As busy moms and entrepreneurs the thought of ever having to step outside of our regular lives or businesses can seem pretty impossible at times. But the reality is, we NEED to give ourselves space away from normal life and business to reset, get refreshed and live a little!
In preparation for a busy several weeks of travel coming up for me, I am hopping into this episode with NJ to discuss all the ways we as boss moms can prepare our businesses for travel so that you can have a leg up next time you have somewhere to go!
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The biggest thing to think about when it comes to preparing your business for travel is how you can not only prepare for the time you'll be away, but also for your return. There is nothing worse than letting things get backlogged so you end up having to work when you weren't planning to, letting things fall through the cracks, OR having a great time away, but having to jump back into chaos immediately upon returning.
Here are a few of our best tips that will help set you and your business up for success the next time you travel!
1. Create space in your calendar
During the weeks leading up to a trip or vacation you want to be proactive about how you'll be spending your time before traveling. Pull your calendar out and identify what things can be taken off and what you'll need to say no to in order to create space for you to make the necessary preparations for leaving your business. Get your ducks in a row little by little leading up to your trip and you won't feel like a crazy minute trying to get everything figured out right as you're heading out the door!
2. Work IN your business instead of ON your business.
More than likely it will be in your best interest to focus on the inner workings of your business and stay in "create & sustain" mode versus focusing on business growth and adding high level things to your plate right before traveling. Because honestly, who needs that extra stress? Be intentional about taking care of the things inside your house versus the things outside (you can do that when you get back!)
3. Determine if you will work while you travel.
Sometimes there will be instances where traveling provides you the perfect opportunity to work on things in your business that you wouldn't normally get to in regular life. Other times there are things you will have to do while you're gone, such as checking into a Facebook group that you run or hopping on the phone for client calls. But there are other times (ie: vacation) where you won't want to (and shouldn't!) touch a phone or computer. Figure these things out in advance. Decide what you will and won't do, and prepare yourself and your business to accommodate that decision.
4. Get your automation systems in place.
Automation is a beautiful, beautiful thing for us busy mom entrepreneurs on a normal basis, but it's especially amazing during times of travel. Figure out what can be automated while you're away and do the work to get those systems in place and running so you don't have to even think about it until you return.
5. Clearly define roles & operations information to your team.
If your business is to the point where you have a team of people supporting you, make sure to prepare them for your absence and set them up for success while you're gone. Clearly define who will be responsible for what, make sure they have what they need, and make sure they have access to everything they'll need access to (including you, in cases of emergency!) Pro tip: don't try to micromanage and allow your team members to own their roles.
While we can't promise that if you do all these things that your life, business and trip will go off without a hitch, we can guarantee that it will be a whole lot easier than if you didn't prepare in advance ;)
Referenced in the Show:
(Just FYI, some of these links may be affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase using the links I may receive some love in return!)
BizChix.com encourages, educates, and promotes entrepreneurial women with educational content and training, a community support system, masterminding, coaching, and events.
Natalie Eckdahl, MBA, is a business coach, professional facilitator, keynote speaker and host of the Biz Chix Podcast which iTunes featured as a top New Business Podcast in March 2014.
You can listen to the podcast here.
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