Right now you are probably in the frantic swirl of holiday prep, school holiday concerts and celebrations, end of year sales and last minute pushes to reach your revenue goals …
Right now now you might be dealing with seasonal colds or stomach bugs (yup, my daughter came home puking while I had a client VIP day last week).
Right now everyone is telling you how to go out with a bang and set up for your “best year yet” in 2019.
Right now the idea of just being “done” for the year sounds amazing… and absolutely impossible. My guess is either you are taking a break because you have to stop working because #motherhood and you are basically throwing in the towel on your business for the rest of the year. Or you’ll be frantically doing business with your thumbs on your phone while a kid begs you to “watch this’ while they play with a new holiday toy.
I want you to take a break from your business in a way that feels powerful…like the CEO, not frantic and a throw-up-your-hands-and-give-in kinda way.
This is a great time to think about what you can do to be able to take the end of the year off in 2019…or take part (or all) of the summer off. Or not work every Monday school holiday while an Ipad babysits your kids (I’m not the only one who has done that on teacher inservice day…right??)
Now, let me disclaimer this conversations by saying you don’t HAVE to take time off from your business just because your kids are out of school. Im all for busting the #defaultparent stereotype. Hire that sitter, trade time off with your spouse or rev up that ipad. But if you find yourself sneaking off to send one more email when you’d really rather be sipping hot chocolate by the fire with your kiddos…it can be done.
You can be done for the year.
Here are three things you need to do in your business to be able to take that break:
1. Raise your rates.
One of the biggest things that gets in the way of taking a break is trying to meet our revenue goals. One of the best ways to do less better is to raise your rates so you can sell less to meet your goals.
TO DO NOW:
→ Head to your website and raise the pricing on your most popular offer.
→ Send an email offering your current clients or list a last chance for your current pricing.
2. Hire a team
A team can help keep projects rolling or customers happy when you take a break. And even if you decide your business will be “closed” for a week, your team helps you wrap things up for the end of the year and prep things so that you have a smooth reentry.
TO DO NOW:
→ Identify the must dos for the end of the year and delegate with your team.
→ Identify the first thing to be done next year and make sure your team knows their role.
→ If you don’t have a team or need a bigger one?, start to draft a job description of that new role and work that into your budget for Q1.
3. Set boundaries
This may be the hardest thing you need to do. To take a break from your business, you really need to set boundaries around your time. Get clear on the time you will take off and what you want to do with that time. Is it family only? Will you schedule some alone down-time or self-care? Will you spend some time doing some visioning or big picture thinking for your business even if you are closed to clients? Will you be available to certain clients?
Know your boundaries, put them in writing and let the people who need to know them, know them. Make sure clients, team and spouses know what you are available to do and not do.
Oh, and the most frequent violator of the bounders…you. This is why I recommend writing out what your boundaries and intentions are. And be realistic! If you want to be able to check email or batch write some blogs, just schedule it in.
TO DO NOW:
→ Write your own intentions for your time off. Family plans, down time, exercise, connection; get specific on your time so you dont drift back to the computer when there is a lull in the action.
→ Email clients to let them know when your business will be closed.
→ Block out your time off on your scheduler.
→ Practice saying “Let’s set that up in January” to anybody who wants to use your time off.
Go do those three things … and enjoy your break.
Oh, and by the way, MeganFlatt.com is closed from December 24 to January 2 so my team and I can take a break and come back fresh in 2019!