Most people take time off from work on a regular basis, but what can you do if you’re the only person in your company or it feels impossible to step away from your business?
Don’t worry, there are vacation options for self-employed people too. In fact, you should .
One thing is clear: you love your business. You wouldn’t work as hard as you do if you didn’t. But taking time off from work every now and then is an important part of building a sustainable business. And with a little planning, your business will still be there when you return (promise).
Think about it this way: If you never take a break, how will you feel in three months, a year, or three years?
There’s nothing worse than investing all your time and energy into building your business, only to burn out because you haven’t created space for recovery. Sure, your business depends on your time. But your enthusiasm for it depends on your recovery.
In this post, you’ll learn some freelance vacation strategies that can help you step away from your business and get the rest you need—and deserve!
Before you can plan for a vacation, you have to decide what your time off will look like.
Maybe vacation simply means a break from most tasks for you, but you’re willing to spend an hour or two a day sending and responding to emails.
The length and structure of your vacation is entirely up to you. Based on these two decisions, you will know how much you need to prepare.
To prepare for your time off, you have two options: You can hire short-term help. Or you can automate as much as possible.
Seek short-term help
Whether you’re hiring a helper for the first time or you already have trusted replacements, sweden email list there are a few steps that can make onboarding a new person into your company easier.
Document your processes
Depending on which tasks you want to delegate to your new support, what is a brand book and why is it important for companies? you will need to get your knowledge of those tasks out of your head and into theirs.
Think about each task you want to hand over and outline what needs to be documented in advance. This could include:
- Customer service. Do you have special policies, such as always offering easy returns for new customers, no matter what happens?
- Social media. Do you have general guidelines for deciding if something fits your brand before you post it? Do you use foul language on social media? Do you handle customer concerns there or do you forward them to your email address?
- Shipping. What is included with each order? How quickly are orders processed? Are there any tricky issues your new employee should look out for?
Schedule time for training
Documenting your processes is important, but if you’re hiring someone new to keep the business running while you’re away, there’s nothing better than in-person training to go over each task together.
Book a few hours with your substitute to go over everything in person before you leave. You don’t need to take a crash course in training to get them up to speed. Instead, you can use a simple and effective maxim that has long been used in surgical training: “see one, do one, teach one.”
Remember this phrase when handing over: “See one, do one, teach one.”
For every important task, first show your replacement how you do a task. Then let them try it themselves. In the final step, china phone numbers have them explain the step to you so they can memorize everything important. This approach helps you involve your employee in the tasks they need to know.
A well-thought-out onboarding process can make the difference between panicked calls about a customer service issue and uninterrupted days off.
Complete important tasks in advance
There’s only so much you can expect from someone new to your company. You should try to complete everything important in advance. Also, prepare everything as best you can to ensure your time off goes smoothly. Reorder popular items. Make sure your shipping materials are fully prepared. Also, don’t plan any important announcements, campaigns, or events right before you leave.
Can’t hire help? Try a swap instead
No money to hire help? That doesn’t automatically mean that you can’t find (qualified) help to do things while you’re away.
Reach out to your community of other entrepreneurs and ask if anyone would be willing to do a swap. If they can handle your shipping and customer service while you’re away, do the same when they need a break later.
It’s not quite the same, but this is how the traders on Almonte’s shopping street manage unexpected situations such as events that may prevent them from opening their store on time.
Support among retailers extends to neighborly favors, such as opening the store for one another when a child is sick at home. In Almonte, businesses often communicate via Facebook.
“We have a private group for the Mill Street merchants,” Emily says. “There’s someone there saying, ‘Okay guys, there’s a snowstorm. What do we do?’ or over Easter weekend, ‘Who’s open, what hours?’ If you go to a mall, they’re all open. We’re the same way. When people come here, we want everyone to be open.”