Step-by-Step guide to become location independant worker - Business Track

Location independence for your business, work or income makes you a digital nomad. 

We live in a tech-enabled world where it has become really easy to operate a business in Paris while sipping lemonade on a sunny day at some Bali beach (sounds cool but not very practical to get work done haha  :p). Or what about creating a business which is 100% online and sell on the internet? You dont have a business? No worries. You can find a location independent job or may be you freelance remotely?. The point is that you will be Engineering the lifestyle systematically to achieve Location independence.

 Does it not sound nice to build a location independent business so you can be wherever you like at any given point in time? For a lot it sounds like a lovely idea but how in the world do you start this journey? 

lets break down the process for you and make it a step by step guide

Getting to know the ropes of starting and maintaining an online business or to start working remotely can be quite a tricky and complicated thing to do. It can be quite the caging and intimidating thought that you have to possibly give up your well paying job and included benefits to start the location independent lifestyle. However, maybe it can give you the last little push when we tell you that this lifestyle combines work with the benefits freedom and travel can give you. Nowadays a career and travel are not mutually exclusive, is that not great? When you construct the right business model, technology can help you with having a legitimate remote job and business. 

Ways to become location Independent 

There are multiple ways to become location independent. On this page we will discuss how to become an entrepreneur and have your own location independent business or start-up. Other ways of becoming location independent include becoming a freelancer or to become a remote worker 

Being/becoming an entrepreneur is the way of becoming location independent with the most risks. You will carry the full responsibility of running a company. But once you get the hang of it you can also consider this the most rewarding way of reaching the location independence goal. Being a digital nomad entrepreneur means that you have to set up a business which either operates almost entirely online or one which generates a stream of passive income. 

The majority of business entrepreneurs start companies which are active in the tech or marketing sector; they are often more service orientated instead of producing tangible products. Examples of this are people who set up a social media marketing company or an online platform which provides information through podcasts or tutorials. In order to choose the right online business for you, you need to identify and build up your strengths to build a successful business. 

Ok I get it But how do I  start ?

To become a remote entrepreneur you can choose one of three paths. It should be noted that these may not work for everybody, so you can modify the paths as much as you like. 

• Build a remote company from the ground up. Identify a niche market in which you can thrive. Starting up a new business has the positive side of low general operating costs. 
• Switch your existing company to a remote one. A lot of businesses are seeking ways to get rid of traditional offices to operate further online. In this scenario you could hire the best people because location is not an issue. Everything can be monitored through things like management software and co-working platforms. 
• Creating remote segments in your physical business. If you want to follow this path, you need to find out which sectors of your business would be elevated by making them remote. Common sectors which could benefit from going remote are: marketing, website development, or customer service, seeing that these industries have grown a lot online. 

To do list 

Step 1: get realistic 

You do not need to be a digital mastermind to start being location independent. You can even start your journey if you do not have a digital job at the moment. However, it will take a lot of work and commitment to get to your goal. After all, your success is still build on your skills and mindset. But do not expect to end up just lounging around on a beach all day with cocktails. Being digital does have the perk that it becomes possible to work wherever you want like at the beach, in cafes, or co-working spaces. However, self-employed people that gave up their desk lives often have to work just as hard or even harder to make a living. Another thing which was mentioned earlier was passive income. A sufficient and stable level of passive income is not just something which you get from day one. Automated income is never just coming to you, and it requires a lot of work and years to build up. 

Step 2: lower your expenses 

In order to reach your goal of location independence sooner, it is a logical step to reduce your costs. If you just own what you need it will also be easier to just pack everything when you finally can start moving around. Earing money and saving up for your goal is a sufficient way to go about it. If you already start reducing your living expenses you give yourself a jump start and it will take less time when you can finally stop going to the office every day. Go over your daily routine and see what you can cut out. Are you getting a lot of coffee on the go, or do you take out food a lot? You can ditch that for things made at home. Simply said, become frugal, but obviously not to an extent that life is not enjoyable anymore. 

