Despite all the perks of self-employment, the inability to ask your boss for a couple of days off often plagues entrepreneurs. It shouldn’t though. Taking time off will not only benefit you, it will also benefit your business. Here are three great reasons to get out of the office, refuel your creative side and look at your business with fresh eyes:
Learn The Benefits of Delegation
If your business is successful, it will ultimately grow beyond your abilities. Learning how best to delegate the day-to-day running of your business will only set it up for future success. A planned vacation will allow you to organize for your absence in its entirety. With a scheduled vacation, you can take the time to determine who will complete the pivotal tasks that keep your business running. Whether simply scheduling social media updates in advance or teaching employees how to handle your absence, this is a fantastic opportunity to set up a system that allows your business to continue to run without your presence.
Without a plan, you may end up losing business and customers when an emergency arises. No one likes to consider the possibility of a hospitalization or a death in the family, but these situations do happen. Ultimately, having an action plan in place for anytime you’re absent will strengthen your business. A vacation is a perfect opportunity to test this plan out and see its effect on your business, giving you the opportunity to prepare for emergencies.
Clear Your Mind
Let’s face it: You’re boring. Working 24/7 has never led to exciting dinner conversation or riveting business associates at a local watering hole. In fact, the single minded drive for success makes you dull. To keep perspective, a break from the daily grind is important.
Take to the road and abandon your business for a week. Leave behind emails and phone calls. Don’t even take a business book for the beach. A chance to truly leave the business behind will open your mind to new possibilities and innovation in your business.
Expose Yourself to New Ideas
Consider the story of Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. After joining the Starbucks team, a single Seattle shop at the time, he took a trip to Italy. While sightseeing around the country, he became entranced with the coffee bar experience. Rather than the impersonal serving style accepted in the United States, Italian coffee bars were a place of community and romance. People didn’t just stop for drink, they stopped to see their friends and relax. They stopped for their morning cafe and conversation and for drinks after work. After returning to the states, Schultz began cultivating that same Italian atmosphere in his own coffee shops.
Without the trip to Italy, Schultz never would have been inspired with the idea that launched Starbucks from local coffee shop to international coffee presence. Experience and novelty can’t be found in a cubicle. It can only be experienced out in the world.
Exploration is one of the reasons you became an entrepreneur. You saw an opportunity for innovation and success and you went after it. Holing yourself up in an office and focusing on a single idea isn’t expanding or adding depth to your business. Step outside your comfort zone and explore. Search for new ideas and new inspiration. Take those fresh ideas and innovate.
Whether it’s as simple as a few phone calls or as complex as a new business acquisition, an entrepreneur’s work is never done. Waiting for the perfect time to take a stay-cation, leave the state or leave the country will never come. That doesn’t mean putting life on pause until million-dollar success or retirement, though. For the success of your ventures and the benefit for your mental health, plan a vacation.
Ken Myers is a father, husband, and entrepreneur. He has combined his passion for helping families find in-home care with his experience to build a business. Learn more about him by visiting @KenneyMyers on Twitter.
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