4 Vacation Tips for Mompreneurs

This post originally appeared on itsaWAHMthing.com, where I regularly contribute articles about affiliate marketing, productivity and technology tips for small businesses and work at home moms.  

Reaching a point where you can reward yourself with a vacation is a great treat in itself and I'm about to do just that, when I leave this weekend for a 2-week wine-tasting vacation through Italy, Monaco and France.

But, since work as a business owner never ends, in order to create this dream vacation for myself, I'll be putting in some extra work before I leave.

A big part of this preparation is readying my businesses to function without me, even for just a short period of time.

Here are four tips that I recommend that have helped me successfully plan and enjoy a vacation without hurting my businesses:

Get Your Staff Ready

No employee is going to do well when his or her supervisor up-and-leaves without any notice or preparation. You'll need these workers to take on some of your duties and know how to respond to tasks and needs without your authority. For their sake and the sake of your business, you need to take steps to prepare your employees.

Making these preparations can be a lot of work, especially when you leave your business for the first time. Employees and contractors need to be trained on where to get the answers to everything they need. They need to know how to handle various tasks that you normally do, and this requires establishing training time. In a sales environment, you might want to hand off customer interactions responsibilities to some of your workers and observe them for a period of time before you leave — this will give you reassurance of their performance even as you help them polish their own skills.

Ultimately, you'll probably need at least a week to get things ready, but consider your unique circumstances and adjust accordingly. You might need several weeks or even a month to get everything together.

Travel in the Slow Season

Most businesses see peaks and valleys in terms of how much work they get throughout the year. Sometimes this changes on a weekly basis, with weekdays or weekends seeing a decline in sales. Other times it's a particular part of the calendar year that tends to be slower than the rest. Whatever the case for your particular business, try to plan your vacation around these periods to keep yourself at work when you'll be needed most.

Maintain a Line of Communication

Most business owners would love to cut the cord and be completely disconnected from their businesses while they're on vacation. But that's not always practical, and the isolation could actually make it tougher to enjoy your escape from real life. Despite your desires, it's smart to keep a line of communication open between you and your business. Whether this is email or phone is up to you, but it reduces the anxiety of having to cover every last detail while making you available for any urgent or emergency needs.

In some cases, simply knowing that everything is running well will be reassurance enough to let you get back outside and work on that tan.

Create a Back-to-Work Plan

If there's a downside to going on vacation, it's usually waiting for you when you return to work. Business owners typically return after a period away to find themselves swamped with work and overwhelmed. It's hard to erase those obligations, but you can create a system to better address those needs.

For starters, set aside time upon your return to attend to the work that has piled up. Keep your schedule free of obligations on that first day as you catch up with your business. Meet with employees to discuss operations while you were gone and get a sense of your duties in the coming days. Once you've re-oriented yourself in your environment, you can move ahead with scheduling meetings and getting back in the swing of things.

By taking the proper precautionary steps, you should be able to enjoy a stress-free vacation while your business floats on without springing any leaks. It's not easy for hands-on owners, but even a short getaway will be rejuvenating for you and good for the business.

5 Tips for Finding the Perfect Business Partner

Business partnerships can be fantastic. The best partnerships provide complementary skill sets, build on your strengths, and help your business thrive.

Business partnerships can also be disastrous. The worst partnerships lead to bickering, constant friction, and can even lead to the failure of your business.

I've been very fortunate; I've had the same business partner for ten years.  See that guy in the picture with me to the right?  That's him.  His name is Shawn Collins.

Based on my great experience, I'm sharing five tips you can use to find the perfect business partner for you. Because every person is different and has a different set of skills, everyone will benefit from a different kind of partner.

Start by asking yourself if you need a business partner at all. What is the other party bringing to the table? Are they offering capital for the business, a set of contacts, or a specific expertise? Sometimes the other party offers something less tangible.

I'm going to offer a mix of ways to evaluate what that person brings to your business partnership along with some specific ideas about forming that partnership.

1 – Find someone who completes you. Look for a complementary set of skills that will provide support where you need it most. Are you a technical expert who lacks marketing experience? A marketing expert would make a great partner. If you're great with big ideas and creating excitement, you might look for someone who has an eye for detail and offers a more even keel.

A partner who fills the gaps in your skills will strengthen your business and help eliminate your weaknesses.

2 – Find someone you can work with year after year. You're going to spend a great deal of time with your business partner; it's important you like and respect that person. If you enjoy the company of your partner, or at the very least respect their morals and ethics, you'll have a solid basis for a partnership.

If the opposite is true, you'll find yourself dreading their company and you're going to have a hard time working with them on a long-term basis. Remember that just like a marriage, a business partnership needs trust to succeed. Trust has been a vital part of my partnership since day one.

3 – Find someone who pushes you just as much as you push them. Look for a partner who offers honest feedback, lets you shoot down or improve on their ideas, and expects the same from you. An ideal partner will work with you to resolve disagreements and move forward together, or not at all.

You need to be able set your ego aside and ask them to do the same. You'll both benefit when you work for mutual success.

4 – Do your due diligence. Don't take a partner on face value. Ask for a resume', references, and possibly even financial statements. Transparency strengthens a relationship, and verifying your business partner's working history ensures transparency. Don't be afraid to ask questions and talk through your concerns.

It's much better to discover and deal with an issue early than after you've formalized your partnership.

5 – Plan for ownership changes with a buy/sell agreement. Just like a pre-nuptial agreement protects your assets if your marriage ends in divorce, a buy/sell agreement protects your business if your partnership ever dissolves. A contractual buy/sell agreement clearly outlines what happens should one of you need to or want to sell your part of the business. Having this in place ensures a smooth transition, and can be the difference in a business that lives on after a partnership ends and a business that ends with that partnership.

I hope these tips help you on your search for the perfect business partner. The right business partner makes all the difference, and I owe much of my success to mine.