Step 3: get into the entrepreneurial mindset 

You need to know how to dedicate your skills and time in the most effective way. These two things are your most valuable assets both when being self employed or working for someone. 

Step 4: No procrastination 

When is the best time to start your journey? Well, now to be honest, because procrastination will not get you anywhere. Even if you do not exactly know now what you want build up, there are a lot of things you can do now. You can start brainstorming and researching. Write out your thoughts, or start talking with professionals about their experiences. If you want to start working from home, free up some work spaces so you can work in a concentrated mind space. Basically, discover what you want to do. Even if first attempts at this lifestyle fail, do not fret! There is no such thing as failure and you gained more experience and got new insights. Your journey is a process and processes take time, that is why it is important to start as soon as possible. Even if you have a comfortable work position now it might be fruitful to think ahead. Machines take over a lot of human jobs so it might be worth considering already having a backup plan at hand. 

Step 5 Free up some time 

 A lot of people have to start up a business next to their regular job before coming location independent. Yes it is intensive, but thing about the reward at the end. When you allocate your spare time in a sufficient way you will be able to work on building your location in dependency. So maybe leave the whole Netflix binge and become a bit more productive. That goes without saying that you do not need to totally abandon that great series you have been watching, maybe just an episode instead of the whole season. Because, lets face it, you need to make concessions and be dedicated. 

Step 6 Do what you are good at and not just what you love (yes there is a difference)

When you do something you are good at, you are likely to earn more money; money will provide you more freedom. But do not do something you are good in but hate, because you still need to like your current job to a certain extent. Keep your hobbies for what they are, because they are the little treats for your mind to come at peace. 

Step 7 Business choice 

There are alot of businesses can be started. The important thing is that you build a business around your skills or experience or make an organized study or hire a coach to increase your chances of success. The most ideal choice is the Online business as its natively support location Independence. You can also start a Dropshipping Online store or may be start a social media agency? There many other ideas which we have listed in another post please check out this post

Step 8 prepping 

Getting started requires you to put in a lot of effort and hard work, but rather work smart instead of tiring yourself out. Overworking is not a good idea because you don’t want to kill your motivation do you? But most of all be realistic and patient. Put everything down you need so you can focus on that. Try to network with people which are already active in the industry to give you some insights. Also, learn how to communicate efficiently and clearly, because working location independent requires a lot of digital communication. Research a lot and maybe search for a mentor. But most of all, get your beauty sleep, successful ideas do not start with a cranky sleep deprived mind.

Step 9 keep on going 

Giving up will be hard but please don’t do it, progress takes time. Even if things go south, learn from it and get up again, because in that case you know that that idea just did not work. You can always change a business idea, and nothing you just did was not for nothing. 

Extra

Other things to consider when you have your plans ready and your mind into the journey ahead.

• Incorporate your business somewhere favorable so you do not pay too much tax (link to incorporation page)
• Set up an international banking system for you. It can save a lot of time and money if you have the right online international banking set up, it makes things a lot easier as well (link to banking page).
• Make sure that all your information is secure. Using a VPN is highly recommended and make sure all your mobile devices are sufficiently secured, you do not want anyone nosing around in your data do you?
• Setting up a long-term travel and health insurance. Make sure you know the difference and see whatever fits your needs the best (link to insurance page). 
• Choose where to stay, whether it is for a long or short period of time. Check out the DN city guides tool
• Consider getting a dual citizenship for tax reasons if you want to stay somewhere longer.

Keep in mind 

You might be really motivated now to start your journey to location independence. But keep in mind to really inform yourself about your decisions and to really put your skills and expertise to work in the right place to make everything a success. Fulfilling your dream of traveling can certainly become reality when you are able to support yourself with a job that does not tie you down to a particular location. It might be overwhelming to think about just throwing away your current lifestyle to start this drastically different one, but it can be done! The Digital Nomads Nation community is here to help you taking steps and to provide you any information might you be in need of some. 

What do to do next? 

Check out the Remote Career Tool to systematically start your remote career
Become Digital Nomads Nation member to kick-start your journey.