How To Take Much-Needed Time Off When You Run A Business: 23 Owners Sound Off

Small business owners have to do everything themselves. Rarely do they have a team behind them to handle their workload, so taking a break or a holiday is almost impossible. However, that doesn’t mean it's not necessary to take some time off from your busy schedule. 

According to a study by Project: Time Off, 95% of people believe that paid time off is very important; the key is to be strategic. Not only do you need to do what you can to make the most of your vacation time, but you need to set priorities for your time off so you can come back recharged and focused. And this is especially important during the holiday season.

To help you, 4,000 business owners offered their advice of how they handle taking time off when running a small business. Here are some of their most sage words of wisdom.

Make Time Off A Priority

First and foremost, you have to make time off a priority. Out of the thousands of responses we received, the one overwhelming message was how important it is to take time off regularly. In fact, it’s essential to your health and success.

“Taking care of yourself should be one of the highest things on your to-do list,” explains Ovy Alvarez of Cal Water Systems. “Everyone needs time off, so your clients will understand when you decide to take a vacation.” 

Just treat your time off like you handle any other job. Make plans, put in the schedule request, and then give yourself permission to take time off and enjoy it, says Abigail Butler of Chirps and Cricket Design Studio. “Not only do you deserve the time off, but it is necessary. I was told by a mentor of mine that if I look at it from an employer/boss standpoint, you come to recognize that it's important to take care of your employees. And in this case, as a business owner, that means you, too!  If you're not taking care of your employees, or the people or person that runs your business, the business will suffer.”

And if you think, “No, it’s impossible. I don’t have time to take off. I’m way too busy!” That’s not true at all. It’s a myth. You do have time to take off and your clients will understand, especially around the holidays, according to Zach Tallon at Dallas Anti-Aging & Wellness. The key is to: “Schedule it, inform clients by email, and recharge. You’ll be so glad you did. The joy of running a small business is that you are in charge of your vacation, and when you take it.” 

Remember, “One thing you can not do is change time. It waits for no one,” says James Quigley of University Van Lines. “Take that time off and refresh your batteries. When you get back, the business will be there…Life is short.”

Plan Ahead to Reduce Stress

However, just because time off is important, doesn’t mean you can just jump right into a month off with no warning. As a business owner you have to plan ahead! Without a plan, you cannot take time off; it’s just not possible when you’re busy. 

As David Kaster at Fidelis LLC said, “It all comes down to planning. Off time…renews your passion and gives you the clarity you need to make the right decisions. Plan this time first, and make it an absolute necessity. Have a goal for it, too. Then take the time.” 

How do you plan ahead? It’s not as difficult as you think. According to said Marti Agudo from Country Squire, Inc. Realtors the key is to “Be very upfront about it.” And that means getting all your ducks in a row when it comes to your schedule before you talk to your clients/customers. There are a few steps to make this happen.

Step 1: Schedule Your Time Off Wisely

The first step is to decide when you’re going to take some time off from your busy life. Choosing the right time is critical. Jeffrey LaFavre from IAG Commercial recommends scheduling time around the holidays when many other people also take time off or during times when business is historically slow. “Examples would be the end of the year holidays, the fourth of July week, Memorial and Labor Day weekends or days when government-related businesses are off and banks are closed.”

And if you’re wondering how much time should a small business owner take, that’s up to you. There’s no right or wrong amount of time to take off. If you’re concerned, just be sure to start small with day or two off, and then build up to a week or more from there.

Step 2: Check Your Calendar

Next, you need to check your calendar to see if the time you’ve chosen is open or if you need to move things around. This is especially important for standing appointments, which are easy to forget and neglect. Make sure you move those around, add them to another schedule, or cancel for the time you’re gone. 

Ideally, Ellen Wood from Wood Educational Services recommends scheduling your vacation time early enough that you don’t have any other commitments scheduled yet. However, “If that is not possible, I look at my calendar at the days I want to take off to see what is already booked there. Then, I weight the ease with which I can reschedule those commitments without unduly upsetting anyone. Usually, my clients are very flexible, because I am as flexible as possible with them when they need to reschedule.”

Step 3: Hire Or Ask For Help To Take A Break

“For my business-owner clients, I encourage them to find/hire someone whom they would someday like to turn over the business,” says Scott Buser from L Scott Buser – Ameriprise Financial Services. “The investment you make to train, encourage, empower this person is worth your time. The sooner they are capable of running your business, the sooner you can relax when you go on vacation.” 

Scott also recommends doing a test run in anticipation of going on vacation. Take off a few days before your planned time away to allow your key person to test out their ability to run your business while you’re out. By doing this, you can prepare for any issues that may come up, while you’re only a phone call or a car ride away. 

Step 4: Notify Everyone About Your Absence

“I notify all of my existing clients. That’s pretty much it,” said Jennifer Hancock of Humanist Learning Systems. “Then, I take my time off — without guilt. You do have to practice this — to realize — it’s okay. But most customers are totally fine with you taking time off.” 

We’ll talk more about exactly how you should notify your existing clients a little later in the article.

Step 5: Provide Contact Information While You’re Away

Last, but certainly not least, you obviously need to make sure that your customers have a way to contact you even while you’re away. Hopefully, they won’t need you for more than emergencies, but remember that the buck stops with you as the business owner. You can’t be 100% out of touch during your entire vacation, so provide a way for your customers to contact you while you’re out.

