Vacation Planning For A Small Biz Owner
This week something unusual is happening – I am going on vacation. Not a vacation where I do some work, as I’ve done in the past, but a real unplug-and-take-time-for-me vacation! Needless to say I’m quite excited, and ready to get away for a few days. However, as a small business owner with no employees, I have several things I have to work out before I leave. Otherwise, I will find myself making a few phone calls and checking email off and on just to make sure I haven’t missed anything. And that defeats the point of a break.
So here’s a list of what I’ve done to prepare. Anything I have missed? I’ll do a follow-up post when I’m back, but I’d love to have other suggestions before I go.
- I’ve taken care of things around my home – put a hold on my mail, found someone to feed my cat, eating out of my refrigerator and pantry to use up what I have. While this doesn’t specifically apply to preparing my business, it is good to know that these things are taken care of.
- I’ve also made sure all bills due, both personal and business, are paid before I leave. All client invoices will be sent out. Money received will either be in my Paypal account or held with my mail. Fortunately, my business bank account is in good shape, so I’m not desperate to get the money before I return.
- I notified my clients a couple of weeks ago of when I would be unavailable, and suggested they get any work to me before I left, or have it ready for me when I get back. Even though I work virtually, and have previously worked when I was out of town, this is meant to be a real break from my business. By letting them know ahead of time, they can plan their needs, and not wonder why I’m not returning calls and emails.
- Additionally, I’ve reminded clients I maintain social media accounts for that they will need to check in every day or so to make sure there aren’t comments they need to reply to. As my business grows and clients accounts require more maintenance, I will likely hire someone to take care of this when I am away, but for now I believe this will work.
- I’m setting up an autoresponder for my email and changing the message on my phone voice mail. This will let people know I’m not ignoring their messages, and when to expect to hear back from me.
- I always set up my tweets ahead of time, and I’m doing the same for my vacation time. I am wondering though, if anyone retweets me I won’t know it for several days, and would hate for them to think I’ve ignored them. I’m going to try it this time and see what happens… (and if anyone has had a similar experience, please share what worked for you.)
Each business is different and will have unique issues to consider when taking off on vacation. Anything you think I’ve missed doing business-wise? Anyone taken a vacation from their business? Please share your experiences both good and bad.
And I’ll see you when I get back!
A Less Paper Life
Do you ever feel this way?
I often feel I am drowning in paper. From the unwanted fliers in the mail to the multiple announcements my son brings home from school, there is too much paper coming in. And for all the tips and suggestions on how to deal with it, I just want less of it to handle. So I’m attempting to limit the amount of paper I have to deal with, both personal and business. Here’s some steps I’ve discovered that have helped. (WARNING: I am not an attorney or an accountant. Please consult your attorney or accountant about your particular situation.)
To help limit the amount of paper that comes in:
1. Send your name and address to OpOutPrescreen.com and DMAchoice.org to get off credit card and direct marketing lists. Contact any catalogs you receive and have your name removed. The paper won’t stop overnight, but with time you should notice a difference.
2. Receive your bills electronically whenever possible, and use online bill pay. For business purposes, you may need to receive actual statements and checks, but using this option for personal bills will make a difference.
3. Don’t print anything you don’t have to. Does the email have to be printed? Do you really need to print off the one page letter to read it? Carefully consider before you click print. If you download an ebook, scan through it to make sure you think there is material in there you would gain from. If not, you can keep the digital copy in case your needs change.
4. Have documents sent as an email attachment, or faxed to an electronic fax number. Efax\ is probably the best known, but do an internet search to find other providers. The fax is sent as a PDF file to your email address, allowing you to review the document, save it to your computer, and only print out what is necessary.
5. Likewise, if you have a document you want to save the information from, but don’t need the actual item, you can scan it and saving the digital copy. Or, fax it to your electronic fax number, and save the PDF file you receive.
6. Check out a book from the library before purchasing it, or at least visit the library or bookstore and skim through it. Make sure you will really be able to use the book before making the purchase.
7. Can you eliminate magazine and newspaper subscriptions and read online? Or, could you share a subscription with a friend or business associate? You may find you need your own copy of some, but each one you can eliminate reduces the paper coming in.
8. My final tip is not about saving paper, but about protecting the digital copies you make. Back up your computer!! Have more than one back up copy of your important documents. I cannot stress this enough. You should be doing it anyway, but you want to make sure you have multiple digital copies of your documents, especially if you don’t have paper versions. And at least one backup should be off-site. When you least expect it, you will need it. Yes, I know this from experience.
Is it possible to be completely paperless? No, not today. And I’m not sure that should be the goal. Instead, get rid of what is not needed, and look for ways to reduce paper coming in.
What ways have you worked to reduce the paper in your life and business? What paper items have you found that you cannot let go of?
