5 Strategies for Running and Starting a Business from the Road

Tomorrow is moving day β the first of two travel days weβll need to get to our next stop.
Brian (my husband and business partner) is outside taking care of RV-related travel prep. Right now he’s handling the sewer hose. An hour ago it was a proposal for a prospective client’s website refresh.
I’m in front of my Mac, on live chat with a support rep trying to figure out why our client’s domain name hasn’t yet transferred. It’s one item on a list of many Iβm trying to tie up before our travel days.
Just as I’m musing about whether our clients realize everything that passes through our hands, Brian rushes up the steps into the RV.
“We have a leak!” he announces.
A year ago I’d have been near tears hearing those words.
Now, like wayward website domains, it’s just another thing we need to handle.
I donβt mean to suggest we have this whole live-work-travel thing completely figured out. No way. What we have figured out is to expect problems.
RV problems. Internet issues. Client crises. Theyβre inevitable when youβre running a business from the road. Whatβs optional, however, is how much you worry about them.
Itβs my hope that sharing what weβve done will give you ideas about how to set your business up for success β and roll with the punches when things go wrong.
Our business β the prequel
We were actually in business before we decided to RV full time. Separately.
Brianβs business was the bread and butter. Mine occasionally brought in big bucks. Most of the time, though, it barely covered the grocery bill.
Thatβs because I hated all the peripheral tasks that are part of running a business. I liked just doing my thing, making clients happy, and putting money in the bank.
Bookkeeping? Marketing? Not so much.
The problem with my approach was that itβs impossible to create anything sustainable by doing only whatβs fun. I knew this, but my efforts around the less creative aspects of my business were half-hearted. At best.
Brian, on the other hand, single handedly ran a gunsmithing business that covered all our bills for the nine years leading up to our move to full-timing. He did all the work, managed the bookkeeping and taxes and promoted the heck out of it to get it going.
Fortunately for us, the business was in a popular niche. Brian had little legitimate competition. Once he opened up shop, the business and his reputation grew quickly. It wasnβt long before all we needed to do to market it was make it easy for people to find him.
Thanks, internet!
I designed and developed a website, and Brian was off to the races. He only had to log in occasionally to maintain the site. No blogging. No marketing. Only basic SEO.
Boy was that a downhill coast compared to where we are now β and compared with what most businesses need to do to attract visitors and create customers.
Why change?
So, why would anyone quit such a successful and lucrative business?
For one thing, it wasnβt something we could have done from the RV without drastically morphing it. We did come up with a couple of seemingly good ideas for an RV-friendly transformation, and even started pursuing one.
Partway into it, though, Brian admitted he was pretty much over the entire niche and ready for a new challenge.
Like, business strategy and project management for my formerly solo website consultancy.
Yay team!
I loved parts of what I did, but constantly got bogged down in things I hated. I was certain that Brian could help make the difficult parts work better. We just needed to figure out how to work together.
Gulpβ¦

Roadworthy business experience
Weβre 10 months into full-timing and only began traveling four months ago.
Still, as weβve struggled to build and run our business in a way that works for us and supports us, weβve learned a lot.
Itβs my hope the suggestions below will help you if youβre on a similar journey.
1. Find (or morph) your thing
You donβt have to be absolutely passionate about every bit of the niche you choose. Just find something you love enough to do a lot β and that others are willing to spend enough on that you can earn a living.
Brianβs gunsmithing business was profitable but not portable, largely thanks to complicated regulations.
When we decided to hit the road, we looked at ways he could offer value in this niche without getting on the wrong side of the law. Firearm appraisal seemed like a way we could morph the business for RV life.
But at the end of the day, it was not for us.
The primary reason we nixed the appraisal business was that it was such a small niche weβd have to have next-level marketing and pricing to survive. A deeper reason for getting out of firearm-related business altogether was that Brian came to realize he was burnt out on it.
As for my website consulting business, I loved most aspects of it. But the parts I hated were sucking up huge amounts of time and energy.
I liked fixing broken websites, making websites faster, and building websites for people with interesting businesses or projects. The more business I got the more time I spent outside of my favorite parts of it.
The negative (for me) aspects of my niche almost caused me to completely ditch it. I planned to help Brian with the appraisal business, and maybe scratch my creative itch by writing on the side.
When we decided we didnβt want to continue down the appraisal business road, we realized that Brianβs experience β pre-gunsmithing as well as running his shop β could help us create something sustainable from my WordPress consulting business.
JOIN US & EXPLORE JOBS THAT MEET YOUR NEEDS
Want to work while you travel?
The RVer Job Exchange matches job opportunities with traveling workers who want full or part-time work.
2. Get real about weaknesses
Iβm the creative one, and the website expert. Iβd rather get lost in design, code or words than deal with goals or invoicing. I know we need these things as much as we need the things that are my forte.
But I struggle with them.
When we first started, Brian thought I was just being obstinate. I was, a little. The bigger problem is that itβs such a leap for the way my brain works best. Obstinance was a side effect β not the cause.
Brian has strengths in many areas I donβt.
He has an MBA. His experience handling 100% of a small business has been invaluable in our new venture. Before opening the shop, he worked in IT project management, IT staffing and sales.
Except for websites, heβs way nerdier than me.
Iβve long been an open book about my weaknesses. Saying that is one thing, but actually seeing the gory details is quite another.
Brian wasnβt amused. There was much strife in our 400-ish square feet.

