Two Tickets to Paradise
Honeymooning on Maui has inspired my imagination with delusions of grandeur. The potential corporation I struggle to lay the bedrock for once again has drawn a large part of my curiousity. This time the corporate culture's relation to location is the topic of interest. If we can pursue our passions and earn a generous income with a business of our own design, why not do so in a tropical paradise?
Obstacles
Forging a tech company at an island paradise faces all the usual obstacles plus a few problems unique to remote destinations.
- How will clients and partner businesses make the long journey to meetings? Who will cover that cost? I for one would love to go to business meetings on a tropical island as long as the required tools were easily available (WiFi + and office). In Maui wifi is $60/week so I opted out and am using wireless 3G
- How will the business recruit? Flying potential candidates in could get quite expensive, many will feign interest just to get a trip out. Make candidates share the cost?
- Infrastructure: does the remote island have all the infrastructure to scale? Not just raw materials but legal, financial, etc.
- Is your tech business desired by locals who are primarily driven towards a tourism industry? How will your company fit into a tourist social web?
Fantasy or Goal?
Given the above consderations is it possible to forge a tech company in a tropical location? Sure. But the best framework for a business based in remote locations is one that is distributed. Something like Automattic's (the company behind Wordpress) global infrastructure with employees working from all over the world fits a tropical corporate HQ. As the company grows a couple of offices for centralized activities with development team members spread out suits a web/tech based company. Unlike automobile factories, information companies can work together from anywhere with access and a handful of modern collaboration tools.