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Business trips come in many forms. Mostly unexpected; they can vary from short weekly stints in neighbouring countries to long year on year major assignments across the globe! The worst part of having to make a business trip, is planning it.

Short trips are pretty straight forward. The length of time you are required for doesn’t warrant much logistics or living/working resources. The tricky ones are those mid to long term business trips. 

How long is long enough for you to look into booking an apartment rather than a hotel room?
Is 30 days to 90 days long enough?
Do you need a working visa? Is that even a thing, where you’re going?
Where’s your office going to be?
Would you be working from home (wherever that may be)?
What to prepare for a long term business trip?

If you’re leaving soon, here’s something to calm those nerves. Before you start making a list of items to bring like business cards, pyjamas and a toothbrush, there are only three things you need to work out before heading over. Three main things that will have you ready to do your job once you arrive.

Get that pen and paper out – cause here we go!

Paperwork

First on our list is really quite important. Most of the time, your relocation manager or human resources department might get this done for you. Just in case they overlook this or don’t know anything about it, you need to look into applying for the right work pass(es), permit(s) and/or visa(s).

Different countries offer different types of visas to foreigners coming in. When you’re going to work in another country, working visas or work permits are something that you should be applying for. 

For instance, if you’re planning to work in Singapore, there are a few options to consider – depending on the job you do and how long you intend to do it before your visit to Singapore. Here are the different options with a brief outline of the respective eligibility criteria. Head to Rikvin.com for a more detailed breakdown.

Employment Pass:
Professionals, Managers, Executives, etc.
Earning at least $3,600

Entrepreneur Pass (EntrePass): 
Foreigners looking to set up a business in Singapore
Registered Company in Singapore

Personalised Employment Pass (PEP):
Professionals, Managers, Executives, etc.
Last drawn monthly salary at least $18,000

S Pass:
Mid-level Skilled workers
Fixed monthly salary of at least $2,300

Information drawn from Rikvin.com

I’ve placed this as number 1 on our list because, quite frankly, you won’t be able to do anything if you don’t get this out of the way before any number of business trips to Singapore. Getting your work papers might also be a lengthy process so it’s best to get started as soon as you can

Accommodation

Next up; where are you going to stay? The main problem with mid-long terms stays is deciding on the best options that suit this ‘neither here nor there’ situation. It’s rather straight forward for short stays; get an airbnb or hotel that will easily serve that couple of weeks or brief 2 months. 

Check this out: Top 3 Serviced Apartments to check out in the CBD

With mid-long stays, it matters that you choose an accommodation option which allows you to live, work and play. Hotels can be rather rigid in payment structures and living needs. Airbnb’s are in it for the quick turnarounds so you might not easily find what you need. 

Thankfully there is an industry catered for this exact need. It’s serviced apartments. Imagine the security and comfort of hotels, coupled with the indulgence and necessities of daily living. That beautiful picture you have in your head; it’s a serviced residence. 

What about this?: Office in the West? Here are our top 3 serviced apartment picks for you!

(You can even find cheap serviced apartments if you know where to look.)

The great thing about these types of apartments are the designated living components. Take this serviced apartment, for example, the floor to ceiling glass windows allow a glorious amount of sunlight to bathe you as you relax and watch the television. Such fully furnished living rooms make it a pleasure to come home and wind down after a long day. 

Another example would be fully serviced kitchens. As a means to keep a strap on your cash (also to stretch at overseas allowance) and to remind yourself of the comforting cuisine of home, having a kitchen to cook in, is essential. Business trips disrupt lives, let’s face it. So it’s important to bring along whatever we can from our lives back home. 

Cooking is a great way to do that. Imagine cooking up a pot of Grandma Nancy’s famous chicken soup in this fully serviced kitchen. Here’s a guide on how to choose the perfect apartment for your needs.

Read more:
Pet ready Serviced Apartments
5 awesome corporate apartments you will fall in love with
Top 3 Eastern-Singapore Serviced Apartment Picks

Conducive Workplace

With a place to rest your head and put up your feet, out of the way, the next thing on your list should be finding a conducive workplace. Now, I know that most of you who are coming over on a business trip would already have an office to report to or work in. 

But this goes out to all you digital nomads, lifestyle entrepreneurs and expats – who feel like they have been shipped overseas and abandoned by their own company. It goes without saying that having a proper place to do your work is rather important.

Understandably, accommodation costs take up a large portion of the budget when corporates travel for business trips. A cheaper option to renting an office would be to check out co-working spaces. Essentially, these spaces are a shared working habitat that offer communal meeting rooms, work tables, private booths and a range of other services. 

A great platform to find co-working spaces is FlySpaces. This service empowers businesses as a digital marketplace that provides short term work and meeting space solutions to entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs and mobile professionals. 

Whether the need is for an hour, a day, a week or a few months – they have a network of hundreds of spaces to discover across key South-East Asian cities. The office spaces provided on their platform are modern, fully equipped and functional, making it conducive for working.

Now you know

Now that you know the three most important things to consider when planning for a business trip, you can take a breather. Once you settle the paperwork, your accommodation and a conducive place to work, everything else will slowly fall into place.

For those digital nomads who are a little more adventurous, you could even try co-living. Similar to the concept of co-working, it involves communal spaces and shared living. What more, many co-living spaces come with an area from where you could work from. Talk about killing two birds with one stone!

If you’re interested, check out this great co-living space. It could be your first step in redefining modern-day business trips.