Apps and ideas for the travelling entrepreneur

With the world getting smaller and globalisation happening everywhere you look, strapping on your backpack and seeing the planet is not only for travellers looking to get away from it all. More and more startup entrepreneurs are taking the non-traditional route of running their companies remotely while still experiencing the joys of extended travel.

In this section I’ll introduce a wide range of apps, gadgets, and other concepts for all you travelpreneurs out there! 

Burgerfi – McDonalds with a backpack!

Burgerfi is a new franchising concept out of Florida in the U.S. The basic premise is location independence – that whether you’re backpacking across Thailand or trekking through Patagonia you should still be able to keep on top of your business right from your smartphone.

It’s designed for those who want to keep an eye on their franchise without being chained to it. Using your smartphone or tablet you can monitor operations in real time from anywhere in the world.

All Burgerfi restaurants have video cameras monitoring operations that can be viewed from your device. You can also access by-the-minute sales figures, bank deposit information, and even details such as how many burgers and fries were sold in the last hour.

To top it all, apparently this isn’t a concept that’s all gimmickry and no substance. Instead it’s designed as a gastropub aimed at providing an American style casual dining experience, but with high-quality natural food, fine wines, and craft beers.

Sure gives a new meaning to take away food!

Cardmunch – Making a meal of your business cards

You’re a travelpreneur, keen to stay in contact with other entrepreneurs you’ve met on your travels because, well, there’s still business to be done even if you have got your backpack and sandals on. So what to do with all those business cards that you keep on picking up along the way that are taking up space in your pack or getting lost?

Well the folk that brought you Linkedin now bring you Cardmunch to make a meal of those cards. Cardmunch is a smartphone app for iPhone, with a Blackberry version on the way.

So how does it work? Well it’s almost too simple. Once you’ve downloaded the app, all you have to do is use your smartphone to take a picture of the business card, and it’s uploaded to your device. Cardmunch has its own contact address book but if you already use your phone for your contacts, you can change the settings so it also stores the contact in your phones address book.

And here’s the clever bit.  Because it’s owned by Linkedin, Cardmunch will use your existing account to search for your new contact.  If you are already linked it will display Linkedin information, and if you’re not you can quickly send a contact request. So far, all the cards I’ve uploaded have been 100% accurate.

If you’re wondering how the contacts are uploaded so accurately, CardMunch is unique in that they use a real human workforce that manually transcribes each and every card you submit.  If you can read the details on the picture you just took of the business card, so can they.

So if you’re looking to lighten your business card load, download the app.

Best of all, at the time of writing it’s free!

[Images via BurgerFi and Cardmunch]

Pat Acheampong

Originally from the UK, Patrick Acheampong’s itchy feet have taken him around the world on business while also ditching his suit and loading up his backpack from time to time.

While busy working on ways to combine the two and become a ‘travelpreneur’, and inspired by Tim Ferris’s 4 1/2 hour work week, Pat is currently living in Australia and plotting world domination from the safety of Sydney’s beaches