Small Business Owners Need a Break

As people all over the country are heading off on their Easter break, now is a good time to remember that for many small business owners, time off for a holiday is a luxury they just don’t have.

Our most recent MYOB Business Monitor found that 58% of New Zealand small business owners said they were routinely taking fewer holidays in order to work in their business.

Many small business owners will be working through the break, battling to keep their businesses running smoothly.

For small business owners, finding a work/life balance can be incredibly difficult, with so many things needing to be done, and needing to be done now.

There are a few things however, than can help you get some of that time back, and get more balance in your life:

Get help from the experts

Having a business mentor or a financial advisor involved in helping you run the business can be a huge help. These experts will usually have first hand experience running successful small businesses. They know the challenges your facing, because chances are they’ve faced them in their own business and worked trough them. Having an expert in your corner can help you avoid making mistakes and help you find new ways to do things better.

Take on some extra help

It seems simple, but many hands really do make lighter work. If your high work load is getting the best of you or if you are having trouble keeping up, it might be time to look at bringing on a new staff member to help share the load.

Not only can this save you time, it also might free you up to think a bit more strategically about what your business can be doing better. It’s easy to get lost in the day to day mechanics of keeping everything running. Having an extra staff member can give you the time to focus more on finding new ways to bring in revenue or things your business needs to change.

Get your systems in place

MYOB’s approach has always been that the reason we exist to make people’s business lives easier. This is because we really believe that having good systems in place can save business owners a lot of time and energy. Having a simple system for doing your accounts, paying your taxes, or keeping up with your administration can save you hours of work, and mountains of stress.

Think critically about the time you spend on the business

This can be the hardest step of all, but it’s probably the most important. When you have so much on your plate, it’s very tempting to burn yourself out by throwing everything you have into the work. Make sure that you stop every once in a while and ask yourself “do I really need to be working this late?” or “do I really need to get this finished today?” Policing yourself a little, and figuring out when you aren’t giving yourself the time off you need, will go a long way towards stopping you from burning out.

Schedule Breaks and Time-Off

With all of the competing demands on your time, the idea of scheduling time off can seem daunting. But setting a scheduled time when you can get away from the business, r elax and recharge yourself is vital if you are going to be successful.

The trick to getting time off is to schedule it well in advance and plan around it. For example if you are set on getting away for a few weeks in August, plan it a few months in advance so you can diary important events, launches or meetings around it.