Taking a vacation as a small-business owner is possible and highly recommended. However, according to TimeResults surveys, only about 57%of business owners take time out and about 25% only take a few days off at a time vs a week or two.
Part of the issue is relinquishing control of running the business. However, by vacationing you get to rest, step back, take time to think, recreate and many other benefits that should be considered when you ask yourself – Vacation? Me? If you are a hard-charging, passionate small-business owner you need to think positively about taking time out to recreate.
The most beneficial aspect of vacation is “productive rest.” You get to rest from the day-to-day crush and step back from the continuous grind of the business. The day-to-day routine of running a business takes its toll on you physically, mentally, emotionally and even socially. When you take a vacation, that means unplugging and staying away from the grind that tires you out. When we took time away from our business, my partner and I each took a notebook. When an idea or thought came to us we noted it so when we got home we could share our “downtime” thoughts, ideas and epiphanies.
Stress is the number one cause of burnout in small-business ownership. They worry at work and worry at home. They worry 24/7. Having owned a small business with my wife/partner for almost 30 years, you never stop worrying. You worry about money - having enough income revenue to pay your creditors, your staff and yourself. You are concerned about finding time to do everything, keeping customers happy and coming back and finding and retaining quality employees. Sometimes just getting away from the day-to-day stresses is enough to recharge the battery to keep going.
Vacation improves your ability to prioritize and delegate. As a solopreneur, prioritizing your work is a critical element of success. What is URGENT vs what is just IMPORTANT? Many times, do we work on what we like to do vs. what needs to be done? Finding out what we like to do and doing it well and what you don’t like to do and don’t do really well can take place in your down times when you have time to sort out your daily activities.
Where should you be investing your time and energy and where can you harness the skills of others?
Recreating by taking a vacation makes you more productive. The average American works 34 hours a week. That alone would be a vacation for most small-business owners. 50-60 hours is more common. Putting this many hours into operating your enterprise might make you feel you are being productive. Taking a break puts everything in more perspective, especially how to best use your time and resources.
Vacationing tests your systems. We know from Gerbers’ e-Myth Revisited that the second stage in becoming an entrepreneur is adding systems to your business base. Once you have created the systems for streamlining your enterprise, being away from the helm tests whether they are working or not. Then you might consider how to grow the business using the core business principles and the systems that have been proven while away to take the next step.
Recreating is about being more innovative. When you can step back from cash management, inventory control, employee on-boarding and myriad other tasks that are important to manage a small business, you can be creative and innovative in solving your own internal issues. When you are outside your home office, retail store or landscaping nursery you have a different view of the issues facing you and your business and therefore can generate new ideas to address the “pains” of the business.
A vacation improves the work/life balance perspective. I am not sure there is a real balance, but at least the break allows it not to be 100/0 and might become 80/20. Many small-business owners' perspective of themselves is defined by their business. This is a mistake since we all know fundamentally work is a means to live a fulfilled life. Once in a while it is important to you, your family, friends, significant other, your employees to take a break and regenerate your perspective of WHY?
Recreation also entails refocusing. This means not only considering what to do, but also what not to do. Time away from work provides time to clarify your thinking about the tough decisions you may be facing. It might be dealing with a disruptive employee or uncooperative client or adding a product line. When you don’t have all the other issues of day-to-day operations competing for think time, you are able to gain focus on issues that get less time in the daily work environment.
The strategic coaching company, TeamRXC reports, “It’s easy to convince yourself that you don’t need to worry about taking a vacation when you own a business … I just don’t have the time to go on vacation right now!” However, you are doing a big disservice to your business, your employees and yourself by not taking time to re-create.
Contributed by Marc L.Goldberg, Certified Mentor, SCORE Cape Cod & the Islands. www.score.org/capecod, capecodscore@scorevolunteer.org, 508-775-4884. Free and confidential mentoring. Sources: Teamrxc.com – Business-Owners: Why its important to talk a vacation. Productiveandfree.com, 7 benefits of taking a vacation as a business owner. Time Out! How taking a vacation will make you a better entrepreneur, Gregg Schwartz, www.allbusiness.com, Apex Collective. July 4, 2023.
