Having recently spoken to many small business owners about the summer holidays, I am not surprised to hear that some have not actually had a holiday for at least 5 years.
“How on earth can I go on holiday, what would my clients do?”
“It would be more stressful to be on holiday than at work”
“Holiday, what’s that?”
“What would I do if there was an emergency?”
Sound familiar?
In the weeks leading up to your holiday start making a list of work that needs to be completed and work that can be delegated.
Haven’t got anyone you can delegate to?
Hire a Virtual Assistant; they will be able to manage the day to day work such as answering emails, telephone calls, administration, payments, project management, general customer support and a whole lot more. In fact you could also utilise the amazing organisational talents of a VA to help you to plan your holiday.
I am about to embark on a busy August where I will be looking after two of my clients businesses, while they both enjoy stress free holidays.
It’s not the first time I’ve been their holiday cover. So we know it works well, and here’s how:
In a word planning. Plan in advance what is likely to crop up while you’re away, make your VA aware of it and what to do in the event, remembering to provide your VA with access to everything they may need.
Provide a telephone number that you will be contactable on for emergencies, and arrange to speak to your VA for a business update once a week at a specific time. Make sure you switch off all email notifications as you will be sure to read them, and once you start we all know what happens then.
Inform your clients, let them know that you will be on holiday, but your VA/Assistant will be covering all ongoing projects. Let your VA have access to your emails; there is nothing worse than returning from your holiday to hundreds of emails.
Now it’s time to relax, switch off, no longer is your holiday but a dream. It’s really happening.
You will also wonder why you hadn’t hired a Virtual Assistant before.
