How to take time off from your business this summer
How to take time off from your business this summer
Ideas on planning + communicating a business break
Are you taking time off from your business this summer? Or are you still wondering whether you will?
In today's post I'm sharing some ideas on deciding whether you'll take time off or not, strategies for planning time off, and preparing for your return.
Deciding whether you'll take time off
For many of us, the pace radically changes in summer. Our days might be slower, filled with fewer obligations. Or we might not have to do the school run every day, but will now have to tend to our children at home all day.
I think many of us tend to be overoptimistic. We think, "Sure, our kids will be home all day, but surely I'll have an hour or two every day for my business". Depending on your children: you might, or you might not. But practicalities aside: do you want to? Do you want to be working in your business when your children are at home? When your partner or friends have time off from their job? Or when the sunny weather is luring you outside, to spend time in the garden with the stack of books you've been meaning to read?
Deciding whether you'll take time off, then, starts with practicalities, yes, but also with checking in with yourself whether you want, need, to take some time off.
Preparing for time off in your business
If you want to take off, take a moment now to sit down with your calendar. When are you taking time off? How long? Last year I discovered that early in the summer I often get a surge of energy, so this year I'm taking off a longer stretch of time in my business later in the summer.
Once you've decided on dates, you can start working backwards. What needs to be done before you can close up shop for a week or a few weeks?
Think about:
closing your online shop for the duration
notifying clients and customers ahead of time that you'll be away
putting up a notification on your website for last shipping dates
communicating when you'll be back
sending a message out to your newsletter about your break
how much time you'll need to pack the last orders
giving yourself a buffer for any unexpected circumstances before you sign off
setting up an out-of-office reply
Over the past year I've heard several product business owners closing their shop completely while they're away. I think this is a great idea--although perhaps scary. But if people genuinely want to buy from you, they will come back. And: people generally don't mind having to wait, as long as they know when you'll be back. If you're worried that people will forget about you in the meantime, invite them to sign up to your newsletter and be notified when you're back.
If you want to dive deeper into communicating availability and managing client and customer expectations, my business boundaries guide will help you do just that (and it's filled with sample email, website templates and more)
Preparing for your return
I like to ease back into my business slowly after a break. This is also why I think closing your online shop completely is such a good idea. It allows you the time to get back to your desk, deal with emails and do any other things you need, rather than running off to the post office immediately.
Some things to think about while preparing your return:
plan for the first day back to work to be a slow day to catch up on emails and get back in the mood
plan to email your newsletter list once your shop is back open
schedule in some time to write out any new ideas you might have had while you were on your business break (I tend to get many new ideas while I'm away)
and plan some time to write down things you'd like to do differently over the coming months.
a podcast | I've really enjoyed listening to season 8 of Elise Gets Crafty--I'm not much of a crafter, but I love her take on projects, hobbies, creativity and life
interview | I relaunched my series in which I interview small business owners on running a slow, gentle and profitable business. Read the interview with Rachel Baker here, it's a really good one!
writing | I recently took this writing class on Skillshare with Emily Gould + it really got me back into writing (which I hadn't expected) at all
community | I've raved about the Aligned Community before, and now you can join it too! The Aligned Community is a great community of small business owners who want to live and work slowly and cyclically. We have monthly workshops, weekly co-working, check-ins and a whole bunch of great people willing to answer all your questions.
Do you take time off in your business over the summer, or at other times of the year? How does that feel for you? And how you communicate about it with your customers and clients? I’d love to know—do leave a comment to contribute to the conversation.
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Have a lovely Summer, and I’ll be back in your inbox soon!