It's that time of year when many workers are counting down the days before they jet off for a much-needed holiday. Setting an out-of-office email in the knowledge that you can switch off and unwind for the next couple of weeks is a feeling many savour. It's a luxury, however, that most home business owners don't have. If you run your own company, and don't employ any staff, holidays can be a dilemma. Taking a break offers a chance to relax and to enjoy some valuable family time. But can you leave your business for a stretch without it being affected?
One option is to use a virtual assistant (VA) while you're away. VAs tend to be self-employed and work from home. Francesca Geens, who runs Digital Dragonfly which offers IT services, says: "All of my clients are one-man bands, as I am myself. The secret is to build a virtual team to help you permanently or to take the pressure off temporarily. I regularly work with a virtual assistant PA who helps with diary appointments, research and so on. I pay her a set number of hours a month and she sends me a time sheet."
Many home business owners worry that a holiday will interrupt their sales pipeline and affect their cashflow. However a virtual assistant can help keep business ticking over, says Geens. "They can help with all sorts, answering your phone when you're away, managing your inbox, dealing with sales enquiries and booking in appointments for your return."
Ask around to see if another business owner can recommend a virtual assistant, advises Clive Lewis, head of enterprise at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). And if it puts your mind at rest "maybe give them a try over a long weekend". It's important to leave clear instructions. "Your business could be your livelihood and if you've got a few big customers you don't want them getting annoyed if someone gives them the wrong information," says Lewis.
Another option for home business owners is to ask a friend or a relative to keep an eye on things. Jessica Slater, who runs DanceLinks, an online dance directory, will occasionally ask a friend to help out. "I do go away on holiday, but it's quite hard," she says. When someone sends an enquiry to the email address on her website it sends an automated reply saying the query will be dealt with in seven days, which gives her some leeway. "If I'm worrying, I have friends who will have a quick skim through the queries. They're dancer friends who have helped with setting this up. There's no real need to, it's just a safety net." Ultimately Slater would like to put in place a more formal arrangement: "There are telephone teams who you pay for every enquiry. The business is not big enough at the moment to do that, but it is something I'd like to do."
Slater, who has recently returned from a holiday in Dubai, made sure her social media activity continued while she was away. "I don't like suggesting I'm not here because I'm an online business," she says. "I used Hootsuite to schedule tweets for while I was away. I also scheduled Facebook updates and blogs."
Rather than asking friends or relatives, some home business owners will team up with other home business owners to "babysit" each other's business. "I've come across VAs who will cover for each other," says Geens. "If one wants to go on holiday, another will look after that person's clients during that time."
Despite these options, there is a reluctance by some small business owners to take time off. A survey by Bibby Financial Services found that a third of microbusiness owners take just ten days or fewer a year. If your business is your livelihood, it's easy to understand why.
Many compromise by doing some work while they're on holiday. With the advent of cloud computing services, it's easier to keep tabs on work from abroad. Naomi Timperley, director of Social Media Boom, says it is part and parcel of running your own business. "If you're the only one looking after it, it is part of the territory. If you have ten employees it's different. I haven't had a holiday in the last seven years where I haven't had to do some work. It's minimal, it's not anything major, but I still have to do it while I'm away. With social media management, I can't not do that, I'm paid to do it for my clients."
However she puts a limit on the amount of time she spends working. "I condense it into an hour and do an hour a day. Otherwise I get dirty looks from my husband!"
To minimise the amount of work you need to do when you're away, start preparing early, says Lewis. Inform clients, suppliers and potential customers of your plans. "Communicate the fact that you're going to be away well in advance and then remind people that you're going away," advises Lewis. Think through any issues that might come up with suppliers while you're away. "If you've placed a big order for some equipment and it hasn't arrived, give an address it can be delivered to if it arrives while you're away." And remember to leave details of how people can contact you. "If you've done a tender for some work and you're expecting a response from potential customers it's really important."
Advertisement feature
This content has been paid for and produced to a brief agreed with Direct Line for Business, whose brand it displays
Sign up to become a member of the Guardian Small Business Network here for more advice, insight and best practice direct to your inbox.
