One of the best things about being your own boss means you have flexibility over your schedule. You can take time off if you need to, or sleep in a bit later knowing you can make up the work during the evening.

As long as you get your work done, and your clients are happy, you can work as much or as little as you like. This sense of freedom and control is even more evident when you run an on-the-go-online business, like I do. As long as I have a laptop/iPad and a good internet connection there are no limits. This is where implementing frequent work-holidays can come in very handy, especially if you need some extra inspiration. And embracing technology is the way to go.

What is a work-holiday or work-vacation? 

The term was made popular by Noah Kagan of AppSumo, who has perfected the art of travelling all all over the world without ever taking a holiday from work. Basically it is a work and holiday all wrapped up into one. He has built a mobile business, by creating software, that allows him and his team to see the world, visit family and friends, all while balancing their work alongside having fun. Part of his days are spent working and the other part is spent enjoying the surroundings and social events.

How to prepare a work-holiday?

Although it sounds easy enough, after testing out a few work-holidays myself, it can still be difficult to balance your life with family, friends and doing the touristy thing, while running a business. Unexpected things come up, fires need to be put out and clients demand your full attention.

Here are five steps to prepare for and get the most out of your work-holiday:

1. Establish clear boundaries with friends and family.

Most of my work-holidays consist of visiting family members or friends who are spread across the country. The very first thing I do before committing to a trip is explain my intentions to everyone. Communication is key! Of course there will be days set aside for sightseeing and exploring, but then there will be days (or full afternoons) dedicated to getting work done.

It’s important to establish clear boundaries (with yourself and your friends) before heading on a work-holiday, so they know there will be times you have to be productive. This also keeps everyone from being annoyed or offended if you aren't able to give them your full attention on any given day.

2. Create a work-life system with your team or employees.

Just as your friends and family should know what’s up in advance, your team members need to know the importance of balancing work and life — which is one of the main advantages to going on a work-holiday. You’re able to work hard and play hard, and should encourage your employees or contractors to do the same.

I wrote about putting systems in place on last week's newsletter. Put systems in place now so they know how to handle client emergencies if you’re unable to respond. Create clear guidelines on how projects should be handled and the chain of command that needs to be followed in certain situations.

Let them know what times of the day you’ll be available, and share your calendar so they understand where you’ll be at certain times. This is especially important when you’re out to lunch with friends, or in a location without internet access. If you equip your team properly, they will be able to handle any situation that arises — giving you peace of mind.

3. Work and plan ahead with your goal in mind.

Another great thing about going on a work-holiday is that you don’t have to plan too far ahead to make the trip happen. Most of the time business owners have to schedule out their trips far in advance so they can prep the team and clients, but a working vacation allows you to have more flexibility while only planning a few weeks in advance.

How many hours a day will you be able to work while on your trip? Will you only work in the early morning or late evenings, while taking the middle of the day to do touristy stuff?

When I prep for a work-holiday, I always act as if I’m on the vacation several weeks prior so I can work out the kinks. It takes time to carve out a new schedule successfully, so work ahead with your goal of going on a workcation in mind. Determine your best work-life schedule and practice it a few weeks before your trip.

4. Do research in advance to prepare for setbacks.

Not everything will go as planned. Sometimes personal issues will take priority over your work (as they should) and you’ll be forced to change up your schedule.

There may be an event you just don’t want to miss with your friends, but that means you’ll have to miss a client deadline in the process. Or maybe you expected really good internet, and then a huge lightning storm rolled in and blew out everything.  
You can — and should — do research in advance to prepare for any emergencies and changes that pop up. But you also have to know that being away from your home office, and the consistent schedule, allows for a lot more problems. Take them in stride and be flexible with yourself and your business.

How do you take your business on holiday?

Working while on holiday is possible, if you know what steps to make it happen. Your business can provide the freedom you’ve been looking for to travel more, see friends and family, and go on adventures, if you implement these simple steps.

Set realistic boundaries with yourself, your team and everyone you come into contact with. This will enable you to successfully take your business on holiday, so you can recharge, get refreshed and find new inspiration.

Getting more out of your small business usually comes down to four things:

• finding the time to identify opportunities for improvement,
  
• acting on good up-to-date information and advice,
  
• carefully managing your cash-flow, and 
  
• making the most of any benefits and rewards.
  

