Bitsy

Your business does need a lot of love and care to thrive but with summer holidays upon us will you be able to take a break from business , switch off, and come up with your best idea yet? Emily Coltman ACA, Chief Accountant at online accounting provider FreeAgent, gives her tips on taking a break this summer.

The best ideas

How often have you had a really good idea to sell to a customer, or to improve your business admin, while you’re out walking your dog on a summer evening, having a shower, or playing football with your son in the park?

Even if a good idea doesn’t strike while you’re on holiday, it’s amazing how refreshed and energized you feel when you come back to your business after a break. And by that I mean a real break. No computer, no iPhone, no BlackBerry, nothing.

There are ways to switch off without making your clients feel abandoned. OK, they won’t spontaneously combust if you don’t answer them for a week, but they might start to feel annoyed if they can’t get hold of you and don’t know why, and in the worst case, they may go to a different supplier.

So how could you switch off?

Tip 1: Plan your workload

Do as much work as you can before you go, so that you don’t have to think about unfinished projects while you’re away. Often there are natural breaks or pauses in pieces of work – see if you can schedule the downtime to coincide with your holiday/break.

Tip 2: E-mail auto-responder

Set up an auto-responder in your e-mail package. These are usually very easy to set up and they’ll let your customers – and potential customers – know that you’re unavailable for a certain length of time.

Do be careful how you word these, especially if your home address is either written on the e-mails or otherwise available on the public domain (for example, if it’s your company registered office address then it’ll be on the Companies House website). If you put in your auto-response that you’re “away from the office” or “on holiday”, then you’re as good as saying your house is empty.

Say you’re “unavailable” instead.

Tip 3: Tell your clients in advance

For existing customers, warn them at least a fortnight in advance that you’re going to be away – and when.

That way they can’t be aggrieved if they receive an e-mail auto-responder saying you’re unavailable for that length of time, and they’ll know that if they need you for an urgent project, they’ll need to ask before you go.

Also if you know when some of your main clients will be away during the year, consider taking your holidays at the same time as them – as your work load will naturally be lighter then and they won’t be looking for you.

Tip 4: Use professional services

If you have a business phone line, consider re-routing calls to a virtual assistant, or a call answering service.

You could also ask a local virtual assistant to come in and check your business mail for you, and respond to any urgent communications to say you’re unavailable.

Tip 5: Clear your paperwork

Before you go, make sure you’ve completed as much paperwork as you can.

For example, pay any bills that will fall due while you’re away, and issue any invoices to your customers. If you’re using a software package like FreeAgent you can prepare your invoices in advance and schedule them to be sent on any date you like, and also get it to issue recurring invoice and chase non-payers whilst you’re away.

Give yourself a real break from your business this summer!

Emily Coltman ACA, is Chief Accountant at FreeAgent who provide an online accounting system specifically designed to meet the needs of freelancers and small businesses. You can try it for free at www.freeagentcentral.com.

Photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography