6 Vacation Tips for Small Business Owners

• Start with short escapes
  1. If being away from your business stresses you out and you haven’t taken time off in a while, start with a shorter vacation. You don’t need to be away for two weeks to come back refreshed and invigorated. Even a long weekend can help ease the pressure you feel.
• Take a cue from your business cycle
  1. If you know there are certain times when you are going to be busy, then avoid booking a trip during those times. Planning your vacation for a slower period can also help to ease concerns about losing business.
• Ask for assistance
  1. If you have business associates and of course, employees you can turn to them for support while you are away. Just make sure you brief them on anything that may come up. If you’re solopreneur, you may want to consider engaging a temporary assistant or a virtual assistant to at least field calls while you are gone, especially if it will help you relax.
• Plan ahead
  1. While it might be exciting to look at last-minute trip, for most business owners, planning time away well in advance is a better strategy. The same goes for finishing the work you need to do. Work ahead if possible, and have a one- or two-week action plan in place for accomplishing what you need to do before you go rather than scrambling a day or two before you leave.
• Let people know you’re going on vacation
  1. Be upfront that you are going to be gone and will not be responding to messages and phone calls during your vacation period. Put the dates in your email signature a few weeks before you go and send emails to key clients or customers to prepare them.
• Bring only vital business tools
  1. Sitting on a beach or by a pool with your laptop all day is not really a vacation. However, if you have to be able to respond to work emails or have to relay key information, consider these needs in advance and pack necessary tools accordingly.

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