This newsletter is continuously bringing to you helpful tips, tools and resources to assist you in your every day activities, and in helping you to grow your small business efficiently. Part of that growing is that you as the business owner or entrepreneur is required to free up time to focus on your business.

Spending  less time working in your business and more time working on your business is a well-known recipe for success. But when you are running a small business, you can be so busy doing the doing, there never seems to be time to look at how the doing is done. This week we'll look at how we can handle the first item above, so here are few quick tips to help you get started.

Find out exactly what you do

For a day or a week, record everything you do, as you do it. If you need to - hire a student or ask someone to follow you around and record it for you. It may sound odd but that it is all about getting things done without any excuses. Make a note of every call you take, every email you read, every conversation you have - the lot.

For each activity note the time it took and have some columns to tick with headings like, planned activity or unplanned activity, productive or unproductive, completed or needs a revisit, manual task that has an automatic option - you get the idea?

Look for opportunities


Once you've recorded what you do, here are some simple time saving tips that could help you spot opportunities to stop doing some things, do some things differently or start something new.

1. Handle each piece of paper only once: Avoid the trap of opening, reading and thinking, then deciding to action it later. You will just end up repeating what you have done.
2. Batch similar tasks and do them together: For example, try to check your email at set times of the day only, rather than letting each one interrupt what you are doing. Remember to allow yourself time to action them there and then, even if that means booking time later to address what's required.
3. When you leave a phone message, suggest a time when they should call back: That way they are less likely to call when you are unavailable and you will avoid a time-wasting game of phone tag. Even better, use email instead.
4. Avoid entering information multiple times: This will save time and reduce errors.
5. Look for ways of doing things that do not lock you into specific time of day: For example, ordering supplies online or by phone and getting them delivered means you won't have to interrupt what you are doing because your supplier's not available.
6. Try to reduce the number of steps in any process: For example, with the eftpos machines, bank cards and credit cards use are so accessible and convenience nowadays - you can ask your customers to pay on the spot after completing a purchase or a job. It saves several steps of paperwork, plus it is quick and easy for the customer.
7. Look for tasks that could be automated: Even simple things like paying your regular bills by direct debit or automatic payment.
8. Plan ahead: A little time spent planning can save a lot of time later. Allocate time for the big tasks first and let the small ones fit in around them. Plan to minimise travel time. Make a list of things to take with you, so you won't forget them in the rusg later and waste time doubling back.

So take action and start the ball rolling. Chances are one or two straightforward opportunities to free up a little time will quickly appear. Make them happen as soon as possible and make sure you use the extra free time to investigate more ways to save time.

By repeating this process you'll soon be able to set aside a regular block of time for working on your business, rather than in it. After that, further time savings can be used to get more doing done and lift the productivity of your business.

Save time with online services like Internet Banking


With more and more banks now offering online services you can make use of that for both of your personal and business banking activities. If you are not sure what online services your bank is currently offering - make time to visit your bank and discuss this with them. By taking advantage of your bank online service is an easy business tool that can free up your time so you can focus on your business. Here is how:

1. Get your online business banking done whenever it suits: You can get this done from anywhere as long as you have access to the internet. Quickly check on your transaction, get wages done or pay bills. This kind of flexibility can really boost your business productivity.
2. Separate your business and personal banking: For small businesses it is all too easy to let your business banking become tangled in your personal finances.  This can lead to time-wasting re-work when it comes to doing the accounts. It also makes it difficult for you to keep your finger on the financial pulse of your business.
3. Eliminate financial re-work and put an end to repetitive accounting data entry: With internet banking for small business you can quickly sort, filter and download your banking history into excel or popular accounting software packages. It not only saves time, it also removes the opportunity for data entry errors.

Your competitor in business may not be who you think it is...

When asked who we think our competitor in business is, we naturally start to think about the other businesses who offer a similar product or service for a similar price point and who are targeting the same market as us. I disagree.

I think the biggest competitor entrepreneurs will face in their business is fear and self-doubt. The biggest competitor will be that internal dialogue which is silent and deadly and which, if we let it, can talk us out of hustling, making that extra phone call, sending that next email and essentially doing whatever it is that we need to do to keep our business going and our dreams alive. Our biggest competitor is that voice, built on fear and self-doubt that will talk us out of following our dreams and into going back to our “old job”, the safe option and the “security” of that regular pay check.

