When was the last time you felt comfortable enough to take a vacation? A real one, that is.
By “real,” I mean work-free. Not being stuck on your laptop in a hotel room. Not checking emails on your phone between Thanksgiving dinner and dessert. Not worrying about the ever-mounting workload that’s awaiting you when you return.
Most business owners are anxious about taking time off, because they’re terrified of what could go wrong when they’re away!
But you deserve (and I’d argue, you need!) a break from running your business. Not only have you earned a timeout to deeply relax, unplug, and get in that you-time you’ve been craving, you also need it to recharge your batteries and boost your creativity and problem-solving skills so you can perform at your best.
If you know it’s time to take a break without your laptop, there are five things you should have squared away before you go, so your business can run without you.
Let’s dive into them right now.
1. Refine Your Systems
In order for your business to run without you, you must have systems in place. Systems allow your business to run on autopilot; this is essential when you’re not around!
There are two categories of systems you should have in place before you leave for your vacation.
Technical systems: These are tools that automate tasks, like an online scheduler for private client appointments and a glitch-free shopping cart to manage product sales.
Situational systems: These dictate how certain common issues and events in your business are handled. Examples of this include addressing customer service concerns and new client acceptance processes.
You know a system works well when you feel assured everything that needs to be done will be done effectively, efficiently, consistently, and on-time every time. Refine, implement, and test your systems before you go on vacation.
Systems make your assistant’s job easier, too. She won’t have to guess, reinvent the wheel, or worry about making a mistake in your absence. Which brings us to the next “gotta have” before you take off…
2. Train a Trustworthy Team
You’re going to need someone to respond to emails, address customer concerns, and keep the day-to-day operations running. A virtual assistant (VA) is often the perfect person to do this for you.
If you don’t have an assistant, hire one well in advance of taking your vacation. It takes awhile for even the best VA to learn the ins and outs of your business and how you like things to run.
If you already have an assistant, you may only need to train her on a few new tasks so she can truly cover for you while you’re gone.
Depending on the size and scope of the products and services you offer, you may also want a tech or web person on call. Ideally, your assistant and this tech person have a pre-established working relationship so they can team up, if needed, during your absence.
Click to TweetWhen is the last time you took a REAL vacation? Here’s how to keep your business running without you.3. Prep Your Social Media Presence, Blog, and Newsletter
If you run an online business, social media and blogging are a big part of your daily and weekly activities. To keep the ship running while you’re gone, populate your social media accounts by scheduling tweets and Facebook posts. (You can grab a Steal This! guide on this topic right here.)
Sure, you won’t be able to reply to comments on your unplugged vacation, but at least it won’t look like you dropped off the face of the earth.
You will also want to populate your blog with posts to stick to your regular schedule. Same holds true for your newsletter.
In fact, preparing a month’s worth of posts before I leave for vacation tends to boost my excitement, because I know I’ll have one less thing to think about while I’m away.
Stuck thinking of that many blogging ideas at once? Here are some tips on how to have endless blogging ideas.
4. Notify Your Clients and Create an Out-of-Office Auto-Reply
If you serve one-on-one clients, you will want to email them a few days before you leave to let them know you’ll be unavailable for the duration — especially if you offer email support to your clients.
I want you to enjoy your vacation and unplugging completely is the easiest way to make that happen. Your clients will understand!
Also, set up an email auto-reply so that anyone who emails while you’re away will immediately know that they won’t hear back from you until you return. Specify the date you will reply by (I usually use three days after I’m back home) so people know when to expect to hear from you.
5. Release Some Control
You’ve got your team, and your systems are running flawlessly. Social media and your blog are ready to go. Now it’s time to let your business do what it’s been prepared to do: run without you.
Are you ready for that? Are you going to be able to stop checking your email every two hours, taking those quick peeks at Twitter, and responding to every issue yourself?
Trust that if your team has been trained and your systems have been tested and optimized, your business will be able to run itself while you’re gone. Sure, new problems occasionally occur, but if you’ve checked off all the items on this list, you’ve set yourself up for your well-deserved, distraction-free vacation time.
Even if your team can’t do everything in your absence, they can interact with customers and let them know concerns and issues will be addressed once you return home.
When my assistant faces a unique situation that requires my input, she simply replies with, “Jenny is on vacation and away from her computer until next Monday. I’ll be sure she sees this as soon as she’s back. Thanks so much for your patience, and let me know if I can do anything for you in the meantime.”
Most people are pretty reasonable when you’re unreachable. And besides, most businesses don’t have life-threatening emergencies (we just act like they do).
If you’re worried all hell will break loose in your absence, you can always leave your assistant with a direct line to reach you in case of an emergency.
Can you release control, and let things move along without you?
Take That Vacation!
It’s hard for entrepreneurs to loosen up the reins, even if it means foregoing getting a tan or hitting the slopes. We like being in control. We like knowing what’s going on. But this also means we’re hyper-aware that one mistake could cause an avalanche of problems.
When you have your team prepped in the right way, you seriously decrease your chances of a meltdown happening when you’re not around.
Now I want to hear from you!
Have you been able to take a work-free, stress-free vacation? What did you do to make that happen?
If you haven’t been able to indulge in a work-free respite, what steps are you going to take starting this week to prepare your business for your absence?
I can’t wait to read your thoughts in the comments below!
Great post, Jenny. THIS is what it’s all about. I’m glad you’re sharing this and helping us work toward enjoying every aspect of our lives. Taking a break is so good for the soul–and I find it fuels my creativity to be away from it all for awhile.
