Taking a break over Christmas

[JuliaClementsRoche]

How do you take a break for Christmas (or at any time of the year for that matter) when you run your own business?

Is it even possible? Looking for practical tips and advice....

 

[NickGrogan]

It's on a Saturday this year so not so bad,

I'll be working Friday and Monday.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Most business owners ate more able to take time off than they let themselves believe (obviously there are exceptions like those who who rely on seasonal trade or on urgent response)

One discussion I enjoyed instigating on start up courses opened with 'you're not as important as you think you are'

 

[MBE2017]

One discussion I enjoyed instigating on start up courses opened with 'you're not as important as you think you are'

I get where you are coming from Mark, obviously I am indispensable. Oh hold on, I’m retired now, but still working most Xmas days mainly for the peace and quiet, will get tons done on my own over the holiday period.

To reward myself I will have most of the rest of the year off instead.

 

[fisicx]

Can’t remember the last time I did a full days work. Stopped chasing money years ago and now have a much more relaxed life. I’ll probably stop work before Christmas and start up again sometime in the new year.

Unless a very lucrative lead comes my way. Last year I had a panicked email from a bank in Sweden whose developer had gone AWOL. That earned enough to pay for the Christmas dinner with a few bob left over

 

[simon field]

Most people know it’s Christmas so they don’t expect us to do anything much! I’ve already started doing some ‘homework’, making a few bits of furniture for the house, along with some winter bike maintenance.

It’s great being a boss!

 

[Paul Norman]

In my business I am able to take time off as I please - that, of course, is one advantage of not being in a business by myself

But scheduling some level of downtime is a good discipline. It doesn't have to be Christmas, of course, although that can be easier as people sort of expect you to be shut. Until you are an online store. Or IT support.

Now at certain stages of business life that might not be so easy. Within those stages, moving out of them ought to be a priority.

For me, it was always a question of planning, and a compromise about how long I want to be away from the desk. In the early days we didn't employ people to provide support over the holiday period. We did it ourselves. But obviously, that didn't necessarily involve much work, unless something broke.

 

[Deleted member 59730]

We would always close early for xmas but be back on 2nd Jan to prepare for trade shows.

I remember the year my admin person went in to the unit to borrow a tressle table on xmas morning. The phone rang. It was the Sunday Times desperate for a stock picture. 5 minutes later she had emailed it an earnt me £100.

 

[WaveJumper]

Its a good idea to have those stock pics and a seasonal press release on hand they always seemed to call me on Christmas Eve for some quotes so much easier when you could just wang something straight back over to them

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Many of our customers are closed there is a significant slow down at the beginning of January as well . So Christmas is a proper holiday here. Then the first week of January there will be a lot of maintenance going on . The new vans go in for any required work and we do the work on the older owned vans here

 

[TheFairyBoutique]

The run up to Christmas is usually the busiest time for me, not just for my business but also home life - it's a bit crazy! I then get a little bit of rest in that weird time between Christmas and the New Year where we all forget what day of the week it is, then it kicks off again in January (sales and special offers tradition).

 

[Alyson Dyer]

We closed on the 15th, we will reopen on January 5th.