The theme we’ve been talking about for May is around wellbeing and entrepreneurial mindset ideas. So I wanted to share with you a little bit about my experience having my very first entrepreneur vacation. It’s like oiling the engine, taking care of the engine that is you, that runs your business. And part of that is taking a break and taking a vacation. You cannot go like the Energizer bunny forever, and ever without a break.
Of course, every entrepreneur is often asking themselves, “Well, how can I take a break from my business? Because without me, the business doesn’t work.”
That’s what we’re talking about – it’s why I got to keep the battery charged up. I got to keep going, going, going. And the goal is not to just keep going into forever! Instead, let’s talk about how you can create systems and practices that enable you to step away.
One of the beautiful things about owning your own business is that you have this amazing thing called time freedom.
And it’s funny because everyone says they want to be an entrepreneur for time freedom, and then every entrepreneur I know will tell me they have no time. What’s going on with that equation?
How to step away from your business and take a break?
Let’s talk about entrepreneurial mindset ideas for taking a vacation. How you get to step away from your business as an independent business owner, as a solopreneur. What are the things that you need to put in place so that gets to happen? So that you truly get to take the break that you so deserve for having created this beautiful life for yourself?
The first thing that I will say about taking a vacation is that it’s something that you should plan for. Just as you plan to get married or you plan a kid’s birthday party, you need to plan your vacation.
Now, that doesn’t mean it has to be elaborate. It doesn’t mean that you need to buy plane tickets and a hotel and all of those things. Sometimes a vacation can be a stay-cation, but you still have to plan for it because your business needs to be just as prepared for it as you are.
3 Things you take care of as a business owner:
- There’s you. Taking care of your own well-being, which has been our theme.
- There’s also your client, so meeting your client needs and addressing their concerns.
- And then there’s the business and what the business needs.
There’s three different entities in this relationship, right? And so we want to make sure that everyone’s needs are met when we take a vacation.
So let’s talk about entrepreneurial mindset ideas for planning your vacation.
Plan your Vacation
#1. What do YOU need?
Ask yourself, what do you need?
Do you need time away from your family?
Time away with your family?
Do you need time to strategize and plan?
Or do you need time to just be?
Decide what type of vacation you want.
I’m going to encourage a vacation that does not include work, or strategizing, or working on your business plan. One that doesn’t include your marketing strategy, or the launch of your new product. Or your new service, or writing your new course, or curriculum, none of that.
We want a break that does not include work. And that can be with your family, it could be without your family, it can be in your apartment, it could be in another country, but decide what it is that you need to recharge.
Now, once you decide that thing and you’re clear on what it is that you need, then you want to address what do your clients need if you’re going to step away.
#2. What do your CLIENTS need?
This means that for you, you’re going to put up an out-of-office. But before you put up that out-of-office, you’re probably going to want to reach out to your clients and let them know that you’re going to be away. Address their concerns proactively to make sure that they’re taken care of in your absence. This could mean tying up loose ends, helping them finish a project, delivering a service early or pushing a deadline out further.
Make them aware that you are going to be unavailable for that vacation period, and then adjust your schedule around them accordingly before and after that vacation period, so that their needs are met.
When you do this right and you’re proactive in reaching out to them, I would say at least two weeks to a month or more in advance of an absence, then you can ensure that they’ll be right there, happy to welcome you back when you return from your time away. So find out what they need and do it proactively.
#3. What does the BUSINESS need?
And then we have the third person in the relationship, the business. What does the business need (similar to your client) so that it’s going to be okay in your absence? Are there invoices that need to get sent out, receipts that need to get reconciled, proposals that need to be drawn, followups that need to be sent? Whatever that is, all of those administrative tasks, you’re either going to want to tackle them before you leave or delegate them, assign them to your virtual assistant or another contractor or whoever that is who can do more of those admin things in your absence, because that is what the business is going to need.
Now, all of the visionary work that you own, that’s going to be on pause for a second. Well, somewhat. I’ll explain that in a moment while you’re on vacation, but the admin tasks that can still happen, the customer service tasks, that can still happen even while you step away.
But what about the visionary work!?
Now when it comes to vision, and you being that visionary and playing that role in your business, we talked about this a little bit in the post about the three roles that you play as an entrepreneur. But the visioning, you already know that happens all the time, it’s like a button that you can’t really turn off. Since we’re talking about entrepreneurial mindset ideas for a vacation, I say you’re going to go on break, you’re going to go on a vacation and you’re not going to do any strategic planning.
I guarantee they’re going to be ideas that pop into your head while you’re in this beautiful relaxed state, because a relaxed mind actually can be a lot more productive.
You’re not stressed, you don’t have any of your monkey mind going on that we talked about around meditation and instead, in this relaxed state you can notice new things. You can come to a new awareness about your product, your services, your clients, your business and yourself and the role that you play in all of this.
And so, don’t worry about the visionary stuff, you’re never truly able to turn it off. But I am going to encourage you, don’t take your laptop, don’t take your phone, unplug from social media and truly be present in your break. It’s one of the perks of entrepreneurship is the ability to do this, so do it. Don’t be afraid.
Let’s make sure that you set an intention for yourself before your vacation.
Put systems in place to support your clients during your vacation.
And ensure that the business is going to operate on the systems and the foundational work that you’ve set while you’re going to be away.
And then set that out-of-office with a victorious smile on your face!
Since we’re talking about entrepreneurial mindset ideas for your vacation, please tell me when are you planning your vacation, and how? And if you haven’t had a break yet, I suggest you start putting that on the calendar.
Join us for our first ever IRL Brunch in NYC!
Those of you who are in She Runs It, I encourage you to come join us in June for our first ever IRL, in real life brunch event which could easily turn into a New York vacation, stay-cation, depending on where you are. But please plan what you need in order to recharge and be present for your life and your business and then act accordingly.
