How To Take A Holiday From Your Business Without Losing Momentum Or Income
Holiday season is here!
And if you’re anything like me, you’re ready for a break.
It’s been a big year for me personally and I’m looking forward to winding down and taking some time away from the business to rest and relax and spend time with my family enjoying the summer here in Australia before heading into a new year.
I will, of course, be sharing more yearly reflections in upcoming episodes…
But today on the Feminine Fire Podcast, I wanted to share an episode about how to take a holiday from your business without losing momentum or income.
And I wanted to share this with you now so you have this information ahead of the Christmas & New Year break so you’ve got the time to plan and put things in place before you go on holiday.
It’s also worth mentioning – the tips and advice I’m sharing today will be relevant for any holiday you want to take at any time of year (not just Christmas/New Year)
If you’re planning to take some time away from your biz, I got you.
Make sure you have a pen and paper handy or bookmark this to come back to as I’m sharing some key questions and things for you to consider, and you’re gonna wanna write them down.
Let’s get into it.
The key to taking a holiday from your business without it impacting your momentum & income is…planning.
Getting the freedom-based abundant, sustainable business you desire doesn’t happen by accident – it comes from having a plan and being intentional about how you set things up to work when you’re not there.
So let me take you through the process here…
1: Create a plan for your holiday break
First, you need to decide what your holiday actually looks like – what I mean by that is:
Are you taking a complete break away from the business? As in, turning off your phone, leaving your laptop at home, closing the door on your office and we’ll see you next year kinda vibes?
OR will you still be available for some things? And if so, what does that look like?
Some questions for you to consider:
Behind the scenes on the backend:
What does this look like for client work and communication? Will you be available to clients at all? Will you be checking your email periodically?
What does this look like for your team? Will you be contactable by your team?
What if someone purchases while you’re on holiday? Do you have automations set up? Or are you going to hit pause on sales?
On the front end:
Are you going to be showing up on social media during your holidays?
Will you have content batched to go out? Or are you taking a complete break from creating and sharing content?
These decisions will then inform what you need to prepare, set up and communicate ahead of time.
You need to decide what you’re hitting pause on, what you’ll be available for, if anything, and what that then means you need to prepare, set up and communicate beforehand.
Let’s dive into some more detail here…
What’s your content plan?
You need to decide what content, if any, you need to create and schedule before you go on holidays.
There is no right or wrong here. The key thing is you make a decision around what your content is going to look like over that time.
If you want to take a complete break away from creating and sharing content, you do you. When it comes to maintaining momentum, this might actually be the best thing for you. You’ll likely come back feeling more refreshed and energised if you honour that desire for a break.
What does this look like for me?
I’m continuing to share podcast episodes for most of the holiday break, I’m only taking one week off the week of Christmas. That means I’ve gotta get organised and batch record those episodes before I go on break.
Outside of the podcast, I won’t be batch creating any other social media content, I’ll likely share snippets here and there of what we’re up to as a family over the holidays if and when I feel inspired.
What’s your communication plan?
Communication is key. This is how you make sure your holiday break has as little impact on your business as possible
Once you’ve made the decisions around what your holiday looks like – what needs to be communicated and who does it need to be communicated with? Thinking through your team, your clients and your community.
The earlier you can communicate your holiday break with clients the better. Similarly, with your team – so that you and your team can plan for your break and look at what needs to be done or delegated in advance.
What does this look like for me?
I’m taking a two week break from both my programs – Confident Consistent Cash and the Spiritual Business Mistressmind – over the holidays.
The dates for our holiday break are always communicated at the start of any program, so all my clients have this information well in advance. We also share the details of any makeup calls that need to happen and send out reminders in the lead up, so everyone is aware of what’s happening and when.
What’s your sales strategy?
There’s a few things you can do to set yourself up to continue making sales in the lead up to a holiday.
Firstly, decide on what you’re selling.
Is there something you can sell passively while on holidays?
