When you've been working long and hard at your home business for a while, you might feel like you've earned yourself a little break. There are home business owners out there who haven't taken a real holiday since they started their business -- including some who started their business as long as five years ago!
After all, how can you ever just desert your business and your customers and go bronze yourself on the beach? How can you avoid being on call 24/7 throughout your holiday? Well, everyone deserves some time to themselves at least once a year, if they want to keep being productive and avoid stress. Here's what to do.
Tell People When You're Going Away.
You can't just disappear when you're running a home business -- you need to let people know long in advance that you're not going to be available, and make sure that they have everything they need to manage without you while you're away. It's best to schedule your holiday not to interfere too much with the business.
However much you might want to have your holiday in the summer, it's important to remember that every business has its quiet months, and you should schedule your holiday in the period where they seem to be.
Change Your Answerphone Message.
A quick and simple way to let people know that you've gone away is to change your answerphone message. This allows you to still hear what people have to say when you get back, and stops them from wondering why you never seem to answer your phone.
A good format for the message is as follows: 'Hi, this is [your name] at [company name]. I'm sorry I'm not in the office right now, but I will be back on [give a date]. If you leave a message, I will be sure to get back to you'.
Set Up an Email Autoresponder.
Similar to an answerphone message, but less commonly used, is the email autoresponder. Again, you don't want people to wonder why their emails are going unanswered, so your best bet is to set up your email program to automatically reply to any email you get with a message saying that you've gone away.
Example: 'Hello, and thank you for your email. This is an autoresponder, as I'm away on holiday until [date]. I have received your email, however, and will respond to it upon my return. I apologise for any inconvenience to you, and I am willing to make an offer of 10% off your next order to make it up to you.' The special offer for people who get the autoresponder is a nice touch -- it makes them feel lucky that they emailed you while you were away, instead of frustrated.
Don't Stay Away Too Long.
Of course, when you go on holiday, you're relying on people being willing to wait for you. That means you can't really take the kids to Disneyworld for two weeks, or spend a month staying with a friend abroad -- it's just too long to be away from your business for.
You should regard a weekend away as ideal (it avoids the whole problem for the most part), and a week as the maximum you can allow yourself. Don't let people make you feel bad about only taking one-week holidays: after all, you could always have more than one each year.
Alternatively: Get Someone to Look After the Business.
If you really want to get away for longer, or it's essential that your customers don't have any break in service, then you could consider getting someone to look after your business. This could be an existing member of staff that you make your 'deputy', to be in charge while you're away, or it could be someone who's related to you and has some experience running a business. You could even hand the business over to a competitor that you're friendly with and share the profits with them, if you think they're trustworthy and they could handle it.
Enjoy your holiday!
Balance Your Holidays & Business
Balance your home based business
Millions of people long to work from home, and the lucky few manage to achieve their ambition. Once you have realized the dream, it’s important to maintain the work-life balance or you could find your effectiveness declines. Working at home still has its own pitfalls: you’ve left the day job and you’re no longer shackled to the desk by your evil boss. But your new boss can be even more tyrannical – it’s you!!
The urge to make your business succeed is powerful. All entrepreneurs feel that sense of urgency, and the need for perfection. By making that change to the next e-mail or tweaking the website, it’s going to make all the difference to the success of the business. We all have to remember that the most important business asset we hold is ourselves, and we should prize it accordingly. It is a truism that we only get one body, so we should take care. Treat yourself like a thoroughbred, with the right diet, rest and exercise.
Chances are that your workspace wasn’t designed for the job. If you don’t use an office chair you are likely to be hunched over your screen, risking upper back tension and repetitive strain injury. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting a complete ergonomic assessment: I left my job to get away from the box-tickers! It is possible to work in less-than-ideal conditions and survive, as long as we take some sensible steps and regular breaks.
The other risk of internet working is a decline in your fitness, if you’re not very careful. It’s easy to feel that time spent working out is time stolen from your business – try to change your mindset and see that this is a key part of your requirements. You need to maintain your fitness routine for the sake of mind and body. The work at home entrepreneur often spends hours each day without talking to another human being face to face.
To deal with your posture and fitness needs, try to ensure you get out of the chair at least once an hour, and do a few stretches and shrugs to release tension in your neck and shoulders. Stand with feet slightly apart and let you body relax downwards to touch your toes with the fingertips (or as far down as you can reach). If you repeat this one regularly it’s encouraging to see how much your flexibility can improve in a short time.
It is a really good idea to leave your office once every three hours. You can set an alarm to remind you, then go outside and walk for at least ten minutes. If you have been hitting some blocks during the working day this is an ideal time for problem-solving: the fresh air will do wonders and help you think clearly.
Once a day, do some type of fitness work. If you can get to a gym for a full workout, that’s great and you will feel great afterwards. If not, make sure you do something. Here are a few exercises you can do anywhere:
- Stand up and place your hands on your knees and breathe out, pulling the abdominal muscles in strongly. Hold for at least ten seconds, and breathe in. Repeat ten times, build up gradually to at least 20 repetitions by the end of a fortnight.
- Stand up and raise elbows level with your shoulders, and twist slowly as far as possible to your right. Repeat the exercise to the left, do at least ten repetitions in each direction.
- Stand up facing away from a solid table or chair, place palms on the surface with fingers pointing forwards. Lower your body, keeping back straight and a slight tension in your abdominals. Come back up using the strength in your arms. Repeat at least ten times.
These are just a few ideas designed to take less than five minutes, and you will feel better for doing them. It’s also important to manage your time and allocate leisure breaks as well as time for socialising with friends and family. If you are in the first year of setting up your business try to spend at least 30 minutes a day on something different – it is too easy to become blinkered, thinking and talking exclusively about the business. Try to make this a habit, or you run the risk of bore everyone around you rigid!
One last idea, which may not be available to everyone, is to get a dog. This is a great way to get away from the desk and keep active, and immensely rewarding. If you can't have a dog of your own, see if anyone nearby needs a dog walker. Now there's a home business idea .......