When was the last time you had an actual holiday? I mean really stepped away. No phone calls, no emails (would you even be comfortable to turn your phone off?), no ‘I need to’ thoughts running through your head at 2am.
Everybody needs to have a holiday, including small business owners. Time to recharge, to gather your thoughts, to rest.
So here are our top tips for getting yourself a holiday.
Schedule everything for while you are gone.
This includes:
- Social media (check out the post here for scheduling tips and tools)
- Accounts payable – create future dated payments and let this happen automatically
- Blog posts and email marketing – create and schedule these to be released while you are gone
- Membership platforms – preload new content and drip feed this to your members
Keep everyone informed.
If YOU are your business, inform your customer base before you go. Give them time to get what they need before you are unavailable.
Use your out of office to remind everyone who gets in touch, but also set it up with links for people to book appointments, consultations, and catch ups (with times and dates that have been preset by you so that you don’t come back to days of constant calls!).
You could also use it as a marketing tool! Include links to your blog posts, resources that people might find helpful, or a FAQ page where they might be able to find the answer they are looking for!
Train your team.
With your systems in place, delegating your tasks to people within your team becomes a quick and easy process. The things that need to be done to keep the business happily ticking over, should be fully documented with clear and concise procedures as well as what to do when things go wrong. Show your team how to access this information and give them access to the tools needed to get the job done.
If you don’t have a team, but there are some things that you can’t schedule, look at outsourcing this work temporarily to a business that you can trust to complete it. Virtual assistants are fantastic at taking your calls, responding to enquiries, helping your customers with their questions, take orders, and prepare things for your return.
Give everyone a contingency plan on if, why, and when they should contact you.
Preparation is key.
Consider the ‘worst case’ scenario and put in place plans to cover those. This way you are prepared should anything go wrong.
Avoid temptation.
The temptation of seeing why your phone dings and buzzes can be enough to completely interrupt your holiday.
If you are tempted to check in on emails, social media, or project management apps, disable them or remove them from your phone completely while you are away. Turn your phone off and only check on it once or twice a day.
With some planning and self discipline, a holiday is entirely possible.
