The Traveling Entrepreneur: McKinzie Bean
Welcome to The Traveling Entrepreneur! Each Monday, we'll feature a different entrepreneur who spends at least part of their working hours on the road. Learn their tips for working from anywhere, what they'd do differently if they had to start their business over again, and their favorite place to travel (so far). Enjoy!
Meet McKinzie Bean!
Q. Can you tell me a bit about your business?
A. Hi friends! I am a serial entrepreneur. Starting businesses is my hobby. My primary businesses are my Virtual Assisting business and my website MomsMakeCents.com. As a virtual assistant I specialize in social media management and influencer marketing. As an influencer marketer I connect brands with influencers and authorities in their niche. This has introduced me to over 100 bloggers, Instagrammers and Youtubers over the last year and a half.
Q. What is your favorite thing about being self-employed?
A. I became a mommy in April 2015. My little boy is one of my greatest joys, and being self-employed allows me to stay home with him.
Q. What is the most challenging aspect of your business?
A. There is always something new I want to learn. I am constantly taking courses and searching the internet to learn new skills. While I do make this a priority, I have a pretty tight schedule. I have to balance meeting the needs of my clients, learning new skills, and taking care of my son. I would love it if there were more hours in the day…or if I didn’t need sleep.
Q. If you had to start your business over from scratch today, what would be your top three priorities?
A. If I had to start over today the first thing I would do is create systems. If you have systems established, your processes will run much more efficiently and you can get more done. Second, I would invest in quality images and branding. If you want to be taken seriously and have high caliber clients your branding needs to reflect that. Third, I would actively market my business via social media and collaborate with others in my niche.
Q. Do you travel frequently while maintaining your business?
A. My husband is not self-employed, so that limits the amount of extensive traveling we do. However, about once a month we enjoy going on a day trip.
Q. Are there any tools or resources that allow you to work from anywhere that you would recommend to other entrepreneurs?
A. If you want to work remotely you need google docs. I can login on any computer in the world and still be able to access my files. Also, as a social media manager I could not live without my social media schedulers. I personally use Buffer, but Hootsuite and Meet Edgar are other great options. I also highly recommend IFTTT. IFTTT stands for If This Then That. You can create what they call “recipes” to automate different processes in your business and life.
Q. What has been your favorite destination so far?
A. We enjoy being outdoors. We have a family cabin and we love to escape up there twice a year to go hiking.
Q. How does traveling enhance your current business?
A. Traveling helps me stay refreshed and inspires new ideas for my businesses. As I travel, I get to explore new cultures and communities and that helps me to better understand my clients and their target markets.
Q. What advice do you have for people who want to travel while they work?
A. As I mentioned previously, I would advise having systems in place. If you have a system, things will go smoothly. I also recommend going paperless as much as possible. It would be terribly frustrating to travel to the other side of the country to find that your client notes are in your notebook back home.
McKinzie is a chocolate addict, loves all things Tina Fey and can quote most of Baby Mama. She is wifey to Devin, Mama to Tyler, and the blogger behind Moms Make Cents. McKinzie empowers women by teaching them how to build businesses, market their products and understand their finances as entrepreneurs. Like her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.
If you're a globe trotting entrepreneur, and you'd like to be featured (or if you know someone who might), please email me at nicole@nicolehunteditingandwriting.com.
