The weather is getting nice and all you can think about is getting away from work. As you start making vacation plans and pondering over how much fun you’re going to have, you immediately snap back to reality and realize that your business can’t survive if you take a two week hiatus.
This is a common occurrence amongst small business owners and especially solopreneurs. According to a survey done by Glassdoor, nearly 42% of Americans skip out on vacations and 61% work while on vacation.
Health Benefits of Vacationing
Running a successful business takes a certain amount of fortitude that most people don’t have, but if you’re not healthy you’re doing yourself and your business a disservice. Part of having a healthy work/life balance is taking vacations and winding down every so often.
Some of the health benefits of vacationing are:
- Reducing Stress
- Improved mental health
- Reducing heart disease
Keeping the Business Running While Vacationing
Most of us know how important it is to vacation but at the end of the day, the work has to get done. The reason that so many of us aren’t able to take any time off is because we either can’t afford to or we don’t have the man power.
If you’re fortunate enough to have a staff and you still aren’t taking any time away, your issue may be that you don’t trust the people you’ve hired or you know they aren’t ready to carry the load without your direct supervision.
In this case you need to:
- Hire better/more qualified people
- Spend more time training
- Learn to trust your staff
It’s not uncommon for business owners to be possessive and feel like they have to have their hand in every pot and make every decision, but if your goal is to grow then you’re going to have to take the training wheels off your staff and allow them to do their jobs. Doing so will allow you to take more time off and put more emphasis on growing your business.
Solopreneur
For the one man/woman show, it can be a little tougher to get away and relax. If you don’t take care of everything yourself then who will, right?
Social Media
Many solopreneurs have found creative ways to run their businesses and still squeeze in vacation time. One of the most beneficial tools for solopreneurs is software applications like Hootsuite and Buffer.
Both platforms allow users to manage their various social media accounts via their computer, tablet or phone but most importantly, users can schedule posts so that their social media accounts can remain active while they’re vacationing.
Email Marketing
To assist with email marketing, there are programs like MailChimp and Benchmark that can help solopreneurs automate their marketing efforts and free up tons of time.
Virtual Support
Using automation software is effective and will help you free up time but it’s not enough to free you up completely. There are situations that come up when a human is needed. Certain emails or comments on social media or important phone calls need a human response.
At this point you have a choice to make. You can do what most people do and work while you’re on vacation, you can hire an employee or get a virtual assistant.
If you’re not in a position to hire an employee, a virtual assistant is a great alternative. A virtual assistant can take care of tasks such as:
- Answering incoming calls
- Manage your calendar
- Make updates to your website
- Write blogs
- Data entry
- Manage social media
Unlike an employee, virtual assistants are only paid for the time they actually spend working on tasks, they use their own equipment and you don’t have to worry about the additional expenses of having an actual employee.
So if you’ve been working hard and are overdue for a vacation, contact Apex Virtual Solutions and we can take the load off. We have a team of highly qualified professionals that are here to make sure your business continues to run seamlessly while you’re on vacation.