HOLIDAYS: CAN ENTREPRENEURS SUCCESSFULLY TAKE ONE?

Article by: Rosebank Accountant: Babalwa Bam

Holidays – Is it possible for Entrepreneurs to successfully take one?

With the Christmas holidays rapidly approaching, we want to make sure that your dream of whiling away the hours at an exotic destination, while your life batteries recharge, remains more than just a dream!

The problem we find with many entrepreneurs and Accountants is that they often find it difficult to let go and trust that everything will be ok! Well, the good news is, with a little advanced planning anything is possible.

In order to achieve holiday bliss, we have listed a few simple tips to help you on your way:

• Separation – firstly, it is important that every entrepreneur learns to quickly separate themselves from their business. Separating yourself from your business will allow you to view the business impartially instead of emotionally, thereby allowing you to follow a more rational approach.
• Organisation – secondly, the only way to achieve separation is to be organised. Knowing your business inside out will make it easy to put simple procedures in place for your staff and clients to follow while you are away.
• Training – thirdly, training is not only limited to your staff, it also extends to your clients. Well-drilled staff will keep your business ticking along like clockwork. Well-drilled clients will ensure there are no or very few last-minute orders as they would have placed advance orders to cover the period when you are away.
• Communication – Fourthly, after separation and organisation, this is probably the most important aspect of planning a holiday. Take the time to ensure that all the role players in your business (staff, suppliers and customers), are aware that you will be away. Besides letting them know you are away, you also need to communicate what course of action they need to follow if there is a problem.

While the above four points will enable you to put a framework for a successful holiday plan in place, it is important to customise it to suit your particular business. Just remember, don’t panic if you don’t get everything in place before Christmas arrives as putting together a successful holiday plan will take several attempts.

At SME.TAX we do more than just encourage entrepreneurs to take holidays, we are your “one-stop SME shop”, assisting with everything from Accounting, Business Management, BEE, Consulting, Company Registration to Payroll and Mentoring.

For more information, please visit our website www.sme.tax or give us a call on 012 021 0829