Did you go on any “mini vacations” prior to this big one as sort of a trial run?
Interesting question, Adrianne! I haven’t really done a trial run per se, because this is how I run my business all the time (minus the auto responder and client notification).
I always prep my social media in advance; I set systems up regularly; my assistant has been taking on more and more customer service. The benefit of making these things a regular practice is that when the vacation comes, there is no panic that things will fall apart.
That said, I do take mini vacations and go on conference trips, etc., which does put all of it to the test on a regular basis. I take a lot of time off, so you could say it’s being tested all the time 🙂
This makes a lot of sense, and I really like your philosophy. I’m a big systems person naturally, but this reminds me of the importance they have and helps light a fire under me to implement them from the get-go, (which I’m luckily in the position to do). Thanks, Jenny—wise as always!
Ah…Maui is my favorite vacation destination. Congratulations on having such a wonderful and long vacation. You give us all something to look forward to doing.
And better than that, the tools to actually enjoy a vacation. I admit I usually work during my vacation and it doesn’t feel like I am on vacation at all. I am taking all the great tips you have given in today’s blog and putting them to use in planning for a vaca in April. As always, thank you for your information.
You rock!
Susan
No more working on vacation, Susan! You’ve got the know-how to put those systems in place and take some time away. You deserve that hard-earned time off in April, that’s for sure!
Thanks Jenny! This is exactly why I want to create a business that is a bit more profitable. More vacations…I crave the warm sun (I live in WY) and always feel more alive and inspired when I get to do that. Here’s to more vacations coming my way soon!
Yay to profitable businesses and vacations, Emily! I can’t wait to see you make it happen!
#5 is the kicker. It’s about realizing that if we do the work and put the systems in place, we aren’t as important to our business as we think we are. Sadly, lol.
Nah, you’re not important to the unimportant things. But if you’re business is about YOU, then of course you’re important! In fact, you’re the most important part!
Jenny, as usual you are a content rock star and this post is moving into my favorites! Thank you for the stellar info.
My question: which system do you recommend implementing first? I’m still doing it all myself with not much long term planning in place and would just love direction on where to start with systematizing.
Sara 🙂
I would say to implement them in that order. And, implement whatever system you feel most ready and excited to do right now — having some systems is better than having none at all!
I really enjoyed your post Jenny and kudos to you for taking that vacation. As someone who is just at the beginning stages of buiding a business, how can you set up systems and processes at the beginning? Right now, I’m more focussed on getting my stuff out there and getting cashflow but is it possible to set up systems from the get go?
Absolutely start your systems now! You will be ahead of 95% of all entrepreneurs if you do that. Most wait until they’re working too many hours and things are falling through the cracks… and that is ugly!
Set up the systems as you go. For example, as you’re taking on your first few clients, use it as a chance to set up your new client process. https://jennyshih.com/2012/05/steal-this-my-business-system-secrets-for-booking-new-clients/
As you finish up with your first clients, use it as an opportunity to set up your testimonial process. https://jennyshih.com/2012/06/steal-this-my-simple-system-for-getting-killer-testimonials/
Every time you create something in your business, make a system at the same time. You’ll save yourself hours upon hours in the long run!
Perfect post as I sit here on vacation, Jenny! 🙂 I look forward to this information and setting it up for future vacations – All I did before I left was change my voicemail to say I will return on the 1st and a referral as who to go to if an emergency comes up! (I am a chiropractor) as always, fantastic post, great info – thank you so much for all your great, action based posts!
So glad you’re on vacation, Marcia! Enjoy! And I’m thrilled that this will help you for future vacations!
This is exactly what I needed today. I’m almost ready to launch(not sparklingchi) and I’m hitting some fears. One of which is vacation. I think I thought I would never have vacation again. Also, I’ve verb working so much (full time and in the evenings setting my business) that I haven’t taken time off at all. At the end of the day, time off is my choice and I can prepare for that in advanced!
9 trips … So jeolous. Got 1 confirmed, and hoping to walk the camino in Spain this year.
Vacations are a must for the self-employed! Slowly start putting some of these systems into place and you will be able to take time off. You’ll need it to stay refreshed and at the top of your game so you can keep providing top-notch work to your favorite clients.
As a one woman team these are great tips to start me on the right path to systems. I have a vacation coming up in June, California bound! but I do plan to do some work while I’m there. Small maintenance of course and having only my biz email notifications turned on my phone, but as my business grows I’ll be able to step further away from things while on vacation. I have worked my way into stepping away from business on the weekends and it’s been great! I think it’s a good first step 🙂
You got it – one step at a time, little bit by little bit!
Our fascination for finding natural hot springs cured me of needing to stay plugged in. Every summer we take at least three mini vacations to somewhere remote enough I can’t access my cell phone or data plan. Completely cures me from the crazy notion “my business can’t survive without me”. It absolutely can, and does. :).
Genius, Loralee!! My husband loves mini vacations but we usually don’t go to remote places. I LOVE the idea of going off the grid and forcing a disconnect. Totally going to do that! Thanks for sharing!
Really good stuff, Jenny! This list is good to follow for those of us who want to build businesses that don’t turn in to monsters that take over our lives.
I have not attempted the stress-free vacation, yet, but I am working on the steps you’ve outlined here. #4 is brilliant (can’t believe I didn’t think of that since they do it all of the time at work anyway) and #5 I’m getting better at. The first step, was to hire a VA and start practicing letting go.