Globetrotting Entrepreneurs

Written by Kristin Chessman

The globetrotting lifestyle is typically exclusive to jet-set, elite billionaires. But as offices go virtual and technology evolves, small-business owners are discovering they too can live out their globe-trekking dreams.

Entrepreneurs already have the flexibility to conduct business when and where they want to. And as organizational psychologist Dr. Billie Blair points out, they also have the key components shared by adventurers across the globe.

"For both entrepreneurs and travelers, the same spirit is there," she says. "Just like travelers, entrepreneurs are always taking risks."

Blair, president and CEO of Los Angeles-based Leading and Learning Inc., says that travel is second nature to entrepreneurs because they take a different path than their corporate peers.

"Entrepreneurs are free to follow a non-traditional path. Though they still need to be able to work every day, they do it in their own time frame," Blair says.

For entrepreneur Amanda Freeman, 31, who describes herself as a die-hard traveler, the flexibility of entrepreneurship was an attractive feature. As co-founder of New York City-based Vital Juice Daily.com, a daily health and wellness email, Freeman says she's doing more travel for pleasure than ever before. But, she quickly points out, when she does travel, she doesn't completely shut off her work world.

"Though I control my own schedule, I have more of a sense of responsibility now," she explains. Freeman stays in touch with her co-founder, Lisa Blau, and their full-time staff of three, with the help of her laptop and BlackBerry. The email newsletter, which launched in May 2007, is growing steadily, with 30,000 subscribers so far.