How did Phil go from a normal life in Leeds to working remotely in paradise?
On the 15th July 2010, Phil Byrne set off with his fiancée for a three-month trip to Buenos Aires in Argentina. The trip was meant to be a 90-day adventure and chance for Phil and his fiancée to delve deeply into the world of tango. They put all their stuff into storage and parked the car on the drive of a friend’s home in Leeds. At the time, they fully intended to come back and restart their ‘normal’ lives back in the UK.
Since that day, they have spent time in Argentina, the USA, Portugal, Spain, the UK and now Ireland. The couple have have learnt so much, met so many people in so many places and most of all, have been lucky enough to do all of this while fully maintaining their working lives.
Introducing Phil’s E-Book – Head In The Clouds – The Location Independent Office
Phil’s ebook focuses on this ethos, on how you can use the online world to bring choice and opportunity into every part of your life. Whether it’s taking advantage of the diminishing borders between countries or simply making your current life in the place that makes you feel happy, at ease and more free.
We wanted to know a little more about ” Head In The Clouds – The Location Independent Office ”, Phil’s story and the opportunities that exist in remote working. ders between countries or simply making your current life in the place that makes you feel happy, at ease and more free.
1.Phil – what motivated you to write an e-book on remote working?
I’ve been working 100% remotely now for 3 years. In all honesty, I think when my wife and I first left the UK, people probably expected us to return with our tails between our legs! Luckily, that didn’t happen and now many people ask me ‘How does it work’? ‘How do you do it all online?’ My ebook aims to show the reader exactly that and how it can be done for almost any occupation.
2.Tell us a little bit about Phil Byrne in two sentences?
I’m a web marketeer with a love for not only travel but living near the sea,, all kinds of music, scary stories and watching my favourite football team, Everton .. I do have a little bit of ‘geek’ in me but also equal measures of competitiveness and creativity.
3.What fascinates you the most about the opportunities that lies in remote working?
I really believe that remote working will shape professional life for everyone over time. In the short term it will mean we all have more lifestyle design options. In the long term, I even wonder if it might change the way we live collectively, ie if we don’t commute, we don’t need to live within a certain distance of our work place and this could see the big cities of the world growing much slower than they do now. We all might simply choose to live in the country or by the beach!
4.What is the most important piece of advice you would give to someone looking to start a work at home business?
You’ll need to motivate yourself regularly and prevent the easy slide into procrastination. Working at home means we’re closer to more distractions and we have to learn how to manage such temptations in order to make home working a success.
5.In terms of regulation: Is it easier to set up a business in certain countries versus others?
Yes it is. Many countries simply have more bureaucracy than others, one or two countries even make it distinctly more difficult for a foreign national to build a business in their territory. Overall, I’d say keep your business as simple as possible for as long as you can. I feel I was wrongly advised to form a limited company, register for VAT etc back in the UK. It all could have happened at a much later stage saving me lots of time and additional admin. Most ‘remote’ businesses are simple by nature, so keep them that way.
6. Can we expect any more e-books in the future? Any clues on what your fans can expect?
Absolutely. I have a web marketing ebook aimed at PR professionals and content writers coming out next month. After that, they’ll be a number of further expat/location independent ebooks coming out over the next year, for example I have one scheduled that focuses on ‘finance for expats’ with input by some of the world’s leading experts on expat financial planning.
7. For the non-computer savvy, is setting up a remote e-business viable?
Remote working isn’t really about ‘computers’, it’s about freedom. One should have a basic knowledge of computers perhaps, but its more important that the individual is willing to put the time in to become more familiar with both computers and the various applications that exist in the cloud. It will all take longer for the non computer savvy, but if you want to bring more choice into your life, I’d say learning a little more about computers would be a worthwhile investment.
8. How mentally strong does one have to be to become ‘location independent?’
Discipline is an important part of your day. You also have to trust yourself as often there is only you there to solve any problems or get things done when they need to be done quickly and efficiently. I also think it’s very important to set work hours, reward yourself often and get outside exploring whenever you can. Most of all, when things are tough, we have to remind ourselves how lucky we are as remote working people and remember how much we don’t want to give it up and return to that awful commute!
9.Making such a different lifestyle change comes with challenges. How does one go about avoiding culture shock?
I think if you go looking to find your current home/country elsewhere you won’t find it. We have to accept the cultural differences and not judge them by values that are not native to that culture, ie these values that challenge us are just different… not wrong.. If we give it a little time, try to embrace the new, we usually find that a new culture develops us positively. Culture shock is simply a tough part of that development.
As said above, we have to look after ourselves being a remote worker. Sometimes that means we use Skype to call home, or take advantage of the range of flights on offer to go home – often this reminds us of why we left in the first place or at least shows us that many of the things we miss are not as real as we thought they were. Once we start to make some friends in a new place, that’s often the time when culture shock subsides.
10. Are there certain industries or web based trends you envisage really taking off in the next 12 months? I think many already have. Sites like peopleperhour.com demonstrate how many people across many professions are already taking advantage of remote working. I’ve also been noticing a growing trend for people to teach music, offer personal styling, language classes, and even fitness mentoring across Skype. I do think this idea of learning remotely will grow. I was even chatting with a couples councellor the other day about the possibilities of delivering his work over Skype too… the possibilities are endless.
We wish Phil all the best of luck and thank him for taking part in today’s interview.
You can purchase Phil’s book by clicking the following link: ‘Head In The Clouds – The Location Independent Office’
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