Now, I think weβre on a good track. Heβs gotten better about giving me executive summaries I can relate to. I gladly surrendered control to most things outside of website work or writing.
Whatβs been more difficult to sort out is balancing our strengths, weaknesses and workload.
Weβre rebuilding what was a solo freelance business in my niche. Not Brianβs. His workload is constantly expanding as we find more things that are a natural fit for him. But itβs not a 50/50 split right now.
Iβm OK with that. But if all the tasks at hand are creative, he gets frustrated. He wants to help and feels like Iβm not letting go of enough. Plus, heβs legitimately concerned about things that affect our bottom line.
Itβs important to recognize strengths and weaknesses not only to decide who does what, but to play to our strengths to better serve and attract clients.
If that means the business load gets a bit lopsided at times, itβs OK. We can always shift personal chores so neither of us is overloaded.
3. Buy time, tools & talent β carefully
Weβve learned itβs important to be willing to invest in systems, services or help as soon as it makes financial sense.
Not before you have money. And ideally, not after youβre already having problems the expenditure could have prevented.
When youβre starting from scratch, it might feel difficult to justify the expense of tools/services, etc. Weβve learned to stay in tune with what things are costing us time-wise, and look at spending money there as an investment β not an expense.
Be careful about where you spend limited dollars, though.
Sometimes it seems like βeverybodyβ uses a certain tool or service, but the reality is that affiliate commission, limited experience or both are often driving a recommendation.
If youβre truly starting with a near-zero bank account, resist the temptation to spend money on expensive products or services. Big-ticket expenses that are easy for beginners to get wrong include designers, promotional products, and even websites.
Youβll change your mind about a lot in that first year. Instead of depleting your bank account before your business is up and running well, consider starting more simply. DIY or even do without where you can.
Delaying big-budget expenses will give you time to figure out what youβre doing with your business, and decreases the odds of making costly mistakes.
4. Build in wiggle room
When the aim is to live, work and travel in an RV, flexibility is key. Not only for us, but for clients, too.
We set our clientsβ expectations from the get-go, making sure they know weβre full-time RVers who canβt/wonβt be at their beck and call. We work hard to over deliver so they know that, as much as possible, weβll go to the ends of the earth for them.
Flexibility works the other way, too.
Today we said a sad no to stand-up paddleboarding because it wouldβve unreasonably crunched our workload and taxed our clientsβ expectations.
People pay us to serve them. They may be understanding about our lifestyle, but theyβre clients because they need our help. Not because they want to fund our travels.
Along those lines, we never want to tell a client that their urgent issue has to wait until we can get on the internet. Thatβs a problem we need to solve in advance, and one any internet-connected business should plan for.
Weβve worked hard to maximize the internet connectivity that drives our business. Yes, weβre RVing so we can enjoy freedom and fun and not work ridiculous hours. Without dependable RV internet, however, weβd be at the mercy of whatever free WiFi we can find.
Thatβs no way to run a business.
Our Mobile Internet Resource Center membership has been worth its weight in gold. Weβve used it to create what so far has been a reliable, four-network mobile connectivity arsenal β and do it at a price that doesnβt kill our bank account.
If the business youβre considering has any web or internet component to it, plan to have as many options for connecting as your budget allows.
5. Learn to share your value
I used to assume that people were smart enough to realize the benefits of working with me, and leave it up to them to hire me or not.
The reality is that people often donβt understand what we do, or how we can help them. Plus theyβre busy and bombarded by all kinds of distractions.
Without the right promotion, we are likely to get lost in the shuffle.
As an introvert, networking for our business is up there on my list of things Iβd rather avoid. Right next to karaoke. Brian, on the other hand, is a former sales pro.
Brian thinks I do OK but would love it if I pushed a little harder. I think he does OK but Iβd love it if he was a little less pushy. We each have our own styles, but the bottom line is that we both advocate for the business.
We solve real problems for people on entrepreneurial journeys similar to ours. While I donβt want to make every blog post or conversation about what we can do for them, if I care about what theyβre doing Iβm going to let them know how we might be able to help.
Brian will do that and then some!
Whatever your style, understand that you must let people you can help know that you can help them. If you donβt, youβll be back where I was when I was freelancing by myself β barely making grocery money.
Whatβs on your mind?
Choosing to build a business and work from the road is easily the best, most exciting thing Iβve ever done.
While itβs definitely still a work in progress, after years of doing what everyone else does (or trying), it feels great to do it all differently.
Struggling with something I didnβt cover? Or have something helpful to add? Leave a comment below and share β Iβd love to hear where youβre at.

