How To Take a Vacation From Your Small Business
Running a business takes work. So much work, that it often seems impossible for a small business owner to take time off.
Even when business owners do find the time for a vacation, it’s tempting to check into the office while away.
So how can you take a break without closing business for vacation?
Giving yourself a break is necessary, and it may not be as hard as you’d think.
Check out these simple strategies and you’ll be booking flights before you know it.
How to Take a Vacation From Your Small Business
Prepare Your Business
If you’re a small business owner taking time off, the first step to getting ready for a stress-free vacation is preparing the office for your absence. Most likely, you won’t completely be closing business for vacation, so prepare for life to go on without you. Let both your clients and employees know the dates that you will be leaving and returning. Create an automated email response to inform people that you’re away.
Keep important contacts in your phone in case of an emergency. While you don’t want to treat your trip like a business vacation, preparing for the possibility of a necessary phone call will save you stress and anxiety.
Check your calendar. Make sure that nothing is scheduled to go “live” while you’re away, or, right before you leave. Closing business for vacation certainly isn’t necessary, but postponing events or meetings when you can will help this transition go smoothly.
For a small business owner, taking time off may seem daunting and sometimes, not worth it.
Informing everyone of your trip in advance gives you the opportunity to set expectations and leave nothing to chance.
Prepare Your Employees
As a small business owner, you may wear many hats. Employees come to you with every issue, from a morning parking crisis to last Friday’s lunch buffet. It’s nice to be in charge, but the truth is, not everything is your responsibility.
Before you leave for your vacation, set protocol with your employees for handling certain situations.
What should they do if the Internet goes out? Who will they call if they can’t get into the building? Remember, you won’t be completely closing business for vacation, just removing yourself from it.
Help employees understand who they can go to for certain situations, and how to handle specific emergencies. Outsourcing these issues will save you from unnecessary stress while you’re away.
Prepare Yourself
Lastly, make your life easy. As a small business owner taking time off, it’s important to set rules for yourself to help you minimize the amount of work you’ll let yourself do on vacation.
Outsource the parts of your routine that take the longest and refrain from letting your trip turn into a business vacation.
It’s easy for a small business owner taking time off to feel like there are certain seasons when they can’t get away. Sometimes it seems like there’s just too much work to be done.
However, that super crazy time-consuming stuff shouldn’t be yours to handle! Take tax season, for instance. So many different forms and deadlines, not to mention confusing terms and repetitive questions.
One word: outsource. TaxBandits is your ticket to a vacation during tax season. With a wide variety of forms starting as low as $1.99 each, TaxBandits makes it easy to file the forms and move on.
So remember, the next time you’re eyeing that flight to Europe or cruise to Cancun, preparing your office and employees and outsourcing your largest feats are the tools to get you to that small business owner vacation you deserve.
