Taking Time Off As A Business Owner: How to Plan Ahead

You would never expect your employees to work without having any days off, so why expect the same for yourself? Taking time off (and not just a sick day) is not only important for your own health and wellness, but for your business as well. 

After-hours, weekends and vacations can sometimes look less like time off, and more like working from a different spot. 

As a business owner, taking a vacation can seem impossible. However, planning ahead of time will allow you to actually relax and give you confidence that your business will be okay. 

Here are a few tips to help you plan for some downtime:

Predict Slow Times

Taking time off during your peak months will most likely prevent you from having a stress-free vacation. Even if you aren’t working, you’ll likely be thinking of work. Scheduling your time off during a known slow period will allow you to enjoy the moments and not have to worry about there being a thousand tasks and projects that are waiting for you when you return.

Have a Second in Command

Appointing a manager or top team member to take on any urgent matters is crucial to being able to step away. This should be someone you can trust. Maybe they’re already your go-to or the team member with the most experience. Whoever it is, make sure you provide them with any necessary information that they may need and don’t already have while you are away, this way they only have to reach out to you if it is an emergency. 

Give Your Clients Plenty of Notice

You have done the planning on when you are going to take time off, and who will be running the show while you’re relaxing, now it’s time to let your clients know. We suggest sending out an email to clients a few weeks before, letting them know that you will be out of the office, as well as introducing them to who will be taking care of them during that time. Including a reminder of your time away in your email signature is also a great way of reminding your clients leading up to your time away. Setting up an automated email saying that you are on vacation will help you put work on the backburner and not feel guilty about not responding to your clients. 

We know that stepping away can be a hard decision for any business owner, but it is important to be able to take time to relax. Whether it is a day or a week, there can be many benefits that can come from taking time off, such as reduced stress, clearer thinking, increase in productivity when returning to work, creative flow and most importantly, can also prevent burnout. If you plan ahead, the only thing you’ll be thinking of is why you didn’t do this sooner.