Published:

03/24/2012 07:39pm

How to Keep Your Business Running When You Have Personal Issues to Handle

When you work for someone else you can take sick, vacation or personal time but when you work for yourself it's not always easy to take a day or week off.

One of my clients, a mom with a part time job and her own business is using every single spare second she has to work on her business. This week a slight family situation occurred that required her attention and no one else's. Her week took an unexpected turn and everything she had planned to do fell by the wayside. It turned out the situation was relatively minor but it threw her entire week off balance leaving her stressed and distressed.

Handling a sudden turn of events or crisis can be stressful especially when you lay it on top of an already busy life. So how do you set up your business so you can quickly get back on track after solving the unexpected situation?

Here are several tips to help:

1. Preparation. Life happens. We can't plan all of the twists and turns it takes and that's part of the beauty of it. But having your business set up so that you can better manage life events without bursting into tears should be one of your goals. Take a look at the current state of your business, do you have an action plan in place that allows you to take time off? If not then you need to address this right away.

2. Plan. Take the time to place all of your vacations, doctors appointments, family events, kids activities, hair appointments, holidays, date night--and a full day off every week, into your schedule. Then build in a small amount of unplanned time. This is what I call your bonus time. It's the time you can use any way you choose. This way if you have a crisis that comes up you can dip into this bonus time and use it for catch up if necessary.

3. Be as organized as possible. When something suddenly comes up and you're trying to get back to the tasks at hand it's easier to get back in the flow when your business is orderly and organized, this way you can pick up right where you left off and don't have to lose precious time.

4. Have an assistant...Virtual or otherwise. It took be a while to realize the importance of having an assistant. In the beginning I wasn't making any money so I thought how could I possibly pay someone more than I was making? Not only is it a smart business decision financially--you'll be able to work on more money generation activities when you outsource what you're not good at and takes a great deal of time; but you'll also have someone who can run business behind the scenes while you're attending to your personal and private life.

5. Assistants need assistants. I have mentored quite a few virtual assistants and what I've come to realize is that many of them are so focused on assisting others that they neglect to have someone assisting them as well. Whether it's having your own assistant or outsourcing tasks that you prefer not to manage don't under estimate the need for having someone support you to help you better manage the back end of your business.

6. Get back in the saddle. Once the situation is resolved then get back to working in your business. Address your finances first, your customers next and then your prospects and additional projects. If there was a sudden disruption in the service you provide to your clients then contact them immediately and make sure you're addressing their needs and concerns first. If necessary, apologize for the sudden disruption and advise them that you've got everything under control--then get back to providing what it is you do and deliver it.

Assignment:

Take an honest look at your business, do you have it set up so that if you need to take personal or sick time then you're prepared? Carefully evaluate what you need to do to set it up so that you can take time off whether it be vacation, sick or personal time. Create a policy for yourself that you adhere to--you'll be grateful you did it the next time you need to take time off.

Jeannie Spiro, The Employee to Solopreneur Breakthrough Mentor, teaches professional employees and those who have left the corporate grind how