Apps to help you work remotely and Costa Rica Day 1

in entrepreneur •  7 years ago  (edited)

Getting out of the city that my storefront businesses are in can be challenging, especially so during the first few years of business. By this point I have a collection of apps and tools that keep me connected and organized even while I'm away. These make all the difference in the strength of my team and company culture. We love to work together and reach our goals- no matter where each team member is.

Here is a list of the tools and apps I used during my first day visiting Costa Rica AND managing my two tanning studios remotely.
Smart phone
Laptop
Slack
Trello
MileIQ

During my last few hours before leaving for the airport I was making my rounds through each tanning studio trying to get as much face time as possible with my team before I took off for approximately one month. It was mostly sending good wishes but it was also absorbing as much as possible of the live work space before trying to manage it remotely for some time. The main app we use for communication at the studios is Slack so I re-confirm with everyone that they can reach me there and it's like I won't be gone at all.

You can see in the sample below that we use Slack for day to day communication and tasks. We use it not only between the studios but myself and my business partner use it to communicate with the team. Communication on Slack is as effective remotely as it is in the same city so it works really well. Especially since we're no longer an owner/operator structure.

SLACK_sample.jpg
Aside from amping up my time spent on Slack, I have been working hard to get our Trello boards up to date so they accurately reflect the status of each location. We use Trello to keep track of supply orders and many other important tasks. See sample below. When we are out of an item we move it from the Supplies on Hand List, to the Supplies Low or Needed List. This way everyone is on the same page on what our stock is at. I needed to make sure the Trello boards were up to date so my business partner would be able to step in and help with supplies while I am away or so I can order online and have it delivered.

TRELLO_sample.jpg
Slack and Trello are consistent companions in my life. We use them for all aspects of our business.

As I get closer to the airport I realize I'm not going to have Trello up to date in all aspects and will need my manager to help me complete this. My manager is always happy to help when he has extra time. Because we are in close contact through Slack it is easy for us to communicate during down time.

Getting into Costa Rica was super cool. We flew at 4:00pm out of YVR and got into SJO at 7:00am, this included a 5 hour layover in LAX. Aside from the long layover, which I used to book an airbnb for us, the only uncomfortable part was how cold the flight from LAX to SJO was. WOW COLD.

We arrived at our hotel at 9:00am and they graciously had a room ready for us. My mom settled in for a nap and I got to work on a pesky task I had left over from 2017. My last task remaining from 2017 was my December Mileage Logs. Shocking not shocking.

During a crazy work time in November I forgot to turn on my MileIQ App when I got a new phone. I downloaded it and all...but for some reason it wasn't on and I never bothered to check. This lead me to have to do my Mileage Logs by hand for the end of Nov. and ALL of December. A quick snippet on MileIQ- it tracks your drives on an app and you confirm them. SUPER EASY.

Luckily I was able to use a MileIQ excel template to draft up the log, also it is helpful that I'm not all that interesting and tend to do similar things day to day. I got the Mileage Log done and sent it over to my bizzy partner. Because my MileIQ was on since January, I verified those drives and also submitted the Mileage for January. GO ME GO!!

I put this sample here of MileIQ so people can see a bit of how it works. It really helps me spend time on things that matter with my businesses. There's no better reminder of how much MileIQ has helped until I have to do 1.5 months of drives by hand -.-

MILEIQ_sample.jpg

With 2017 finally wrapped up I can reward myself with some exploration. My mom wakes up and we hit the road to check out Teatro Nacional de Costa Rica or The National Theatre of Costa Rica. We ended up getting side tracked so I don't have a picture to post but google it if you want to see before we're back next week!

The walk was nice until it starting pouring rain! It was also cold! We had to duck inside to get some lunch.

Kerri__.jpg

Sheila__.jpg

After lunch we had to run back through puddles and water streaming down the streets. It was sorta cool, just a bit chilly.

We had another short nap, I chatted with my business partner and manager on Slack and then we ventured to the dining room in the hotel for dinner. The images below are from the restaurant in the hotel.

Kerriandmom.jpg

Kerri_.jpg

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Great Insights! Thanks

What I've learned:

  • SLACK: Your everyday Messenger to communicate with your Team
  • TRELLO: Dashboard with all the Tasks
    -MILEIQ: Tracks your drives automatically and let you add additional costs

Have an awesome day!
JD

Hi @jaydeeeee Yes! That's correct. I'm glad it was clear. Having the right software makes it so much easier to have a team. Staff are so expensive so if you don't have your communication down it's hard to cover costs :)

Thanks a lot for this article!

Makes me a bit homesick to read posts about Costa Rica, but,also motivates me to focus more on moving back lol One of the best French restaurants I've ever eaten at (and I live in Montreal lol) is not far from where you are, Le Chandelier. The chef is from France and the Maitre'D Luis is super friendly and professional. The whole staff treats guests like royalty. It's in barrio Los Yoses, about 7-10 mins from the Teatro Nacional.

Why did you move home?! Are the visas hard to get? Glad to hear of a fellow Canadian kicking it world wide ;)

Oh thanks for the recommendation. My mom and I are back in the city next week so maybe we'll check it out.

Residency is hard to get, and jobs are hard to get without residency, at least decent jobs are. I lived there from 2008-2013. The easiest way to be legal to live there is as a retired person,but,I'm a ways from that still lol

Yes that all sounds like what it would be like... I severely dislike those sort of loops... Awwwww retirement sounds nice but I've got aways to go as well. I wonder if I'll ever retire though...isn't that old school thinking?

I don't think I can retire from being an artist - but I can hopefully technically "retire" one day and at least earn the pension for all the money I put into it over the years! lol

I took a look at your page and it's really cool your an artist. Yah you can probably never retire from that profession but I wonder how your art will change at the point you "don't need to work."

It'll get bigger lol If I don;t need to worry about money, that means I won't need to worry about how long a piece takes- and I'd be able to move into a bigger studio where I could work on huge masterpieces that take a few years, destined more for public display or museums than private collections.

Ahh that makes good sense..maybe it will happen sooner than you think ;)

Those tool looks pretty awesome thanks for the share @economistkerri i'll defiantly try these tools and let you know about my experience. lots of love ♥

Let me know if you have any questions. Happy to help :)

aa

I wish you the best in your travels, costa rica is a beautiful place. I backpacked around the country a few times and highly recommend guanacaste coast! Its great you have the chance to work and travel. Have fun in the sun!

This is a great recommendation. Thank you I will look into it :)

Nice post, follow and upvote pls follow back

Good Achievement Thank For Sharing Best Of Luck

:)

Nice one. I think you would make a great entrepreneur

Thanks. I'm a big supporter of everyone working for themselves. Even if it's a side project. Makes a huge difference in your self esteem.

Good post, i like it

Awesome! Thanks for sharing this with us...

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Wow, this is great, thanks for sharing this piece, it's highly appreciated and d helpful

Hey there,
Absolutely! When I was first drafting the post it started with how people have a misconception about storefronts. For the most part people think you have to be there 24/7 and that's really not the case anymore. Glad you enjoyed it :)

thank you, your post

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Very good best of luck guysss....
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