Summer is here and we are all planning for some time away, even us Small Business Owners. Last week, I talked about ways to take an affordable mini-vacation.
This week, I will be talking about 7 easy tasks to do before actually going on a mini-vacation.
- If you use papers often, set up your desk for the first day you return. Place all the tasks in order by priority.
- Update your planner for when you have returned BEFORE you leave. Write down what you need to do when you return the day before. There may be some changes but the majority of the tasks will be there and it will remind you what needs to be done, even if you have more to write.
- Send an email to your clients a few weeks before to tell them of your up-in-coming mini vacation. Especially those customers you speak to often. Then again remind them a few days before. This will help the people who don’t write it down. Make up a sample email that you use each year so you don’t have to create a new one every time you go on vacation.
- IN THE EMAIL, INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:
- Exact dates you will be gone
- The reason you are NOT in the office
- Mention who they can contact when you are not around (if any).
- WHAT NOT TO MENTION:
- Too many details about your time away.
- Volunteering another person for a task when you didn’t ask them.
- Telling people who you will contact them as soon as you return from vacation. Remember: you will need time to catch up so don’t make any obligations or promises that will stress you.
- IN THE EMAIL, INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:
- Set up an out of office message in the PM the day before you leave. We tend to be on call with our clients but doing this will also remind the customers that are not less organized about writing down other people’s schedules. Make sure the message is professional. You can say things like: “I will be out of the office from _____ to ______. Please leave a message and I will get back to you after _____ (date). If it is an emergency, please contact ________ at __________ number. Thank you for calling.”
- WHAT NOT TO SAY:
- Don’t mention you are on vacation. Since small business owners usually work from home, by saying you are on a vacation, it basically is telling a stranger no one is home.
- WHAT NOT TO SAY:
- Take caution when setting up autoresponder email messages. This will respond automatically to ANYONE who sends you a message even the stores, solicitors, and spam. I like to use this only for certain email addresses. As business owners, you probably have more than one email. If you decide to do autoresponders, be sure to use it only for the email addresses with the least about of spam.
- WHAT TO INCLUDE IN AUTORESPONDER MESSAGES:
- I will be out of the office from ______ to ________. If you need immediate help while I’m unavailable, please email (other person’s email address). Thank you for your understanding.
- I will be unavailable from ________ to ________. If you need immediate help, please contact __________ at (other person’s email address)by email. Thank you for your understanding.
- HOW TO SETUP AUTORESPONDERS ON THE MOST POPULAR EMAIL CLIENTS:
- WHAT TO INCLUDE IN AUTORESPONDER MESSAGES:
- Set up appointments before you leave for when you return. If you meet with clients, make sure your recurring appointments are in the books so you don’t miss a meeting.
- Write your posts ahead of time. If you blog weekly, write a simple but detailed blog post for when you are away. To make the post easier to write, you can use an older archived more general post and elaborate more on a particular part of the post and create a whole new post. This way, you have the majority of information and just need to add a few more facts to finish it off. This speeds up the process of creating and writing the post.
Well, that’s it for now. I hope these 7 Easy Tasks before going on a mini-vacation help you get ready for your well-deserved time away. Now it’s your turn, what do you do to get ready for your vacation? Is there a task that you do that isn’t included above? Please leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you.
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Sabrina – Great suggestions, as always. Why do I have the feeling that your spices are alphabetized?
I agree that preplanning, having your desk ready and your planner completed before you leave makes a huge difference. I like to schedule the morning I am back out with no appointments so I can catch up and be ready. Thanks for the help with messages.
Hi Sabrina,
Fabulous tips for what to do before you go on your little mini vacation to let others know and make it easier for you when you return by having things done and ready 🙂
Great post!
Great to have a planning outline of what to do Sabrina. Especially, to have everything set up for your return. I’m even thinking of setting the return date one day longer and giving myself a day to settle in before getting back to work.
Great points. It always kills me when I see people post on social media that they’re going away for X days. That’s like putting a flashing neon sign over your house saying, “Burgle me!” I’m careful about how I word my auto-responder, but I do think it’s important to have that message go out.
So where are you going on your mini-vacation Sabrina?
Thanks for asking, Rachel. We went to Orlando for a mini-break in June and are planning on doing a road trip for a few days to various places in western PA and Ohio. How about you?
I make sure everything is in place when I am going to be traveling, however, I don’t tell people (other than family), I will be gone. I definitely don’t post on social media either. Because I can work anywhere I am and am not officially leaving an office or list of local clients, I generally will check emails once a day while away and do have my iPhone with me for any emergencies. These are great tips for those who do leave an office and clients behind, Sabrina. It’s great to be able to go away knowing everything is in place and then return to an organized and clear schedule when you get home! Thanks Sabrina!
I love the idea of leaving a to do list for when I get back – I always try to get things all wrapped up before I leave, but inevitably there are things that linger! Great tips, thanks!
I actually make a point NOT to tell anyone… my industry, I work online and work all the time and get stuff done by the end of the month so nobody usually needs me 24/7 anyways… so it has worked out okay for me to NOT say anything.
I am a gun totin’ mama and always concerned about safety, I never post I am gone unless I am going solo and my honey is home.
Being organised before you go away on a mini vacation really clears the head so you can fully focus on the holiday. I love the idea of having your to-do list ready and planning your priorities. Great tips Sabrina, thank you.
I don’t work with clients but I can use some of these tips, like setting up my work tasks for return. I’ve always been careful not to indicate publically that we are away from home. Good tips.
These are great tips for going on a short or long vacation. Preparation is key to thinking about vacation instead of work when you are actually on vacation.
What a great checklist, Sabrina. One really caught me–set up appointments for when you return. That’s a great way to ease back into the insanity following a vacation. Thank you!