As teenagers get into their exam season at school, thoughts for many of us turn to what to do in the school holidays.
Perhaps a family vacation to a foreign destination such as Spain or the Greek islands, or a trip to Disney in Florida? Or maybe a staycation, visiting friends somewhere around the UK, in Cornwall or Scotland is in your plans.
Whatever the trip, it needs to be a holiday for the whole family – and that includes mum and dad, too. With more and more people running their own business, that becomes an ever larger problem. If you are a one person operation, working on your own, then how can you handle your holiday period?
Even if you warn key clients when you will be taking a holiday, there is still the need to keep business on track during the period when you are away. Perhaps there will be important presentations to prepare, invoices and sales calls to be followed up – all manner of tasks that will simply back up, if you leave them while you are away. And returning to a full inbox of emails, as well as the backlog of tasks that need doing, can leave you feeling like you need a holiday all over again!
But rather than worry about handling these important tasks, while you are away, there is an alternative. And that alternative is to use a virtual assistant to help with holiday cover.
It is a simple and quick procedure to set up your virtual assistant. A briefing will ensure they can handle a range of tasks for you in a professional manner. For example, you can divert your emails so that the virtual assistant can review them, deal with those that are not urgent and then – if necessary – forward any urgent matters to you directly. That way, you only get distracted from your holiday free time, if absolutely necessary.
And a virtual assistant can be helpful if you have a small business, perhaps with three or four staff working together. With small team numbers, there is extra pressure when one of the team is off on holiday. If you plan ahead, you can use a virtual assistant to undertake key tasks, while you are a team member short. That way, the rest of the team does not get stressed out, trying to do the work of more than one person at the same time.
Using a virtual assistant is very cost-effective, as you only pay for the amount you use the service. And you may find that using a virtual assistant is much more valuable than you thought. You can of course switch the service off, once you return from your holiday, or else give it a try to see how much more efficient this type of support will make you, on a regular basis.
If you need help over the summer, why not call now, to see which service will help you out best?