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I've lived as a digital nomad for more than four years and love the journey.

On this journey, my view of the world changed several times.

I noticed how limiting myself to one country held me back as an entrepreneur for years.

Here are five ways my worldviews were turned upside down by living as a nomad.

New Markets

When we launched our first game in my first company, we released it worldwide at the same time.

To be honest, we did that out of naivety, not because we knew what we were doing.

Why limit ourselves to one country or just the EU?

To our surprise, we didn't sell many copies in Europe, where our company was.

The even greater shock was that most of our sales came from the Philippines and Brazil.

Why were people with lower buying power investing so much more into our game than the "rich” Europeans?

The difference was that our game was a way of gaining freedom for the Philippines.

For the Germans, it was just entertainment.

By thinking globally, we set our company up for success.

We would probably have failed there at our first launch if we had limited ourselves to the EU market.

Think globally when deciding on a target user group.

The chances are higher that you find someone for whom your product is a painkiller.

Diversification

When I built my first ETF world portfolio, I was stunned by its simplicity and effectiveness.

By diversifying the investment worldwide, local markets don't greatly affect your portfolio value.

I apply the same principles of diversification to all my assets now

It doesn't matter if it is properties, companies, and even teams.

We're living in turbulent times, and the future looks no better.

With wars, climate change, and global pandemics, it is reckless to limit yourself to one country.

In our globalized world ripple effects reach much further than just 50 years ago.

Change is the only certain thing, so we should plan for it when running a business.

Countries change regulations that make operations for you infeasible.
Wars break out and swallow teams or companies.
Sea level and temperatures will change, making production impossible or ruining property.

Diversify now while it is cheap and easy.

The longer we wait, the more expensive and difficult it will be.

Foreign Cultures

On a lighter note, I get in touch with many different cultures as a nomad.

People who think fundamentally different than me.

A person from Japan will never communicate directly what they think.
On the other hand, a German will tell you exactly what they think.

This is why German companies operating in Japan often have a German Japanese to bridge the gap.

This culture gap gave me some difficulties, but it also yielded so many opportunities.

Things that are easy for me might be extremely difficult for someone from another culture and vice versa.

This makes it mega easy to start a service that is valued a lot by the other party.

These services can be small, such as cooking your native cuisine in a foreign country.

Or big things like applying Western productivity methods to Eastern culture companies.

Just think of your skills and if there is a gap in that foreign culture for them.

Communication

Commonsense doesn't exist.

And I never saw it so clearly as when communicating with someone from another culture.

Our default communication is incredibly ambiguous and filled with implicit information.

It is no wonder that most people have difficulties collaborating.

Even when they grew up in the same country.

Living as a nomad, I learned to communicate precisely and explicitly what I need and want.

Learning this skill was a game changer for me in business.

I don't get unexpected results anymore.

Explicitly say what you want.

Don't assume the other person understands what you mean.

Ask them to reflect to you what they understood.

It is so easy to get on the same page.

You're hurting yourself by not doing it.

Thinking bigger

I stopped making products that had only a small impact.

I can't do that anymore because small products are a waste of time in my head.

Business is not about selling something. It is about providing value for your customers.

Your highest goal shouldn't be to make more money.

Your highest goal should be to help more people.

If you help more people, money will come by itself.

Whenever I design a new product, I think of its global impact.

How many people can I help with this?
How will it change their lives?

If I can meet these two questions, long-term motivation is easy.

What is holding you back from going global yourself?

Or are you already living your best life as a nomad?

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5 ways being a digital nomad made me a better entrepreneur