Contemplating A Sabbatical Trip

I n a recent survey of             Based on my experience and         business owners by American     discussions with other business    Express, half the               owners and self-employed           respondents expressed worry about     professionals, here are some       jeopardizing a major client           things to think about if the       account by going away on              sabbatical idea appeals to you.    vacation. A Staples poll found                                          that 37% of business owners can’t     1. Decide whether your finances    easily recall when they last had      permit a full or partial           a vacation. So if taking a week      sabbatical. In 2003, my husband   or two off is challenging, it’s       and I took a three-month road      no surprise that for most             trip around Canada and the "Lower  business owners, the idea of          48" United States, but I wasn’t    taking a sabbatical trip seems        thinking of it as a sabbatical     about as do-able as going to          since I worked several hours a     Mars.                                day on the road. In 2007, I did                                         just about no work during the      A sabbatical does take lots of        trip. This did not involve        planning and preparation. But        financial sacrifice, since I’d     the rewards can be priceless. I      prepared for this for nearly a     recently took 10 weeks off to         year by creating high-priced       drive from Massachusetts to           information products that could    Alaska and back with my husband.      sell online without my active      It gave me fresh product              engagement. The passive income,   development ideas, put business       in fact, covered our trip          stresses in perspective and           expenses.                         totally cleared up a health                                              problem that could have become        You might decide to raid your      serious.                              savings to pay for your time off.                                         Just be sure that whatever you    decide on this question enables       3. Decide on how "in touch" or     you to take a break without very      "out of touch" you’ll be during    much financial worry or stress.       your time off. If you forward                                            all your business calls to your    2. Plan coverage for your home        cell phone, you probably won’t     and business. That might mean        experience much of a break. And   renting out your house or             you’ll be annoying people around   arranging for a caretaker, and it     you on the beach, in museums or    certainly means having someone        at national parks as well as       take care of your mail and            disrupting the main purpose of     routine business responsibilities     the sabbatical – to get away       while you’re away. I don’t           psychologically as well as         normally have an office               physically.                       assistant, but I engaged the                                             services of a virtual assistant       It’s far better to check phone     for the duration of my                messages once or twice a day or    sabbatical. Mail was forwarded       have someone handle all but the    to her, and she kept me informed      truly unusual or highly important  about that by email, and she sent     calls for you. Likewise, decide    out products on my behalf to          whether you’ll delegate your       fulfill the orders that came in.      email or handle that yourself. I   Most experienced virtual              kept up with email correspondence  assistants charge $25 - $50 an        myself in about 20 minutes in the  hour, and I do recommend that you     morning and evening, and it        pay someone for these services.       usually felt like a nice change    It’s probably way more                of pace from traveling rather      responsibility than a friend or       than a chore.                      relative would happily take on                                           for you.                              4. Plan how much time you’ll set                                         aside for the sabbatical. In the  academic world, a sabbatical is       not enough. Probably a month is   nearly always a year, but you may     the minimum I would recommend.     not need anywhere near that long      After two months, I usually start  to enjoy the benefits of taking a     getting homesick.                  break. Two weeks is definitely         About the Author: Marcia Yudkin is the author of Web Site Marketing Makeover and 10 other books. She publishes a weekly newsletter on creative marketing, Marketing Minute (http://www.yudkin.com/marksynd.htm ). Find out more about her report "Take Your Business On The Road" at http://www.yudkin.com/ontheroad.htm . Published At: www.Isnare.com