Taking time off from your own business is scary, but planning can make it feel better.
As a small business owner or side hustler, you face different challenges with taking time off. There’s the obvious financial factor. You are unlikely to be earning if you aren’t working. But there’s more to it than that. If you work on your own, then there is no one answering emails or handling enquiries. Your business effectively stops. Lost clients. Missed opportunities. Real consequences.
You fear the line between ‘time off’ and ‘business collapse’ is terrifyingly thin. You’ve probably never taken proper time off and likely don’t know how.
And yet, proper rest is often the best thing you can do for your business. So, let’s look at 6 steps you can take so you can switch off and enjoy it.
1. Prepare your business so it doesn’t fall apart
Look at your business. What can you schedule ahead? Social posts, email newsletters, client deliverables. What can pause? New client inquiries (consider how you can keep them warm), content creation, non-urgent admin. What systems run themselves? Payment processing, automated emails, subscription renewals. What can be adapted to work without you? Set up auto-responses, brief a VA on emergency-only tasks, give someone access to handle urgent issues.
Schedule tasks for when you get home. I use elements of Mike Michalowicz’s Profit First method, which means I do my accounts on the 10th and 25th of the month. I keep this schedule but adapt it when I’m away. If I’m off on the 10th, I allocate more time on the 25th to catch up. On the 25th prior my time off, I check if there’s anything I can get done ahead of time. The routine stays, the execution flexes.
2. Find your minimum
If you switch off completely, does the business actually stop? That fear is real for most solo business owners and side hustlers. But before you accept it as fact, find someone you trust to challenge it. Not to tell you you’re wrong. To help you figure out the absolute minimum you need to do to keep things running.
Often, it’s less than you think. Maybe it’s checking emails once a day for genuine emergencies. Or you could schedule posts ahead of time and keep an eye on them to respond to comments and DMs. It could be a 15- minute check-in every few days. Or maybe your business genuinely pauses when you do. This is OK.
3. Set client/customer expectations ahead of time
Check in with clients/customers early. Aim for at least 2 weeks before, not the day before. Sounds obvious? Possibly even patronising. But it’s the thing I always put off and there’s always actions from the meeting. This creates more stress than it removed. Reassure them that you’ve thought about what they need. Predict what might come up and give them solutions and actions ahead of time. Then put it in writing so they have something to refer to.
Manage expectations by being specific. Put things in place before you go. Finish what needs finishing, schedule what can be scheduled, document where things are. I find it helpful to write a to-do list for when I return. This gets everything out of my head, and I know I have a plan for when I’m back.
People are more reasonable than you think. Pushback usually comes from fear or uncertainty. Address it before it becomes an issue.
4. Plan for what you fear
Write down what you fear will happen while you’re off. Your worst-case scenarios. Then write down what’s most likely to happen. Take each fear and plan what you’d do if it happened.
Having a plan reduces anxiety and gives you permission to switch off. You can watch from afar and intervene only if one of your specific scenarios occurs. You won’t panic because you already know what needs to be done. Most of the time, you won’t need to intervene at all.
5. Why rest makes your business stronger
Rest isn’t a luxury. It’s not lazy. It’s an important part of your system. You can’t run a sustainable business on empty. When you return from proper time off, you’ll have more energy and better ideas than if you’d half-worked through the break while telling yourself you were resting.
If you genuinely can’t take a full week, build shorter breaks into your system. Long weekends. School holidays when clients are likely to be away. Christmas week when everyone’s checked out. Regular rest is more effective than waiting for the opportunity to have more time off and it never happening.
6. Switching off
If you are like me, it can take a few days to unwind and fully embrace the break. I let my mind wind down naturally; I have a notebook where I jot down things I want to capture. Often when you take a break your best ideas come to you. You don’t want to miss them. If I’m away in a hotel, I leave my phone in the safe and only access it at times I’ve agreed with myself for the specific reasons I’ve identified whilst prepping to be away.
For example, 15-minutes to check emails, quick check and reply to comments on social posts, check for enquiries. But I set a timer or get my partner to hold me accountable to a short check. If I’m at home, like at Christmas, I leave my phone in a different room. I put the ringer on in case someone phones or needs to get hold of me, but I only answer family and friends.
I’ve found there are two tricks to taking time off. Thorough preparation in advance. I start 2-3 weeks before. A plan ready to work on when I get back. The less I have in my head, the more I benefit from the break.
Minimise the worry
Taking time off without worrying isn’t about perfect planning, it’s about prepping what you can, planning for what you fear, setting boundaries, then making sure you switch off. With these considerations made, these eventualities planned for, your business won’t collapse. And when you return, you’ll be sharper, clearer, and more energised than if you’d never stopped.
Rest isn’t a luxury. It’s how you build a sustainable business.
Struggling to plan a break? Not sure how to approach it? Book a call and we can talk through what’s getting in your way and how I can help you get the time you need.
