How to manage your business when you’re on holiday

Business owners often find taking holidays and other periods of well-deserved time off difficult, as their businesses are highly reliant on their presence.

But remember that rest and relaxation are important for your physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

If you’re keen to take a holiday but unsure how to manage your business during that time, keep reading to find out some top tips to ensure you have a good time without jeopardising your company.

Tell your key stakeholders beforehand

First and foremost, give your key stakeholders plenty of notice before going on holiday. This could be your customers, suppliers, or employees if you have them.

The easiest way to communicate with your existing customers or suppliers is by letting them know via email or, if you have a physical business location, in person.

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If you have staff, notify them in person or issue an internal memo.

Generally, the more notice, the better. That way, everyone has ample time to prepare for your absence in whatever way they need to.

Plan ahead

If you work with clients and have looming deadlines, or sell products and need to fulfil certain delivery schedules, make sure you plan ahead. Try to get as many tasks ticked off your to-do list as possible before your holiday.

Naturally, if orders or work requests come in whilst you’re away or just before you leave, they’ll have to wait until you’re back—unless you have someone who can manage those incoming queries for you. That’s why issuing plenty of notice is important; it helps avoid disappointment and manages people’s expectations.

If you can’t finish everything before you leave, remember to communicate with your staff, clients, and customers, and let them know when they can expect to receive their work or orders.

Make use of technology

Technology can help provide a wide range of solutions, to help ensure everything’s in order and your business doesn’t suffer during your absence.

Think to yourself: are there any systems that you can automate whilst you’re away? For instance, you could schedule social media posts ahead of time, or use a chatbot to instantly respond to your online customer queries.

Use technology to your advantage and automate your business processes where possible—it’ll be like you never left, and it’ll make coming back much easier. Don’t forget, technology can help your business not just while you are away but also more generally.

Check your legal obligations

As a company director, you should be well aware of your ongoing legal obligations. Unfortunately, these don’t pause when you’re on holiday. Make sure that your filings, returns, and payments are sorted in advance, or that someone you trust will complete them on your behalf.

Do you have a tax payment to make? Get this done before you go, or ensure that your accountant or finance director takes care of it while you’re away.

Is your confirmation statement due? Consider sending one in early, or get someone to do it on your behalf, if you are unable to.

Remember, if you are a director of a company, you bear the legal responsibility for any overdue filings or payments, so make sure you stay ahead of your requirements.

Use outsourced professionals

If you don’t have a team to delegate business tasks to while you’re on holiday, you could outsource.

For example, 1st Formations can help ensure that your company filings at Companies House and your ongoing obligations are fulfilled in your absence.

You might also use other outsourced services, such as those to keep your website running, manage your social media accounts, manage your partner programs, or fulfil some of your clients’ orders.

Be sure to research what is available, and make sure you trust whoever you outsource to.

Use a telephone answering service

Going on holiday doesn’t have to mean missing out on important sales leads or customer queries, even if you’re jetting off with no one to cover you. With the help of a telephone answering service, you can capture every business opportunity whilst you are away, so you can deal with them when you are back.

Depending on your provider, you should be able to choose the level of cover you need for your holiday period. With Bizik, for instance, you can opt for services like call transfers, message taking and forwarding, after-hours voicemail, and diary management.

You could even explore live chat options, to ensure that your customers have a way to communicate with your business even if you’re not there. And the great thing is that you only pay for what you use, making it a cost-efficient solution.

Do a thorough team handover

If you have a team to manage your business while you’re on holiday, make sure you carry out a thorough handover before you go. It’s a good idea to arrange a meeting with the relevant staff members and start by setting a clear structure as to who is in charge in your absence.

Then, make sure they have everything they need, such as details of upcoming deadlines, access to files, and relevant login details for systems, accounts, or websites. Then, prepare and circulate an email with all of this information, so that your team can refer to it if they forget anything later.

You should ensure that you assign a trusted employee the task of opening company mail and keeping the contents of such mail confidential. You should also train them on how to file the mail in your absence, and what mail would require being escalated to you whilst you are on holiday.

In addition, you should prepare Out of Office messages for your email address, listing that you are on annual leave, when you are returning, and who to contact if their communication is urgent. You should then train the relevant staff member(s) on how to respond to urgent communications.

Make an emergency plan

Everything should be fine while you’re on holiday. However, you should always be prepared in case things go wrong, so make an emergency plan.

Have a chat with your team and determine what sort of emergencies they can deal with without you. Is there any particular situation that needs to be raised with you? If so, how will they be able to contact you? Always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.

Assign yourself strict work time if necessary

Running a small business is more than a full-time job. You’re likely to work most of the week, and even though it defeats the purpose, you might feel like you need to work during your holiday.

This is a common issue. In fact, a Skillshub survey found that over 80% of UK entrepreneurs work during annual leave. Hopefully, you’re able to take a well-deserved and relaxing break, but if you feel like you need to work (sometimes, this is unavoidable), try to set yourself a clear and strict schedule.

You could dedicate an hour first thing in the morning to reply to urgent emails or return important calls, or log on to your laptop 30 minutes before bedtime to catch up on business matters.

Whatever works for you, try to stick to your schedule as much as possible. Remember that rest is essential for your well-being, so don’t let it disrupt your holiday too much.

Plan your holidays tactically

Last but not least, try to plan your holidays tactically around key dates for your business. For example, if you have a particularly busy period (like Christmas), or you attend an important trade show every year, it’s best to avoid going on holiday during those times.

You can’t always avoid this. However, where possible, book your holidays when things are a little quieter, to reduce any stress or problems arranging cover. That way, you’ll give yourself the best chance of enjoying a relaxing holiday without interruptions.

Conclusion

Every business is different, and only you know exactly what your business needs when you step away. But don’t let potential challenges make you feel like you can never go on holiday.

Follow our guidance in this article to ensure you prepare your business for your time off. If you plan ahead and arrange appropriate cover, you can enjoy your holiday with the peace of mind that your company is in good hands, and come back raring to go.

Thanks for reading. Please leave a comment and take a look at our other 1st Formations blog articles for more posts like this.