Author
Teresa Rosche Ott
Teresa is a website fixer and writer living, working and traveling in a Class A motorhome with husband and business partner Brian and their Greyhound John Lee. Teresa and Brian own A Fearless Venture, a consultancy focused on preventive maintenance and problem solving for WordPress websites. Teresa also blogs at Wandering Porcupine, where she chronicles her quest to live a more-free life.
Did you like this post? Pin it on Pinterest!

Biggest lesson I learned as a sole business owner was all the “stuff” that I’d been taking for granted. I found (as a consultant) that a good month was one where I spent more than 50% of my time doing the thing I loved, and was not buried under all the rest.
Thanks for reading & commenting, Dick. Here’s to many more good months π
Great read, Teresa, and great advice. Now, if I can just follow some of it, that would be lovely.
You’ve got a lot of great things going on, April. Just do what’s important. That’s all that matters, really.
Thanks for reading π
I enjoyed the read! We will be heading out beginning of August on our first journey for a few months. I am retired from my career (I spent 37 years as a Pediatric Speech Pathologist) and now am delving into the world of lady entrepreneurs on a part time basis as my “second act” lol. After becoming totally clear on what direction I wanted to take my business in the health and wellness space, I feel a little more at ease at no longer pressuring myself on what I once thought I needed to do. Believe me, after endless feelings of FOMO (fear of missing out), comparing myself to the millennial entrepreneurs (I’m a boomer) and just the daily feeling of not doing enough for my business and always looking at what I wasn’t doing, I finally decided to take out early Social Security and just have fun with the creative process of my business and let it flow where it should! I am like you and prefer the creativity and could sit for hours writing, creating programs, cooking (I’m a health foodie who believes cooking is an art form) and photographing my food creations! I liked the resource you [provided for internet access as I will need to depend on that for my collaborative calls, blogging, social media and most importantly my podcast show I will be hosting called “The Essentially Green Traveler.” I will be checking that resource out!
Anyway thanks!
Diane
Wow, Diane β so much of what you said is relatable to me! Well, I’m a bit early for SS β but the rest of itβ¦ π
Thanks for reading and commenting. I hope we meet up on the road one day soon.
Thank you for this article! I have a two year plan to build my online business and RV full time! You inspired me to keep going! Currently home shopping and will live in it FT by next Spring. So much to learn!
Such an exciting time, isn’t it?!?
When you finally hit the road with your business, sooner or later you’ll find out that flexibility can be your best friend.
Planning is definitely the way to go. But leaving room in that plan for both challenges *and* opportunities is smart. You’ll need it! π
Thanks for the kind words, Cat.
p.s. β We have a “How to buy an RV without getting screwed” post on Wandering Porcupine. It’d be good to read it before you give anybody money or decide on a rig. It’s general advice.
Also, Brandon & Kerensa have a comprehensive RV-shopping checklist (free) you can get at RV to Freedom. Taking that with you when you shop will keep you on track. And probably keep the salespeople in line π