The end of July is occurring this week. The beginning of August is tantalizingly close and so is your long awaited vacation. Congratulations!
Here are some tips to have this vacation be relaxing and support a continuance of your business while you “vacate”. Some simple actions to take before your vacation can prevent you from having to pick up the pieces of a stalled business and start over. I am not saying don’t be on vacation. I am saying prepare to set up your business so that it continues seamlessly while you are gone.
The easiest way to set up your business so that your clients aren’t left wondering about what happened to you is to communicate your plans to your clients. This simple step seems like a “no brainer” however I have known many business people who just don’t say anything to their clients. The first clue that a client gets about your absence is a sterile email responder stating the news. That type of communication leaves the client high and hanging on the hope that you will see their email asking for service. Instead, let them know who they can contact when you are gone. Also, include that information in your email responder.
If you are the sole service provider in your business, set up abbreviated business hours for yourself so that you are responding to clients. Set the time up so its compatible with whom you are traveling, so that they know that between certain times every day, you will be working.
Be certain that you have the communication tools you use with you and that they will work in your new destination. Often, it does sound good to you to say, I will use Skype or your cell phone only to find out where you are going does not provide internet and or Wi-Fi or that it is too expensive to use. Find out what is available before you go. If you can set up the type of availability you need before you go, do that. Yes, it does take some extra time to set it up but you will be so glad that you did once you are there. Many cell phone providers have special low cost vacation plans that you can add on for the days that you are gone. These plans can save you from paying high roaming fees.
Think through your typical business day, and make a list of what you use every day in the course of doing business. Make sure you have those items on your portable computer. Try out a typical business transaction before you go, and make sure it works without any flaws. Make a paper back up to carry with you just in case you have serious computer glitch.
This list is certainly not exhaustive; it is intended to stimulate your thinking ahead of the vacation, so that business can occur and you can enjoy yourself.
I am very interested to hear what you would add to the list or take off the list.
Have a wonderful vacation!
Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net
All great points that you make, Susan! And even as prepared as you might think you are, things can still happen to upset the productivity apple cart! Case in point: knowing that we would be away for three weeks, my husband and I prepared by calling the hotels we were going to be staying at in advance to make sure they had Ethernet cables so we could use our Vonage adapter. They all did!
We also took our own phone to set up with the Vonage adapter, only to find out once we arrived that because the phone calls were routed through the hotels’ systems, we were unable to use our Vonage adapter. Thank goodness we had also arranged for purchasing new SIM cards for our cell phones that allowed us to use our cell phones freely for our business endeavors!
Thinking ahead and anticipating what we might need enabled us to work AND have a great vacation all at the same time!
Love,
Kim