Business Holiday

An important part of owning a company is being able to switch off and enjoy a business holiday. Leave your business in safe hands with Allsquare Accountants Edinburgh

Being your own boss can bring with it a variety of benefits. For example, not only do you not have anyone to answer to, but you also get to choose when you work and with whom.

Unfortunately, as with anything, there are also a few drawbacks. One of the most documented is the fact that with the full weight of the organisation falling on your shoulders alone, it can prove almost impossible to wind down and switch off. Whether this is in the evenings after work, at weekends or on a holiday away with the family, being self-employed really does make it difficult to relax and enjoy your time.

It is important to take time out, however, and doing so will enable you to function better overall. With this in mind, what can you do to make your time off more relaxing?

Beforehand

Owning a business brings with it a very long list of tasks and responsibilities. It will invariably be the case that even as you tick tasks off the list, more are being added all the time. It is not particularly realistic therefore to expect to be able to head off for a week knowing that everything has been done and that nothing else will come in while you are away. Instead you will need to carefully prioritise tasks. These will be:

– Those that need doing immediately
– Those that are due to be completed while you are away
– Those that can wait until you return.

Learn to do this efficiently and you will feel so much more relaxed knowing that no deadlines are being missed. The same also goes for any pro-active marketing strategies or financial commitments. Spend time before you go away ensuring that things have been carefully set up to run smoothly while you are gone.

Any non-urgent tasks can wait, but just as someone might clean their house before they go away, make sure you don’t leave lots of unfinished tasks waiting for your return. You will have enough catching up to do following your time off, and you certainly don’t want to be worrying about half-finished jobs while you are away.

Delegate

If you are the boss of a company that has employees, it makes sense to delegate some tasks. It can be very hard to trust someone else with making the right decisions for your company, and as such it is really important to employ staff you know are loyal and capable. With the right people running it, your company should operate as usual while you are not there.

Keep Clients Informed

Before you go away, make sure your clients are aware that you will be out of contact. Reinforce this message by ensuring you leave an out-of-office message on your telephone answering machines and set up automatic out-of-office email replies. If one of your employees is taking over your responsibilities for the week, ensure clients have his or her contact details.