Michelle Rodger: Learn to let go of your baby so you can take time out

Published on Thursday 4 August 2011 13:52

SUMMERTIME, and the living ain't so easy for entrepreneurs. Friends and family are all jetting off to the sun, but can entrepreneurs actually take holidays from their business?

It's a hot topic right now, understandably, with a lot of chat online and off. Richard Branson chipped in on Twitter saying: "Take some time out, share your burden: why taking time off can lead to coming back to the office inspired" with a link to his blog about the challenge.

Conventional wisdom says taking a holiday is essential to recharge your batteries. It's good for the body and soul. That's the theory anyway, but in practice it's somewhat different. Leaving your business in the "safe" hands of someone else can often cause even more stress and worry, with a huge amount of preparation work required before you leave, and even more catching up and fixing on your return.

Even if you have a solid team running the show when you're not there, the truth is no-one believes anyone is better at running their own company than they are.

Serial entrepreneur, mentor and consultant Brian Williamson has experienced the challenge on numerous occasions, and likens it to leaving your baby with a sitter for the first time.

"You cannot believe that someone else can look after your baby the way you can, and like your business it is a very precious thing. I remember holidays in Florida with faxes all over the bedroom floor. I wanted to make sure my baby was as healthy as it could be," says Williamson of Tiger Eye and Jumpstart.

As you move through a stage of development, you know you have people you can trust to hold your baby. However, you have a new dilemma, and that's how can you maintain the growth curve when you know your obsessive work hours drive the business at a pace that demands constant attention? You feel the business will run out of gas if you are not there to continually feed it, and of course you just need to climb that next and "last" hill and then you can relax.

As your baby grows into a youngster who has the ability to look after itself for short periods, new problems develop. You always being there is not helpful to your staff. It is rather like always holding the seat of your son or daughter while they are learning to ride a bike. They will never truly learn unless you let go. Being there to pick them up is always better than doing their job for them.

Finally, says Williamson, you need energy to run a business properly, and holidays are a way of recharging your energy cells and making you more effective. Constant working does not work in the longer term. Energy is like butter: spread it too thin and you can't taste it.

Gaynor Turner, of jewellery specialist Macintyres of Edinburgh, loves her business, and while she doesn't have a problem relaxing on holiday, she still keeps in touch with her company.

"I love my business. It's a part of me, and just like I would call and talk to my husband and kids if I was on a break with my girlfriends, I also check in with work. I get up in the morning and look forward to work, and I look forward to coming home from holiday as much as I look forward to going.

"One thing I think is key to really relaxing is having a management team that understands the difference between 'need to know information' and 'too much information', so that if anything important needed sorted, no matter where I was in the world they would find me, but I trust them to make the judgment call and handle it themselves if possible."

Emily Coltman is chief accountant at Edinburgh-based online accounting provider FreeAgent. Aware of the challenges to her clients, she blogged and shared a series of tips on taking a break this summer.

Namely: plan your workload, finish what can be finished before you leave, and don't accept projects with deadlines just before or just after a holiday. Make sure your clients know you'll be unavailable, and who will be managing the business in your absence.

It might also be sensible to book your holiday at the same time as some of your major clients, when the workload will be lighter.

And make sure the accounts are in order before you leave. Pay any bills that will fall due while you're away and schedule invoices to be sent in your absence.

Happy holidays.