? Mr. Michael Knight (aka David Hasselhoff) sure had a longing for it. But this article is not about Hoff. Let’s talk about freedom from the perspective of work. Let’s talk about Location Independence. If you’ve already escaped from the cubicle nation, it would be great to hear about your experiences and the steps that take you where you are today. If you’re just starting your nomadic journey, then this article will hopefully give you some idea of the very first steps you need to take before becoming a location independent entrepreneur. Enjoy the ride!
Defining Location Independence
I’m not exactly sure who was the first person to coin the term “location independence”. For me personally, it’s a term I came familiar with somewhere in between reading the 4-hour workweek by Tim Ferriss and stumbling to a site called LocationIndependent.com by Lea & Jonathan Woodward. The logo on their site says: “live & work anywhere you choose”. That’s pretty much what it’s all about. But let’s go a little further.
There are basically two types of location independence:
- Having a location independent career (being a teleworker on some company’s payroll)
- Having (running) a location independent business (nomadic entrepreneurship, if you will)
We could go even further and separate two kind of nomadic entrepreneurship’s:
- Completely Online based nomadic entrepreneurship (you sell digital products, offer Skype based coaching, build websites, do graphic designs, etc.)
- Partially online (or completely offline) based nomadic entrepreneurship (traveling fitness coach, traveling art salesman, etc.)
- If you want to dig even deeper, check this article I wrote about Running Traditional Versus Digital Business
I have a pretty strong feeling that most of the people reading this article are after the Online Based alternative, so let’s focus on that from now on.
Before starting our journey toward online based nomadic entrepreneurship, first, let’s clarify one thing: You don’t need to travel or be constantly on the move to be “eligible” as a nomadic entrepreneur. For me, the concept nomadic entrepreneurship means: I can take off anytime I want and work from wherever I choose, but I don’t really have to. I could work from home my whole life and still count myself as a nomadic entrepreneur. It’s all about the possibility to take off IF YOU WANT. If you’re doing your work 100% online, you have the right gear (nothing special really) and you got your working processes in order – you’re already nomadic (despite the fact that you’re sitting in your home office).
Want to hear a sure way to find out if you’re a location independent entrepreneur? Answer this: If you take your laptop and your phone with you, go to a local coffee shop/travel to another city/fly to another country; would you still be able to run your business like everyday from your home office? If the answer is yes, then (at least in my books) you definitely are a nomadic entrepreneur. As simple as that. Cool?
Moving on to the starting steps. Here we go:
(Disclaimer: It’s really up to you to decide, in which order you take these steps. This is the order I’ve been following so far. Feel free to share your progress in the comments!)
1. Step One: Start a Business That Can Be Run With Your Laptop And Internet Connection
Quite possibly, THE most important step of them all. You need to have a business to take with you, right? Think hard about your business model. Do you have / are you starting the kind of business that really can be run with just your laptop and Internet connection? What kind of revenue streams are you going to utilize? You need to be selling something. Is it products? Services? Maybe coaching? Keep in mind that if you’re selling physical products, you’re creating a need to store those products and deliver them from some place. It’s not fun to deal with warehouse and product shipment problems if you’re on the other side of the world! Need some ideas what you could do?
Recommended reading: Here’s a list of 64 ways location independent people earn a living.
2. Step Two: Think hard, what do you really want from your location independent way of life
Do you want to travel? Do you get homesick if you’re out of your home country for 2-3 months? How about moving permanently to another country? To which country would you like to relocate? Do you know anything about the country? Or maybe you would just like to spend more time with your family and friends and work from home? Naturally, you can do that too. You do understand that just because you’ve become location independent and started your own company, you still have to work? It’s not like you’ve just gone to an extended vacation. The common illusion about location independent working is that because of you’ve now become “free”, you could just relax and do few hours every now and then – if you happen to be in the mood. Unless you have some kind of passive income source(s) that keeps your business running without you having to put much effort to it, you still need to work.
Recommended reading: See this post fromLocationIndependent.com about The Mindset of a Nomadic Entrepreneur.
3. Step Three: Set Up Your Online Stage
Now that you know what you want to do and where you want to do it (home vs. around the globe), it’s time to set up your online stage. Buy a domain and host, set up your website, tune up Twitter and Facebook accounts and start blogging about your business. You need to get the word out about what you’re selling and how your products & services would bring value to your customers. If you’re selling digital products, check out the post I wrote about Top 3 Digital Product Sales Channels. If you’re doing coaching, Skype is the way to go. There are a plethora of online tools you can utilize with your online business. And many of them are free!
Recommended reading: You might want to check the list of online tools that I use on a daily basis to support my own online adventures.
4. Step Four: Go Shopping and Gear Up!
Depending on the type of business you’re running, your gear may vary but it’s pretty safe to say that you need at least a laptop, a working Internet connection and a good back pack where you can carry your gear around. But it’s not just the hardware, even more important are the online tools you need.
Recommended reading: Cody McKibben from ThrillingHeroics.com has compiled an awesome list of tools for location independent lifestyle. This list contains, not just the gear, but also many other resources you might find useful for your nomadic business.
5. Step Five: Get Rid Of Your Unnecessary Belongings
I hope you didn’t gear up too much? This is the part where you sell your crap! If you’re the kind of nomadic entrepreneur that constantly travels and rarely stays in one place for a very long time – sell your unnecessary belongins. You really don’t need “all that stuff” and it would be a nightmare to carry around a huge load of things anyway!
Recommended reading: Take example of Adam Baker from ManVsDebt and see what stuff his family NEEDS.
6. Step Six: Tell Your Friend And Family
I would definitely recommend, you do this a long time before you go nomadic. But it’s of course up to you. If you haven’t told them yet, I recommend you do it now. It’s not just about your emotions towards your friends and family. It’s about how they will feel about this (huge) change as well.
Recommended reading: How to tell your loved ones you’re about to leave their lives and became location independent by LocationIndependent.com
X. Step X: Quit Your Day Job
If you have a regular job and you’re planning on going nomadic, it’s pretty obvious that you need to quit your day job at some point. There are multiple paths here for you to take and there isn’t really a single “right time” to do this (hence, the name – Step X). I would recommend you consider (and consider hard) at least: What’s your current financial situation (do you have savings?) and the phase in where your nomadic business currently is (are you earning enough money to take the leap? Can it support you financially?). It’s fantastic feeling to take the leap, but it’s not a very good idea to just JUMP. Make sure you have some kind of safety net before you do it!
Recommended reading: Knowing it’s Time to Quit Your Day Job by Pamela Slim
Morpheus: I’m trying to free your mind, Neo. But I can only show you the door. You’re the one that has to walk through it. – The Matrix
That’s pretty much what there is to it. The very essential steps anyway. Becoming a location independent business owner is really nothing miraculous or some “next to impossible” thing to do. It’s very possible. But there are certain steps you really need to take before taking the leap, and no one can take them for you. You need to walk through the door yourself. Will you walk the walk?
What’s your take? Are you running a location independent business or thinking about starting one? Do you have more steps to suggest? Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments. Thank for reading and have a great day!
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