Charlie Johnson of Balloons by Absolute Value has an easy way to keep in touch. “What I do is forward all my calls from the landline to my cell and answer them as they come in. Emails that I receive during playtime are returned the next workday.”

Delegate the Day-to-Day to Teams and Partners 

As we explained already in Step 3 above, taking time off is a lot easier when you have help, so make sure you have help. If you already have employees, it’s easy. Learn to delegate, explains Joe Cerda from ADRECONE.

However, if you don’t have employees, that’s not a reason to skip time off. Instead, Joe says that “there has got to be someone you can trust to take care of them in your absence. Loyal customers will remain loyal. If they don't, perhaps you need to revisit those customers.”

For Susan Repka from SMR Business Services, that loyal person that helps her get away is another business owner that she partners with and can trust with her clients. 

“She and I cover for each other. I can forward information to her and she can handle any emergency and I do the same for her clients. Since we often collaborate, clients are accustomed to hearing from either of us. This arrangement works for the two of us, but we have known and worked together for many years. We have built up a lot of trust in each other.”

If you don’t have that partnership yet and you don’t have time to build one, then you need to hire someone reliable to at least handle calls and information requests in your absence, says Paula McConnell from OMNI Homes International. However, if this is too expensive, “competent friends and family members are often most willing to help.”

Create A Communication Plan For Your Vacation

Once you have a plan for who can help you during your absence, it’s essential to create a communication plan for while you’re away. This plan will help you explain to your clients how they can get in touch with you in case of an emergency and how often you’ll be in touch.

“It is good to check in partway through a vacation to see if there is anything unexpected occurring or if a work emergency has occurred,” explains Cathy Swan from Boylan Studio. “If you are your business and have not appointed a substitute during your absence, you are still responsible for what happens while you are away from the office. Entrepreneurs are always on call.”

There are many aspects to this communication plan, and it all depends on how you typically communicate with your customers. For Brenda Burke of New York Life Insurance Company, it’s as simple as recording a voice message and automatic email reply that says, “I'm off enjoying critical family time and I'll be back on ___. If it's urgent, please call 303...Otherwise, if it can wait until I get back, please do call then.” Most people will realize that if it's not urgent, it can wait.

However, please remember that while it’s important to offer a way for your customers to get in touch with you while you’re out, if you make yourself too available, it will completely negate the reason for your vacation in the first place. You have to actually take time off and not try to work full time while on the beach.

To do this, Patrick Baxter from Civil Solutions recommends only checking your phone or email in the morning and evening and then letting it go. “If you are going to take time off, then TAKE TIME OFF. It's too easy to work your way through time off, which provides little time for actual relaxation and rest.”

Notify Your Customers/Clients Quickly

Once you know how you’re going to cover your absence full time and how you want your customers to get in touch with you while you’re gone, it’s time to start notifying them that you’re going on vacation. When running a small business, a good rule of thumb is the earlier, the better.

“I tell clients two months before I take a vacation, so they have time to have work done before I leave,” says Janet McKinley from Janet McKinley Designs. “I always tell them I'm leaving a week before I actually do, so I have that week to myself. This usually brings on extra work for me in the two months prior, but prevents something they need urgently messing up my plans.”

And John Thompson from CFO Business Advisors LLC agrees. “I find the best way to take time off from clients is to give them plenty of advanced notice. I generally try to give at least one month or more to make sure plans can be altered on their end, especially if we are in the middle of a big project.”

Then, remind your customers as often as possible that you’ll be out of the office on your specific dates and that they can contact you per your communication plan. This way, there are no surprises.

“I try to notify people on my emails and voicemail that I’m out of touch for a period of time,” explains Ilene Harsip at CPCneutek. “I even leave a footnote at the end of my emails in advance of the time to be out, so they can reach me prior to my departure. I leave other names and contact info. to reach in my absence. I try to check my messages daily and respond to only the most urgent ones.”

Don’t Forget A Spiritual Recharge When Running A Small Business

Sometimes when running a small business, time off doesn’t mean going anywhere, in particular. But it does mean caring for yourself. 

Instead, it’s a mentality that you need to adopt. This is definitely true for Nidra Patterson from The International Society for Krishna Consciousness. “I always arrange for a spiritual pilgrimage when needed. I have to recharge the soul, because that’s the foundation to all other activities.”

Start with baby steps when learning how to recharge and leave work behind. Ravi Shankar from Redwood-Banyan Business Services recommends starting with time off by just shutting off the phone, Internet, and TV and doing something totally different. Then, you can move up to bigger vacations. 

And no matter if you take a day, a weekend, or a month, just make sure you enjoy it. Ravi recommends that "during that time of your choosing, please always: breathe deeply and often, drink lots of water, nourish yourself well (slowly and with gratitude), exercise enough to sweat, remove toxins, and sleep 8-10 hours (nap if needed).” 

That’s some of the best small business advice we can give!

You and Your Business Deserve Time Off -- Your Success Depends On It!

At the end of the day, recognize that you and your business deserve time off. 

It might feel impossible in the moment, but it’s not. Preparation is key to your peace of mind, says Lorraine Conforti a DoTerra Wellness Advocate and Freelancer. “Regardless, like a plant, you must be nurtured in order to flourish and grow, and with your mind and body clear, your business will benefit.”

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Did we forget anything?

How do you "let go" and enjoy yourself when taking time off? 

Sound off in the comments below!