How will you manage your business whilst on holiday?

By Dee Matheson

It’s that wonderful time of year again here in South Africa, winter has started, it’s cold in the morning and evening but during the day the weather on the Highveld is fantastic, blue skies and lots of sunshine. What more can you ask for? The kids are getting excited about the July holidays and all your plans are made for that vacation you’ve been saving so hard for. 

Now here’s the dilemma, what to do with your business while on that well deserved holiday? You can’t close the doors, you need the money and you also don’t want to let your clients down.  It’s only human to stress about this when you are supposed to have a relaxing time with your family. Some business owners have very understanding clients and communicate with them regularly and have created a good relationship when it comes to taking leave but what if you’re not that lucky and don’t have the backup support to allow you to take time off? Or do you make the fatal mistake of either not taking a holiday at all and disappointing the family or trying to work whilst away?

Here are some tips to help you enjoy your holiday this year:

·        Take care of the majority of work before you go away. Make sure whatever can be completed prior to departure is done and dusted and let your clients know that all the tasks or jobs taken aboard have been completed. Plan ahead and get help if you need it to get the job done.

·        Communicate with your regular clients or customers and let them know that you’ll be on leave and when you’ll be back. Don’t leave them in the dark because it’s Murphy’s law that when you’re not available, that’s when they want you the most.

·        Have a support system in place and if you don’t know of anyone, get yourself a Virtual Assistant to ‘run’ your business whilst you’re away. Let her have all the necessary emails, contact information and current work that’s not been finalised yet. She can be your go-to person and handle things for you and also liaise with clients on your behalf so that they don’t feel stranded. Currently I’m doing this for an influential client who is overseas and it’s working like a charm. My client still feels in control of her business even though she is not in this country.

·        Be available for any emergencies. Again, this is where your Virtual Assistant comes to the fore and she will be able to assess if there is any need to contact you.  She will very likely be quite capable of handling the situation herself and only contact you if the situation absolutely warrants it.  If you still feel it’s necessary while you’re away, set a time to speak to your Virtual Assistant and run through any important issues and the outcome thereof. She will be your right-hand person and has your business interest at heart. Remember, if your clients are kept satisfied, she will be happy too because she knows she will get paid and is pleasing her client, that is you, at the same time. There is no better reassurance than having a satisfied client and a job well done for both parties. 

·        And the last but not least point, RELAX and enjoy the time that you’re away. You have now done everything in your power to make sure that all your ducks are in a row. You deserve that much needed break!

If you need support and are looking for that perfect back up Virtual Assistant, contact Dee Matheson on dmatheson@worldonline.co.za or look at my website on www.dfm-virtualassistant.co.za

 

How will you manage your business whilst on holiday?

How will you manage your business whilst on holiday?

By Dee Matheson

It’s that wonderful time of year again here in South Africa, winter has started, it’s cold in the morning and evening but during the day the weather on the Highveld is fantastic, blue skies and lots of sunshine. What more can you ask for? The kids are getting excited about the July holidays and all your plans are made for that vacation you’ve been saving so hard for. 

Now here’s the dilemma, what to do with your business while on that well deserved holiday? You can’t close the doors, you need the money and you also don’t want to let your clients down.  It’s only human to stress about this when you are supposed to have a relaxing time with your family. Some business owners have very understanding clients and communicate with them regularly and have created a good relationship when it comes to taking leave but what if you’re not that lucky and don’t have the backup support to allow you to take time off? Or do you make the fatal mistake of either not taking a holiday at all and disappointing the family or trying to work whilst away?

Here are some tips to help you enjoy your holiday this year:

·         Take care of the majority of work before you go away. Make sure whatever can be completed prior to departure is done and dusted and let your clients know that all the tasks or jobs taken aboard have been completed. Plan ahead and get help if you need it to get the job done.

 

·         Communicate with your regular clients or customers and let them know that you’ll be on leave and when you’ll be back. Don’t leave them in the dark because it’s Murphy’s law that when you’re not available, that’s when they want you the most.

 

·         Have a support system in place and if you don’t know of anyone, get yourself a Virtual Assistant to ‘run’ your business whilst you’re away. Let her have all the necessary emails, contact information and current work that’s not been finalised yet. She can be your go-to person and handle things for you and also liaise with clients on your behalf so that they don’t feel stranded. Currently I’m doing this for an influential client who is overseas and it’s working like a charm. My client still feels in control of her business even though she is not in this country.

 

·         Be available for any emergencies. Again, this is where your Virtual Assistant comes to the fore and she will be able to assess if there is any need to contact you.  She will very likely be quite capable of handling the situation herself and only contact you if the situation absolutely warrants it.  If you still feel it’s necessary while you’re away, set a time to speak to your Virtual Assistant and run through any important issues and the outcome thereof. She will be your right-hand person and has your business interest at heart. Remember, if your clients are kept satisfied, she will be happy too because she knows she will get paid and is pleasing her client, that is you, at the same time. There is no better reassurance than having a satisfied client and a job well done for both parties.

 

·         And the last but not least point, RELAX and enjoy the time that you’re away. You have now done everything in your power to make sure that all your ducks are in a row. You deserve that much needed break!

If you need support and are looking for that perfect back up Virtual Assistant, contact Dee Matheson on dmatheson@worldonline.co.za or look at my website on www.dfm-virtualassistant.co.za

 

Social Media

Years ago when VAs started out working from home they used to advertise office administration, typing and transcription as their services, today there is many more services you can offer clients. One of these services is Social Media. It is important for every business no matter how big or small to be part of social media. Cell Phones, Tablets and IPads are all centred around Social Media, being part of it is part of doing business in the world today.

You have had to set up your own business and have to include Social Media in as part of your networking and marketing so why not offer this service to potential clients, especially to new businesses/entrepreneurs etc. You have learnt enough through doing this for your business to have the experience in it to offer it as a service.
You can offer it on a package basis or on an hourly rate. You can offer social media, or offer it in separate services like Twitter or Facebook etc. You can log into your clients twitter account on a daily basis or every other day and set up tweets ahead of time, interact on behalf of your client with like minded businesses on twitter, the same with Facebook, Linked In etc. You could offer a package for social medial including all 3 the most popular social media platforms which are Facebook, Twitter and Linked In.

Today a lot of company's/businesses networking is done by joining groups within Facebook, Linked In etc. Being part of forums online. You network and interact with people and build up friendships and relationships. Networking is not about selling your project, its about building relationships with likeminded people in the same business as you and maybe business can come from this.

It is a great service to offer clients as its a much in demand service today. People cannot do business today without belonging somehow to social media.