Why small business owners are wrong not to take holidays
As a small business owner, there are always more things that you could be doing - there is a guilt that comes with taking time off, yet the reality is that your list will never be finished and if you don't take the chance to rest and reflect then (a) you will for sure burn out at some point (b) you'll stop enjoying what you do day to day (c) your ability to lead and make decisions will suffer... The business will suffer.
Someone once said to me, “Take a break or break” and it’s perhaps the single most simple and powerful thing I’ve learned about running my own business.
As a CEO, I know how difficult it can be to justify taking a break, but holidays are just as important for you as they are for any other member of your team. That’s why I thought I’d share the way I do it to help small business CEOs and founders understand why taking a holiday should be non-negotiable, and how they’re crucial for success.
But let’s start with why we’re not taking enough holidays in the first place…
Why small business owners don’t take holidays
Every small business is different (even if they offer a similar service or product). But in my conversations with other founders and CEOs, there’s one thing we all have in common: we don’t take enough breaks from work.
As the individual ultimately responsible for the pastoral care of your team, what sort of example are you setting if they never see you taking a break? And how can you possibly lead a business if you’re dead on your feet?
For me, there are two main reasons why small business owners don’t go on holidays:
- Not enough time - there are simply not enough hours in the days, weeks or year!
- Too much to do - with a to-do list that’s never complete, taking time off feels impossible.
Alongside these two big barriers, many small business owners are blocked by their anxiety to grow the business and pay back investors. It’s hard to see how either of those things will happen if they’re not there (that included me for a very long time).
Risks of not taking holidays for small business owners
I’m a big advocate for taking holidays. That’s because I’ve experienced the risk of not taking them first-hand, and know that no good comes from it.
In a small business owner’s head, however, it can be hard to defend taking any time off — how can the business function without you? Well, news flash, it can. And the risks of not having a break are more significant and will ultimately damage the business you’re working so hard to see succeed.
Here are some of the biggest risks I see when small business owners don’t take holidays:
Burnout
Burnout is one of the biggest risk when you’re working yourself too hard, and that doesn’t exclude people at the top. A recent study shows the potential ripple effect of burnout, and how executives need to be super aware of it.
At Charlie, we strongly advocate for wellbeing in the workplace, so we talk to our employees all the time about avoiding burnout, putting a lot of prevention in place including having mental health first aiders and access to therapy.
Micromanagement
By being present all the time, it can look like you don’t trust our team to do their jobs – you could be using micromanagement techniques without even noticing. Stepping away gives your team the opportunity to grow and develop, and lead on potentially difficult things by themselves.
Being the bottleneck for… Well, everything
That task list is never going to reduce if everything has to be signed off by executives. As Charlie grows, I’ve had to accept that not everything is going to go through me — and I see that as super positive. It reduces my stress, and I have confidence in my team.
Benefits of taking holidays
As I’ve already said, I’m a big advocate for taking holidays.
Taking a break enables me to rest, reset, and realign my thinking, and that’s just not possible on the hamster wheel of work (no matter how much yoga you do).
When you take a holiday from your small business, you:
Gain focus
When I come back to work after a break, I feel like I did when I first started Charlie! I know I need to step away from the business in order to maintain my enthusiasm and focus — I’m a more effective CEO when I take regular holidays.
Learn how to delegate
As small business owners, delegation is not one necessarily one of your most natural skills. But it’s something you have to learn when you go on holiday because the wheels can’t stop turning. Delegation is good for you, good for your team, and really great for your business.
Set the right example
When the CEO goes on holiday, it sends a message. You’re effectively saying to your team: “It’s okay to take a break”, “You can do this too”, and “I trust you to look after things while I’m gone”. In some situations, actions speak louder than words.
Motivate the troops
It always trickles down from the top – team members can feel when the energy is off, and someone who is experiencing burnout will likely not be the best person to be around. Keeping your energy levels up by resting will enable you to keep your team motivated, and coach when needed.
How to take holidays when you run a small business
If you’re still reading then you’re probably sold on the idea of taking a holiday. But the concept is one thing — it’s the doing that really matters.
Holidays have got to be a regular and real option for small business owners in order to bring any tangible benefits. Here are my tried and tested tips on how best to manage your time off:
Go during a slower period
Obviously, this depends on the type of business you have and only you can gauge what that means for you. For many, summer or Christmas make the most sense, but if you have a consistently quiet month, take your holidays then.
Set boundaries
Work can’t be your whole life, even if that feels that way sometimes. It can be a taboo topic for small business owners, as they’ve often invested so much of themselves in their business, but there has to be something else.
As a small business owner, you’ve got to be as strict about boundary setting as you are about other essential tasks. To be honest, setting boundaries (and sticking to them!) is probably the most CEO thing you’ll ever do.
Be available
You’ll relax more if you know your team will get in touch if there’s a problem they can’t solve, and so will they. Put a plan in place and empower your people to get on with things without you, safe in the knowledge that you’re there if they need you.
Have a good holiday policy
Annual leave policies are for CEOs too, and I use ours just like my team does. At Charlie, everyone gets 25 days of holiday, plus the bank holidays and the 24th and 31st December off. As the business owner, it’s a good thing to follow your own holiday policy, as you can see for yourself if it works in practice. (And make sure you take all of your holidays!)
Know what to delegate
That word again! Go through your task list and identify the jobs that can be given to someone else on the team or be automated. Some tasks will require training or only be short-term cover, but once you study them critically you’ll see that there are a lot that can be handed over. At Charlie, our HR software automates many of my old ‘CEO tasks’ as we’ve built it to solve small business problems. Automating essential, repetitive tasks with software like Charlie is especially useful for those who don’t have enough people on the team to take up the slack.
So there you have it, holidays are good for business! Don’t put your own health and wellbeing on the backburner — book some time off and enjoy it. Your team, your business, and your future self will thank you for it.
