If you run your own business it can be incredibly hard to take even a few days off – let alone treating yourself to a proper two week holiday somewhere warm and relaxing! According to one survey of 200 small business owners, just under 10% of them planned on taking a proper 14 day holiday (or longer), while only 60% said they’d be up for taking a week off. What’s more, of those surveyed who said they would take time off, over two thirds said they would be checking in with the office at least once per day, if not several times.
There are lots of reasons why this inability to get away from it all is so common among small business owners, but one of the main culprits is definitely our omnipresent smartphones. We live in such a connected world; not only as business owners, but also as customers. This means we’re much more impatient when it comes to our purchasing habits, and expect near-instant responses from those we wish to do business with.
On top of all this, as business owners our smartphones often blur the lines between our work and social lives. It’s hard to check your personal emails without simultaneously seeing what’s arrived in your work inbox. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying this connection is a bad thing. In fact, used wisely, it can actually empower far more independent lifestyles. So, without further ado, here are a few principles we could all follow to help us run our businesses in a way that also allows us to take meaningful time away from it all.
BEFORE YOU GO
As with so much in life – particularly business – the secret to success lies in our preparation. Here are three steps you can take to prepare for a proper holiday:
Delegate
If you have a team, pick someone to be in charge in your absense. Make sure to devolve only as much power as you both feel comfortable with, and make it clear to the rest of your team exactly what’s going on. If you’re a solo operator, the best thing to do is simply prepare your schedule and, if necessary, let any current and potential customers know what’s going on.
In case of emergency
When you’re on holiday, it’s easy for problems to escalate into disasters. And it’s even easier to imagine that’s what’s happening if you don’t check in every three hours. Putting an emergency response plan in place won’t just be helpful in case the worst should happen, it’ll also help you have a much more relaxing time away. Creating a plan might seem like a lot of work for just a couple of weeks rest, but once it’s there you’ll be able to use it over and over again.
The right tools
There are literally hundreds of online tools to help you automate and manage your business from afar – from automated replies to order fulfilment. Learn about them and use them to your advantage. As a bonus, they’ll probably make you more efficient and productive when you’re not on holiday as well!
WHILE YOU’RE AWAY
The chances are, when you finally get round to taking that well earned two week vacation, it’ll be you that needs managing more than your business. Putting some simple rules and routines in place will ease any anxieties while still giving you the break you need. Here are three quick tips to make sure your holiday is worth the time off.
Establish boundaries
Set yourself some rules about how you’ll be engaging with your business while you’re away – how often, and through which channels. Take the time to ‘switch off’ those channels that fall outside these parameters. If it’s unrealistic to stay completely out of the loop, do so at as much of a distance as possible.
Share those boundaries
Let your team know what you want to be contacted about, and through which channels. If you miss this step, the chances are they’ll just fall back into established habits and contact you about whatever they usually do. While you can ‘switch off’ this contact, it’s much better for both parties if the situation is avoided in the first place.
Face to face
This might seem counter-intuitive, but if any questions or issues do arise in your absense, speaking to your second-in-command, ideally via some kind of video-conferencing setup like Google Hangouts, is much more likely to resolve the issue quickly. You can probably communicate a lot more in five minutes conversation than a string of emails.
There we have it – a quickfire guide to helping any small business owner take the time off they need to do their job even better. Happy holidays!
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