As I was preparing for my trip to Asia, the most important thing for me was to make sure I wasn’t jeopardizing my business. Being a new business owner, there’s still a lot that i’m learning and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t sacrificing my client’s businesses by going on vacation. This is a struggle many solopreneurs have the first few years of their business – taking time off. When every single thing about your business relies on you, it’s easy to work yourself into the ground. But the reality is, you deserve it. All you need to do is prepare your business properly and make sure you’re not sacrificing any part of your business.

Today i’m sharing some tips on how to prepare for travel as a solopreneur. These are all strategies I used prepping for my 3 week trip to Asia. I didn’t want to be worried about my business while I was there, so I made sure to lock down a system so I could enjoy my vacation.

Prepare Your Clients

Especially in a service based business where you work with clients on a monthly basis you have to tell them beforehand! I started telling clients three weeks before I left, so that I gave myself time to finish the work they wanted to get done before I left. It was important to me that clients didn’t feel as though I was abandoning them. So, with every client I created a list of tasks to be completed before I left and what we’ll work on when I get back. This way, we both understand what’s expected and you’re not leaving in the middle of an unfinished project.

Book clients after

As a new business owner, I still don’t have clients flocking in to get brand’s designed by me. Like most solopreneurs, you spend lots of time going on coffee dates, cold emailing people or going to networking events. Because you’re not going to be able to do any of this while on vacation, booking clients for after your vacation will give you a piece of mind.

When I was speaking to a potential new client within a few weeks of my departure, I would tell them that I would be able to start when I get back. I sent them my onboarding process (contract & questionnaire) so they can work on it while I am gone. This way, when I get back, we can get started right away!

Close invoices

Before leaving, be sure to close all outstanding invoices. Sending out invoices before you leave gives both you and your client the understanding of where you are in the project. Even if you’re going on vacation for a few days, your clients won’t have any surprises when you get back.

Little trick: if you send out the invoices the day before you leave, you’ll get paid while you’re on vacation.

Don’t “i’ll do that while i’m there” anything

I do this to myself ALL THE TIME and it either ends up with me not doing it at all and stressing about it the entire time. Especially if you’re going somewhere where wifi is not guaranteed, you have to prepare like you’re not going to be connected to anyone the whole time.

If you post to social media, write blog posts or have a YouTube channel you have to prepare and schedule beforehand. You’ll feel so much better knowing it’s already done and you can go on social media to keep everyone up to date on your trip!

Here, you can get a free social media calendar to help you schedule in advance!

I know that this can be intimidating, and trust me, it’s hard to not feel like you’re abandoning your business and clients, because at the end of the day – you love what you do! By preparing both your business and clients for your trip, you’re able to enjoy your much deserved time off!

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