Self-doubt is a sign of one's weakness and I think we all have moments of it. It reminds me that, to be an entrepreneur, you need to be mentally and emotionally tough but also courageous enough to admit when you are vulnerable and brave enough to seek out someone who can help you through. We all have moments of self-doubt and dealing with it alone is tough and sometimes not enough. It reminds me why I wanted to start the Entrepreneurs Network and be a part of other Network in the first place, to find like-minded people, who I can share with and talk to about things that are going on and who will understand what I'm talking about.

Here are my top 5 tips to overcoming fear and self-doubt in business:

• Take time out to see a friend and share a coffee

I do believe a problem shared is a problem halved! Find a friend, ideally who is also in business, whom you can confide in when the going gets tough. There are no prizes for martyrs who put on a brave face when their business is going to ground. Speaking to someone not only eases the burden, but it also gives an outsider the opportunity to offer assistance. By sharing your problems you are giving others the opportunity to put forth ideas or connect you to others who can assist.

• Set goals and share them with those you trust and believe in you

As we have spent all of last month, August focusing on setting your goals, this is where it leads to. By setting business goals that are relevant and achievable, it gives you something to focus on when the going gets tough. It gives you purpose and a reason to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Sharing them also means you have someone holding you accountable to achieving them which places the responsibility squarely on you to take the action needed to achieve them. Absolutely nothing will change until you take action!

• Find a Mentor is a 'must do and have'
  

Mentoring is exceptionally important in business and I have proven this to be a life-changing experience over and over again, which has also given the reason for me to also offer mentorship as part of the services I provide. We are all learning and there is always someone else who has been before us and whom we can learn from. Mentors can give you advice on where they went wrong and what they’d recommend you do so you can learn from their mistakes, thereby avoiding making the same ones. It also gives you a tangible example of success in that what you want to achieve is possible as it’s been done before!

• Make a “To Do” list everyday and stick to it

Even if it only has 3 things on it, that “to do” list is going to keep you focused on a daily basis. Have that list be directly tied to your bigger goals and everyday you will feel like you are moving forward and achieving something. It’s the small steps which turn into the forward movement in business. Remember, behind every overnight success is 10 years of hard work carried out on a daily basis!

• Celebrate your achievements as it is!

No one tells your own story better than you do. Each time you tick off an item on your “To Do” list, celebrate! Post it on Facebook, phone your friend or email your mentor! Do something where you will receive positive reinforcement for taking the positive action. This will give you extra incentive to keep moving forward as you will feel like you’ll have your own little cheer squad celebrating each success with you!

Tackling fear and self-doubt is going to be a regular occurrence in business so make sure you have some strategies in place to help you through. This reminds me why our Entrepreneurs Network is so important. It’s important because we have to build a platform where we can provide our members and guests with a community of women, men, young just like them, who they can turn to when the fear and self-doubt become too much for them to deal with alone.

Each woman, man and young involved in our network, be it member, guest, founder, speaker or a hero is here to support all entrepreneurs and to ensure they don’t give up on themselves or their dreams. The world needs more women, men and young like us who are following their dreams and we are here to support them to do it.

So thank you to everyone who is reading this because you are a part of an awesome Entrepreneurs Network and each of us, in our own small way, is contributing to this collective effort which is hopefully going to help all of Tonga and millions of  entrepreneurs worldwide. The network is important, it's necessary and it's going to change the game!

There are many answers to this question; but the primarily reason to why small businesses experience problems is because of their failure to put in place effective systems and controls such as:

• Policies
• Procedures
• Checks and balances

The purpose of systems and controls is to help manage the organisational activities.
So, why do entrepreneurs neglect systems and controls?

We are still human and sometimes we make mistakes, but the best thing about making those mistakes is that we should see it as an opportunity to improve the way we do things. It should also be seen as lessons to learn from so that we'll try to avoid making the same mistakes over again. Entrepreneurs overlook the fact that an error in one area of the company has an impact throughout the whole organisation. There are four basic types of systems and controls for the business;

• Physical control includes your Inventory Management, Quality Control, Equipment & Tools Management, etc.
• Control of human resources includes Hiring, Retaining, and Dimissing employees. If you learn to hire people - you should also learn to retain and fire people.
• Controlling Information includes Information to be competitive in the market place, Sales forecast, Market analysis, and Production and service scheduling.
• Financial Controls includes Financial control of the cash flow affect every area of the organisation, System for managing , Timing purchases correctly, and Managing accounts receivable effectively.

The photo below is an example of the Interconnections between the four basic types of system and controls in business.