Even small businesses can easily operate on a global scale, sourcing products or labour on one continent and delivering goods or services halfway around the world.
Many people consider their business to be their highest priority, and perhaps then add some spice and adventure to their lives by working from a remote or exotic location. Our recent path through life has been a little different, beginning with the adventure, and from that a business has developed.
My partner Vanessa and I met in 2013, both coming out of failed relationships at the time. We shared a taste for travel, challenge and new experiences, and within a year had both sold our respective properties, and most of our possessions.
We wanted a fresh start together. In May 2014 this took the form of six months of travel adventure through the southern states of America in an older RV. We climbed mountains, cycled through forests, and hiked down through The Grand Canyon – twice! We spent some time in Austin, Texas looking after a friend’s house while she was away on business.
Back in Australia we stayed in Perth on the sunny west coast looking after three different properties, each with the responsibility of a variety of pets, while the owners spent time away on holiday. We returned to the UK for a couple of house sits during the summer months, and as the weather turned cooler we headed to Central America, where we had booked house sits in Mexico, Panama and Nicaragua, with some travel time in Guatemala scheduled too.
In each location we worked online, teaching our Chinese students, but our new-found passion was house sitting. Here was a relatively new concept that could offer a wealth of lifestyle possibilities. As we became more involved in online house sitting communities we realised that there was a much bigger group of world nomads than we had ever appreciated.
One thing lead to another, and out of our passion a new business opportunity presented itself. A couple of other full-time nomadic house sitters had begun an online magazine for the house sitting community, but other responsibilities meant that they didn’t have time to give the magazine the full attention it deserved. Would we be interested in taking over, they wondered?
After a short discussion Vanessa and I jumped at the chance, and have now been producing the free online publication for over a year. We have made it about more than just house sitting, looking at all aspects of nomadic life, and the different ways people are choosing to live.
Our income comes from advertising along with some affiliate income. We have also produced an online video course for new house sitters, helping to give them the best start as a newcomer to the community.
As we continue our journey new ideas and possibilities arise. We have just launched a new website aimed at helping nomadic travellers stay in touch, see each other’s current locations, and track future plans. As life on the road can be a little isolated at times, it is always a great pleasure to meet up with others enjoying the world in a similar way.
As in any business, a great way to find success is to find a problem that many people have, and come up with a solution to that problem.
Our aim when Vanessa and I started travelling together was just to enjoy the adventure. But out of the adventure a business has grown. Most of the time it doesn’t feel like we are working at all, because what we are doing is something we are so passionate about.
So for us it isn’t a case of putting some adventure into our business. Our business is the result of our adventure.
Source :
https://www-virgin-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/how-our-adventure-led-us-start-business?amp