Holidays are awesome… but when you run your own business, taking holidays can feel scary or even impossible.

You might feel tied to your business. You dread the inevitable drop in productivity and slower progress. Or you feel guilty… what if it all falls apart while you’re sitting at the beach?

The fact is, if you’re like most small businesses, if you clock out, the business stops. You probably can’t afford someone to step into your shoes while you’re gone. Or your staff rely too much on your presence for you to take a proper break.

So, what’s going to happen to your sales and marketing while you’re sipping cocktails by the pool?

Wellll… before your cancel the upcoming holiday or throw in the towel altogether, let me reassure you…

It might seem counterintuitive but going on holidays might be the best thing you ever do for your business! Here’s three very good reasons why you should go book that holiday (even if the idea of it terrifies you):

1. You can’t afford to get burnt out. You need to regularly take time for you. It’s important to recharge your batteries. It’ll help you avoid burnout… which is what happens when you work too long and too hard without a break.
2. You need to spend quality time with family. You should dedicate time to properly connect with your family – without being glued to your computer or smartphone at the same time. After all, it’s probably why you started your business in the first place!
3. You need fresh ideas and inspiration for your business. Going on holidays nearly always means you’ll come back fresh with a million new ideas and inspiration for your business. In other words, new motivation and probably some profitable marketing and product-related ideas to ramp things up for the coming months… or even years.

So, go and get that holiday booked in – ASAP.

Okay, so you know that booking a holiday is going to be healthy for you, your family, and your motivation… but you might still be a bit nervous about leaving your business behind. I mean, what if something goes wrong?!

If you’re too nervous, you’ll find it difficult to switch off from your business, which doesn’t make for a relaxing break.

So, sometime before you go on holidays (ideally give yourself a month or so… but a week or so might be enough!), sit down and make a plan.

Work your way backwards and ask yourself:

• What do you think might go wrong (all those things you’re likely to worry about when you’re supposed to be relaxing)?
• What’s likely to cause this thing to happen?
• What steps can I take now to prevent it from happening?
• What steps can I take now to lessen the impact if it still happens?

Basically, you’re doing a mini risk-assessment of your business for your holiday. Actually laying out the risks and planning for them might sound scary, but when you put it on paper, it can help you feel more in control and a lot less nervous.

Knowing that you’re not going to be there to do all the things you normally do can be really healthy (and profitable) for your business. It’ll force you to keep things running with you out of the picture. Something which’ll eventually have to happen if you ever get sick, need to take care of family, retire, sell, or yep… just take a holiday.

It’ll force you to create systems, outsource, and automate.

I talk a lot about the importance of systems and automation, but nothing drives the message home quite like having to step out of your business for a few days, a week, or even longer.

This is what automation exists for – it’s more than just a clever way to run your marketing. It’s more than a tool to generate and nurture leads for your business.

Automation is about using technology to support your business. It helps you create a sustainable, affordable, and consistent way to market your business and serve your customers.

When you automate your business and create systems and processes you can rely on, your downtime can look like this…

• Your business is visible and consistent (even when you’re at the beach with ice-cream in hand!)
• You take time to REALLY switch off
• You are totally present and in the moment with your children
• You experience minimal interruption to your income (so go buy that cute holiday dress!)

Does that sound like something your business needs? Heck yeah it does! So, let’s get super practical…

I’ve told you WHY you need to holiday-proof your business… now let’s talk about HOW you can do it.

4 SIMPLE STEPS TO HOLIDAY-PROOF YOUR BUSINESS

If your automated offers/income sources are limited (or even non-existent), don’t worry. It’s often quite simple to create some new offers. In fact, you could probably just repurpose your existing content into evergreen products that customers can purchase via your website at any time – with minimal contact from you. Here are a few specific offer ideas to get you started:

• Use your content to create a downloadable eBook
• Take customers on a journey with an online course
• Create downloadable worksheets
• Record a series of audio or video downloads
• Create templates your customers can use to DIY

It might take a little extra work (and tech-wrangling) up front, but the result is a product you create just once and sell forever… without needing to do any real-time product/service delivery. In other words, you can sit by the pool and drink your cocktail knowing that the money is still rolling in.

Oh yeah – next round’s on me!

Once you’ve decided how you’ll generate income while you’re on holidays, you’ve got the perfect foundation to plan your marketing strategy. In other words, what do you want to achieve from your marketing (while you’re on holidays) and how are you going to achieve it?

Your goals might be…

• I want to maintain my visibility and consistency (with no ‘real-time’ posting or interaction while I’m away)
• I want to build the ‘know, like, trust’ factor on auto-pilot by delivering regular, high-quality content.
• I want to attract more of my ideal clients into my top level, free offer to have ‘warm leads’ entering my sales funnel 24/7 (so I have people lined up to chat when I get back!)
• I want x number of people purchasing my evergreen offers while I’m away, generating x amount of money for my business.

I’ve already put together a great resource on planning your marketing strategy (with a focus on social media and content).

Otherwise, every time you go on holidays, your business will have to close. Your clients won’t hear from you. You won’t make any sales. And you’ll have to pick it all up when you get back home again. Two steps forward, one step back. And that’s not something you want to come home to after a relaxing holiday!

When you put your marketing on autopilot, your business stays consistent. You’re visible to your ideal customers and clients. And your marketing and sales keep ticking over. It’s the best way to truly disconnect and get proper downtime.

I won’t cover every possible automation element (that’d take a few books!) but two key things you can automate in your marketing are:

Your Social Media

Your Evergreen Email Marketing Funnel

I might be known as the Automation Maven, but I’m the first person to admit you can’t automate everything! There are things in your business that may need a personal touch, like…

• Admin
• Some invoicing
• Responding to emails
• Replying to social media messages
• Packing and sending orders

The good news is that most of these things don’t need YOU personally to be involved. This is where outsourcing comes in. If you take the time to train a virtual assistant or support staff, all these tasks will keep happening right on schedule while you’re on holidays. Do the training, set your boundaries, and then put your tools down. Step away from the business!

And yes, outsourcing is a bit of an investment upfront, but it’s one that’ll pay off big-time moving forward. Your business can grow (beyond just you) and you can properly switch off and relax whenever you need to – not just for your holiday.

OVER TO YOU…

If holiday-proofing your biz is a bit overwhelming right now, let me just reassure you. You can do it. And you don’t have to do it alone.

If school holidays are looming (aren’t they always?) or you’re feeling anxious about an upcoming holiday, I’ve got your back! I love to take the confusion out of marketing automation. I can be your secret weapon to get you all set up and holiday-ready. In other words, you can enjoy TRUE downtime and precious moments with your family and friends. It’s what running your business SHOULD look like!

If that sounds like something you need, check out how we can work together here >>

One last thing before you go. Don’t just click away from this post without doing something! If you haven’t already, take at least one step right now to simplify, systemise, and automate your business. Whether it’s booking a session with me or signing up for a tool that’ll automate your emails and social media. Just do it!

And… go book that holiday!

Claire