So – you’re a successful entrepreneur. Congratulations! Your hard work is paying off, you’re busy, you’re happy, and you’ve got your head to the grindstone. Good for you!
But then, if you’ve been at it for a while you might be starting to think, “Oh no! How the heck will I ever be able to get away for a holiday again?” A-ha! There’s the kicker! If you’re successful enough to be busy, then there is no way you can just up and leave for a week or two and take a much-deserved holiday.
Or is there?
Take Virtual Assistants for example: they will have a variety of projects for a bunch of different clients at once, some on a regular schedule, some that just pop up as the client demands, so they can’t just tell all of their clients “See ya!” for a few weeks in a row! Their clients require each of their tasks to be executed in a timely manner, that’s why they have a VA in the first place! So how does a VA manage to ever get some time off?
Getting a sub is the logical conclusion, for any business.
If you are going to be using a subcontractor, you’ll need to do some preparation of your own first. You’ll need to answer questions like:
- Who will my sub be? (Where will you find them, how do you know they’ll do a good job?)
- How much will I pay my sub? (What is everyone else in my industry paying their subs?)
- What are the critical tasks that absolutely need to be done? (In other words, is there anything that can be done by you ahead of time, or that can wait until you come back?)
- What will my sub need in order to get the job done? (Access to buildings, computer access, passwords, equipment, etc.)
- How will I train my sub? (In person, online, over the phone? Do you have procedures already mapped out that they can utilize?)
- Will we have a signed contract for the duration of the time away? (Most likely an excellent idea)
- How will my sub be able to get a hold of me if necessary? (And under what circumstances do you want to be contacted? How often?)
As soon as you start to think about it the list will go on and on. The trick is to think of as many of these questions as you can ahead of time, do the research, and then start putting everything into action. You will need to give yourself PLENTY of time, probably more than you think, but in the end you’ll have all your bases covered and you will be able to enjoy your well-earned time off!