Hey boss babe!! 💁🏼♀️ Did you know that going on vacation as a female entrepreneur is possible?
Because it is.
It can be tricky and a lot of hard work, especially if you’re running the show solo (#solopreneur), but not impossible.
As long as you plan ahead, prepare everything well in advance, and have really good systems and automations in place, going on vacation as a female entrepreneur can be (dare I say it 🙊) pretty darn easy.
(This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you make a purchase using these links.)
HOW TO MAKE GOING ON VACATION AS A FEMALE ENTREPRENEUR EASIER
I have gone on a 2-week vacation with my family to my favorite place on Earth—Captiva, Florida—every year for my entire life. I wouldn’t miss sticking my toes in the sand or lounging by the pool for anything in the entire world!!
I certainly wasn’t going to miss it simply because I started my own business.
Which I did. 11 years ago.
I’ve actually owned 2 different businesses over the last 11 years and have gone on my 2-week vacation every single year (except for the last few years, #thanksCovid).
As I am now just a few weeks away from my first vacation in 3 years, I thought it was high time I share WHAT I do that makes going on vacation as a female entrepreneur easier (including the systems you MUST have in place) so that your next vacation is super restful and successful!!
THE FIRST THING YOU MUST DO WHEN GOING ON VACATION AS A FEMALE ENTREPRENEUR IS . . .
Plan ahead.
You need to know when you’re leaving, when you’re coming back, and what needs to get done in order to keep your business running while you’re busy sunning. 😎
Which means making a list, and yes, checking it twice!!
Not to see whether you’ve been naughty or nice, but to make sure that list is manageable and ONLY filled with the things that NEED to get done before you leave.
Note: This is NOT about getting EVERYTHING done. It’s about getting the most IMPORTANT things done before you leave.
THINGS LIKE:
- creating and scheduling pillar content (i.e. blog posts, YouTube videos, podcast episodes)
- creating and scheduling social media posts
- writing and scheduling newsletters/emails
- letting your clients and customers know you’ll be gone
- wrapping up client work/projects (or getting them to a good stopping point)
- putting shop orders on hold (or putting up a message that lets customers know shipping will be delayed and when they can expect it to resume)
- putting autoresponders on all of your emails
- and preparing team members (if you have them) for what they should be doing while you’re gone
Pro Tip: Planning ahead is honestly the best thing you can do to make going on vacation completely stress-free. Giving yourself enough time to get everything done is also key. Which is why I recommend you start prepping 1-2 weeks BEFORE your departure date.
THE SECOND THING YOU MUST DO WHEN GOING ON VACATION AS A FEMALE ENTREPRENEUR IS . . .
Prepare as much as you can ahead of time.
I recommend starting 1-2 weeks before your departure date because along with preparing things like blog posts, social media posts, and newsletters in advance, you’ve also gotta keep your daily tasks and weekly work going to maintain the status quo.
You’ll have to put the afterburners on for a few weeks in order to have all that fun in the sun, but I promise it’s worth it. And once that Mai Tai, Pina Colada, Strawberry Daiquiri, or Margarita is in your hand, you’ll know it was worth it, too!! 🍹
Pro Tip: One thing that has made all the difference in the world for me is not only preparing for the time that I am away but also for the week that I get BACK. Coming home to a super long list of things that HAVE to get done that week will undo all of that relaxation faster than you can say: “I need another vacation…”
THE 4 SYSTEMS THAT MAKE GOING ON VACATION AS A SOLOPRENEUR POSSIBLE
The main reason I feel so confident in being able to take time off and actually ENJOY my vacation is thanks to the following 4 systems—which have honestly helped me streamline, systemize, and automate my business for vacation… and beyond!! #buzzlightyearsays 🚀
1 | Asana aka My Virtual (Personal) Assistant
If you’ve been around my little corner of the internet for a hot minute, you already know that Asana is my right hand in my business!! As a one-woman show, being able to manage, maintain, and run my ENTIRE business from one organized place (instead of 100 different notebooks, apps, and sticky notes) is a game-changer!!
I’ve set up my Asana dashboard so that it practically runs and works like my virtual (personal) assistant!! All of my tasks and projects are laid out in Asana, but I also use it as an information hub to house all of the business information I need constant access to as well as my marketing map, content ideas, course/product outlines, client work, and more.
Pro Tip: If you would like to take your Asana dashboard to the next level with the systems I use to manage people, projects, and everything in-between, check out Asana Assistant today!! You’ll be able to copy and paste the systems I use every single day (and spent years creating) into your business and tweak them to suit your needs!!
