Managing to take time out from small business

[ls0709]

At the risk of sounding like a moaner, I'm after a little bit of advice or input on how to manage and be able to take some time away from my small business.

I run a business with my dad which has been going for about 8 months now and steadily grown and showing promise. Like all small businesses, it's been very hectic, taking up pretty much all of our time etc etc.

As we are a service based business we work 6 days a week, sometimes 7 depending on requirements and we are starting to feel the strain, not only in ourselves but with relationships and general life due to the amount of work.

One idea is that we are going to start having just 1 of us working on the Saturday and put this on a rota so we work every other Saturday each. We would like to, if possible arrange to have 1 full weekend maybe every 6 weeks off and whilst we wouldn't like to say we are simply 'closed' we could essentially tell our customers that there's no availability that weekend.

Is it too much to ask for some time out from the business? I know it's hard work and that's fine but a little bit of balance would definitely help ease the pressure. We are going to aim to be able to cover for one another if someone wants to take a few days holiday and just work on a reduced amount for that time too.

Any tips on how to manage customer expectations or make it a bit easier to take control of when we work rather than bending over backwards to please every one would be much appreciated!

 

[Steven Ayrshire]

Like every single one of us, you only have two hands.
I started my business in 2011 which I still run from home today.
I didn't take a single day off for the first two years (xmas day etc aside)
If your work is worth it, your clients would wait a wee bit longer.
Even have the phone forwarded to someone else who can answer calls in your absence even if it is for a few days at first. Just as long as someone is there.
Since I got married my wife and I go to Portugal for 5 days at least once a year (sometimes twice) I get my mum to hold the fort. She doesn't know how to do any aspect of my business but a friendly voice giving clients the peace of mind that I am on holiday and will be back in a few days - send your orders in.
Don't knock your pan in, my younger brother who is a chef was doing just that and ended up having a stroke at the age of 34.
It is not worth it.
I hate leaving my business even for a day but you have to for your own sanity as well.

I remember a friend giving me a tip when being self employed you have to be dedicated

But do not let it ruin your life.

best of luck going forward.

 

[DavidWH]

I work with my old man, luckily he's kind of left me to it and we've changed how we work.

How do your prices compare to competitors? You could increase prices, reduce the workload but make more £££'s.

We have a process for orders, where nothing is booked in until its approved and deposit is paid. Got sick of customers wanting something Friday, not approving until Thursday, leaving us to run around like idiots trying to do it. Tempers fraying.

We try to put some responsibility on the customer.

At the end of the day, if you have work to do, they want it doing, so they play by your rules.

You could charge a premium for quicker turnaround times, or weekend jobs... we do because I dont want to them, 90% of the time they magically do it in normal office hours.

 

[Noah]

Good advice from @DavidWH up there.

 

[obscure]

+1 to David's post.

A well run company should generate enough revenue to allow you hire staff to cover those times when you yourself aren't working and thus allow a reasonable work/life balance. Yes starting up is hard work and stressful but at the end of the day it isn't supposed to be slavery. If you don't get a break occasionally your health and performance will suffer, which will damage the business.

 

[Julia Sta Romana]

Is it too much to ask for some time out from the business? I know it's hard work and that's fine but a little bit of balance would definitely help ease the pressure. We are going to aim to be able to cover for one another if someone wants to take a few days holiday and just work on a reduced amount for that time too.

Any tips on how to manage customer expectations or make it a bit easier to take control of when we work rather than bending over backwards to please every one would be much appreciated!

Is it too much to ask for some time out? NO! You need it. You need to take care of yourself first if you want to take care of your business and everybody else. Being a business owner doesn't mean you have to do everything yourself.

To reduce you workload, be more productive, and make more money, you'll need to start hiring employees. The fact that your business is growing is a good time. It means your business model is working. The thing you need to do now is to systematize it so you can find areas that you can automate or delegate. Once you figure out these areas, it would be up to you and your dad to figure out which one you can afford to invest in AND give you the best value.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Think of it this way You have been going 8 months and your starting to look at your own time
Think of in 3 ,5,10 ,15 or even 30 years time.

