Spare No Expense

As you travel for work you may be tempted (especially these days) to find the best deals and cut your expenses while you are on a business trip. Your efforts may truly be in the best interest of the company, but more often than not doing this will cost you even more money (and provide considerable headaches) in the long run. I’m not condoning blatant abuse of company monies and resources (I’ve seen more than my fair share of company execs do this with glee), but there is certainly a penny wise, pound foolish lesson for you fellow business travelers to follow.


Let’s talk tradeshows. Tradeshows are going to cost you an arm and a leg no matter what. Regulations, unions, and the organizations/associations/foundations for which you are there in the first place all have their hands out. You would be tempted to use alternative shipping, AV, and marketing groups to save a buck or 2 on the whole effort, but these groups are inevitably inferior to the official tradeshow service providers. Delivery of items is invariably late, customer support sucks, and hidden charges pile up fast. What you’re left with is a less than stellar show presence that can cost you customers and even your job. Bite the bullet, know that you’re going to get raped on inordinately high show fees, grin, and bare it.

Parking. When getting where you need to go, park close. Don’t circle round and round to find a more reasonable price for parking. You’ll end up late for your meeting and make a horrible impression (pay the $).

Lunch/Dinner. For God’s sake get a decent meal with whoever you’re meeting. Denny’s is not an option. If the meeting isn’t worth a couple hundred bucks for food, it’s not worth having in the first place.

Marketing Material. Sometimes you may find yourself having to print your own marketing lit on location. The copy-mart bloodsuckers (FedEx Kinkos, Office Max, Staples, etc.) are essentially printing money, and we all know it. The only joy I get from these vultures is watching them completely screw over some pharma rep who is ill prepared for a conference. These bimbos and himbos deserve to be the ones getting ropped for a change. You need these services, you know it, just tell them what you need and bend over. And ALWAYS ask for a proof. If you really want to fuck with them, tell them to do it again a couple times. It’s a small petty victory, but for some of you, it may make you feel a little better.

Remember, you don’t have to party like a rockstar, but frugality has its price (financially and mentally).