This requires having automations set up, which may or may not be the case for you at this point.
If it is – amazing, what needs to happen prior to your holiday break?
This might look like investing in ads, updating your email sequences or sales pages, and batch creating some content.
If not – then what can you pre-sell for after you return from your holidays?
In the past I’ve done things like sold 1:1 intensives for January & February, pre-sold spots in my mastermind or other live programs or opened early bird sales for in person events.
If you can sell those things now for when you return from holidays, you’re setting yourself up for success.
Secondly, think long term.
How are you creating monthly recurring revenue?
This is what will give you the ability to take a holiday at any time knowing you already have income coming in without having to sell anything new.
This is what I teach you inside my program Confident Consistent Cash – how to build a business that creates consistent cash each and every month.
So as you’re thinking about what you can sell prior to holidays, think long term and look at what program, package or offer you could sell that brings in monthly recurring revenue. This will give you the confidence to take a holiday knowing that income is coming in now AND once you return.
2: Create a plan for your return
Having a plan for what you’re doing once you return from holidays is going to really support you when it comes to not losing momentum.
People usually lose momentum when they go on holiday because they come back and are like: “now what?”
They aren’t clear on what their goals are, or what they need to do, and they end up floundering around and taking a while to find their groove again.
In order to not lose momentum, it’s important that you have a plan for what you’re doing and focusing on once you’re back from your holiday so you can hit the ground running.
You don’t wanna open up your laptop on that first day back and be staring at a blank page with no clear direction.
You want to have a plan for what you are doing after the holidays so you can get things ready in advance and hit the ground running once you’re back.
I recommend looking at the month or 2 after your holiday break and getting clear on:
What you’re selling, launching and creating in that time
Mapping out the tasks and looking at what needs to be done and when
Getting clear on what needs to be done before your holiday, either by you or your team
And then what needs to be done once you’re back
Prioritising everything in order of importance so you’re super organised before you leave and then when you get back from your holiday, you can open up your laptop and dive straight in.
The decisions have already been made, there’s no need to think too deeply about it (which no one likes doing straight after a holiday), you can just get in there and get moving.
This is what is going to keep you from losing momentum.
The mindset shift you need to make…
If you believe that the only way for you to make money is to be working hard and always available, then it’s going to be hard to take a holiday without losing income.
The mindset shift you need here is to know that it’s safe for you to take a holiday – that it’s possible for you to continue bringing in income when you’re on holiday.
There are plenty of people doing it. You just gotta look around on the internet to see people sharing how they're making money while on holidays. This doesn’t happen by accident – there is work and strategy that goes into this – but it starts with believing it’s a possibility.
And there’s no reason why it isn’t possible for you too.
To take this a step further, something I love to do is play around with energetic standards and repeat the following as affirmations:
“The more I rest, the more money I make”
“The more fun I have, the more sales I make”
“The more I look after myself, the more my business thrives”
The truth is, you are going to be a better business owner, service provider and all round human if you’re well rested and looking after yourself.
You’re in business for the long game and that’s not going to be possible if you’re stressed and burnt out.
If you currently feel like you can’t take time off because you believe your business will take a hit as a result – then you’ve got some mindset and energetic work to do around shifting that belief to support you to take a holiday and make money at the same time.
What I really want you to know is…
It is so possible for you to take a holiday from your business without losing momentum or income…
All it requires is some consideration, planning and intentionality.
My hope is that what I’ve shared with you today will help you as you’re planning for your next holiday break. I wanted to give you some points and questions to consider, plus a bunch of examples of what this looks like for me in my business.
If there’s one thing you take away from this episode – it’s to have a plan.
If you wing it, that’s when you’re more likely to lose momentum and income. And we want to avoid that.
Have a plan for both your time away and what you’re doing once you’re back, make those key decisions that we talked about, prepare what needs to be prepared ahead of time and communicate with all the key players.
And then go and enjoy your damn holiday. Woo!