The fact of the matter is if you cant have somebody covering your time off you have to learn to say no

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

+1 to David's post.

A well run company should generate enough revenue to allow you hire staff to cover those times when you yourself aren't working and thus allow a reasonable work/life balance. Yes starting up is hard work and stressful but at the end of the day it isn't supposed to be slavery. If you don't get a break occasionally your health and performance will suffer, which will damage the business.

I don't always agree with that Dan. Some smaller companies have a limited as to how far they can go for many different reason . It is never black and white

 

[EeeTea]

Okay so I'm new here but have run my own business (sole trader) in the past, as well as high stress senior positions in some global companies - but the same is true wherever, and it is about time management (what a cliché!).

This is how I do it...and why I can find time to post on a forum now, when I should be working!...

I have a spreadsheet, every task has a line, and then the columns go: TASK, PRIORITY, ACTION DATE, TIME REQUIRED, CONTACT, NEXT, STATUS

right now I'm on "business research" "3 (out of 5)" "2:00 (hours)" "Me" "Look for business info" "Not started yet"

At the end it will get a new date: 15,1,19 a time allocated: "00:40" and next action: "review forum", and the status will include "joined ukbusinessforums [8.2.19]" - there is a word document that has my password details JIC I forget, and a note of anything that I want to raise or research next visit.

I then use Outlook Calendar to locate a time spot, this ensures I don't over book any particular day, and if I need to its easy to slide each task to another time/date to accommodate changes.

I start the day with a To Do list (Data sort by date, then priority), and I don't need to even think about who or what I need to do it's there, and the status bit tells me where I'm up to. I mostly have a Word document for each task (think of it as a desk jotter) so I write all the relevant stuff.

WARNING - It is a mindset and you need to be religious about it. It occupies time and effort - BUT I loose/forget nothing, I save time not having to get into things...its almost instant. I already know how long to dedicate and what I need to do.

I don't think it will suit every business, and may not be the way everyone wants to work - but in terms of productivity and allocating time to yourself...if it doesn't fit in the five working days it will go into next week. Tell the customer that your services are so good that everyone wants to use you, and it will be an extra week...but the deliver!

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

This just may be a long shot and I may have got this very wrong !

Did you go to the same School as the next Steve Jobs a previous contributor or here who had an educated but coded way of conversing and conducting business

 

[MandaBarnes]

I don't think it's too much to ask to expect time off. Business is just that, BUSINESS, although the concern comes in when it's your own. You're never really "off the clock," but there are ways around being onsite as often. Make sure to keep up on your social media, emails, phone calls, etc., so that you don't fall behind or lose touch, but just set aside certain days for you, like you mention in your post above. And the biggest thing, don't feel guilty! Hard work deserves to be rewarded... If you don't take a little time to focus on your personal well-being, you'll get burnt out and will be far less effective than if you had just given yourself a break in the first place. Good luck!

 

[big bad bruce]

This really is an issue for us self employed business owners we have currently been trading around 13 months I can count the days off I have had on my fingers even on Christmas day just finished cooking the Christmas dinner I got an email why was my parcel not delivered? I have raised prices by over double to put people off I have put not one but three notifications in different places stating these products are handmade to order statements added like handling time of 3-4 days and economy shipping option of 3-5 days via my Hermes but still I receive emails stating ordered two days ago why have these not arrived or even sent yet
I need a break as it is becoming increasingly hard to respond professionally which is more than likely due to getting closer to burning out

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Only answer your emails in working hours during the week Don't be tempted to deal with things out of hours if it's not what you want to do

 

[Flankaaa]

I fully understand that feeling when you need one day off your job. What you should consider is mastering time management. That would include to make a schedule for your customers and communicate with them deadline for delivery of your service. What do you think?