When’s Your Next Holiday?

I meet too many owners of small businesses who tell me that they can’t take regular holidays. They don’t feel that they can leave their business for more than a weekend, without it falling apart. If they are the only person in their business, they tell me that there’s no one else who can look after their clients or answer the phone. So they don’t go away or take proper breaks. I think that’s really sad.

Is this you? If so, and you’d really like to take a well earned holiday, here’s how to do it:

Price – increase your prices so you actually earn enough money to pay for your next holiday and so that you don’t have to take on every single bit of work that comes your way, just to make ends meet.

Product – create a product or service that you can provide to your clients on an ongoing basis, such as every week or month. This allows you to generate a steady cash flow, so you know how much you’re going to earn each month (and when you can afford your next holiday.) It also allows you to manage your work flow, so you can plan what needs to be done (instead of jumping every time your clients ask you to) and plan some time off. Regular work from your clients also means you don?t have to be constantly looking for the next new project or client.

Place – make it really easy for your clients to buy from you; make it easy for potential clients to find you and buy from you; and think about which places you’d like to visit on your next holiday.

Promotion – ad hoc marketing doesn’t work, so you need to do some marketing every week and even every day. It can be as little at 10 minutes spent connecting with people on LinkedIn or as much as three hours at a networking meeting. However much time you can spend on marketing, do it on an ongoing basis and do it consistently. That way, you’ll be able to attract the right sort of clients who will pay what you want to charge for the products and services you want to sell.

Plan – your marketing and your next holiday! Use these 4Ps (price, product, place and promotion) to create a sustainable business and an effective marketing action plan  and you’ll be a whole lot closer to taking your next holiday!