This is Summertime

​As we get to the very end of June, everyone is finishing up school, summer really begins, and families start to look forward to their vacations. That leads right into next week when July 4th falls on a Tuesday, prompting talk of whether a four-day weekend makes the most sense for it.

So, do we actually work less over the summer? Yes, the school calendar lingers in how it shapes our lives even long after our classroom time is complete. And come on, it’s just warmer out there, it’s a time made for vacations.

This can be difficult for some small business owners to navigate, though, for when they take time to step outside of work, it can mean that much of their business’s work shuts down. And then what are their customers going to think if there is a week (or heaven forbid, two weeks!) when they can’t receive their services?

Well first off, if a customer doesn’t value you enough as a person to appreciate that you need a vacation, they may not be the ideal customer. The best relationships there are when you are valued for who you are and aren’t seen as just a plug-in service. So if this was THAT big of a problem, maybe it is just an indicator that you don’t need that customer.

Secondly, good customer service means that you aren’t breaking the news of your vacation out of nowhere. And letting people know that you will be taking some time off doesn’t have to be an involved process. Once you have something planned, you can just put the dates in your email signature to give people a quick and natural heads-up weeks ahead of when it will happen.

And then, of course it’s possible that these dates may overlap with a time when a customer needs something but knowing that ahead of time gives the chance to find a workaround that will accommodate everyone’s needs.

And finally, remember that your needs are also important. If you only ever see yourself as someone who serves others, that may be wildly fulfilling most of the time but there are going to be other times when it burns you out and you need to think about yourself or you’ll rush toward the end of your business’s life. So yes, this is the time of the year for vacations and time off … and that is quite all right.

​Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
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