(As a special gift, because I want your next vacation to be as stress-free as possible, use code VACAY10 for $10 off at checkout!! 😉)
2 | Planoly aka My Social Media Manager
I’ve gushed about Planoly to you a lot over the years, but I don’t think I’ve ever told you HOW I got started with it. I signed up for their free plan just before going on vacation a bunch of years ago. By the end of the 2 weeks, I was HOOKED on the visual scheduler and had upgraded to a paid plan. These days, I consider Planoly one of my best business investments!!
Thanks to their (Instagram-approved) Auto-Post feature, planning and scheduling my Instagram posts is easier than ever!! I love that I can schedule out a bunch of business posts ahead of time and then slip in vacation-related images whenever I want. I also love knowing that instead of pushing posts through to Instagram, they’ll automatically appear in my grid while I’m swimming in the ocean. 👙
Pro Tip: Having stock photos from Social Squares, Styled Stock Society, and Pixistock makes scheduling a complete and total breeze!! I recommend storing your favorite stock images in Dropbox and connecting that to your Planoly account to make things easy peasy lemon squeezy. 🍋
3 | Kartra aka My Marketing and Sales Team
Switching to the all-in-one marketing platform, Kartra, has been a game-changer for my business!! I love that I can create, house, and sell all of my courses and digital products AND create and send all of my marketing emails PLUS create evergreen sales funnels that run automatically in the background (and put money in my bank account) from the same place.
I used to stress over 10 different pieces of tech working together, constantly worrying if things were still connecting and firing when they were supposed to. But now I don’t have to stress or worry because EVERYTHING is under the same roof!!
If someone opts in for one of my free trainings, Kartra will automatically tag them and send them an email with access to the training they asked for. If someone purchases one of my courses or digital products, Kartra will automatically tag them and grant them access to that course or product. And all I had to do was set it up at the start!! #itslikemagic
Pro Tip: Everything I know how to do in Kartra, I learned from Louise Henry in her course, Scale with Kartra. She breaks down every last little thing you can do in Kartra step-by-step so you don’t miss a thing and you get it right the first time!! Along with Kartra, this course was truly one of THE BEST investments I’ve EVER made for my business!! (Pssst!! My link gets you $500 off!! 🤩)
Related Post: The Best Tech, Tools, Templates & Education for Launching Digital Products
4 | Email Autoresponders aka My Answering Machine
When I went on vacation during my first year of business, I didn’t know what an email autoresponder was… so I checked and answered emails multiple times a day, every single day, while I was walking on the beach and lounging by the pool. (This was also back when I still had access to email on my iPhone 🤦🏼♀️)
The second year, I set up an email autoresponder and my life changed!!
If you’ve never set an autoresponder for when you’re out of the office for extended periods before, consider this your personal invitation. #heresyoursign
Pro Tip: I recommend putting up your autoresponder 1-2 days before you leave and leaving it up for 1-2 days after you get back. This allows you plenty of time to prepare beforehand and catch up/ease back in once you get back. I also encourage you to keep your autoresponders short and sweet but helpful. Let people know you’re out of the office, whether or not you’ll be checking in while you’re gone, when they can expect a response, and where they can go in the meantime.
Related Post: The Quickest and Easiest Ways to Manage Email on Vacation
THE FINAL THING THAT MAKES GOING ON VACATION AS A FEMALE ENTREPRENEUR EASIER IS . . .
A stress-free vacation workflow.
This is something I have practiced (almost to perfection) over the last 11 years.
As a female entrepreneur who is also a solopreneur (aka no team or virtual assistant over here), there are STILL a few things I HAVE to do while I’m on vacation. Mostly because I don’t want to come home to an exploding inbox or mile-long to-do list. 🤪
But there are also things that I want to do!! I don’t know what it is, but stepping OUT of work mode always ignites my inspiration and gives me so much clarity around my business that I end up WANTING to work (within reason) while I’m on vacation.
If you’re curious about my stress-free vacation workflow, then stay tuned!! I’ve got a blog post coming up that will tell you all about it!! 😉
So you see, taking time away from your business CAN be done (and beautifully) if you plan ahead, prepare well in advance, and have really good systems and automations in place. 😊
I hope these tips help make going on your next (or first!!) vacation as a female entrepreneur easy and stress-free!!
Pop any questions you have in the comments below and I’ll be sure to get back to you. I’d also love to hear any of your going on vacation tips and other systems or app recommendations!!
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Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post could be affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through my link at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I personally use, love, and feel make a difference in my business and could do the same for you.