Travelling is fun — whether that’s spending time in Prague with your significant other or bonding with your fur baby around Devon. Travelling refreshes your mind and body, resulting in better mental health, increased creativity, and lower stress and anxiety.
But travelling won’t be as easy when you’re running a business. You must ensure that your business continues running smoothly even when you’re away. How can you enjoy your trip if you constantly worry about your business or receive calls from staff asking for help?
Get the most out of your next trip while keeping your business afloat by following these tips:
Invest in the Right Office Equipment
Your employees will become stressed if you expect them to complete tasks manually. Technology is everywhere, so harness its capabilities when managing your business from afar.
Create an efficient workplace and promote better workflows by investing in the right office equipment for your employees. Ideally, this should be on top of your to-do list before your business operates, not when you’re only about to travel.
Look for deals on computer sets, printers, monitors, and other office equipment your employees might need. Check Argos, Costco, or Lidl non-food offers to score the best deals on high-quality yet affordably priced office equipment.
Automate Your Accounting Process
Does your business make and send invoices to customers all the time? If so, opt to automate your accounting process by using an Google Sheets invoice generator. Taking this route is beneficial in the long run as it saves time, improves productivity, and ensures data accuracy.
There is plenty of invoice generator software available today. Choose one that’s easy to use, comes with templates, and has a reasonable price tag. Don’t forget to test out the software weeks before your trip so employees can easily use it once you hop on the plane!
Hire Using Videos
Your business’s hiring process shouldn’t stop just because you’re travelling. Finding the right talent is crucial for your business’s growth, and putting recruitment on hold can also stall your business’s ability to grow.
Ensure that your business continues to scout for the best talents by using video surveys. Ask potential candidates to send you videos of themselves talking about their professional experience and why they’re the best fit for the position you’re looking for. Remember to state the ideal video length and the information candidates should mention in their videos.
After you have selected the candidates that you think are a potential fit, for the next stage of the hiring process send them a list of pre-screening interview questions, so you can move them to the final interview stage based on their answers.
Once you have narrowed down your options based on the videos you received, schedule a video interview with your top five or ten candidates. Take note of their responses, choose who to hire, and inform your team back home about your decision.
Delegate Tasks Using Screen Recordings
Holding meetings with teams might not be possible when travelling as not all locations have a stable Internet connection.
Instead of holding meetings, make use of screen recordings and send them to your employees. This is a more convenient option as you can record yourself delegating tasks and walking employees through projects even when you’re offline. Send the video once you find an Internet connection during your trip, and you’re done!
Appoint Someone to Act During Your Trip
Travelling will be useless when your phone and email are constantly bombarded with messages from employees from different departments. Do you think you can ever relax if employees always ask for your decisions?
Appoint someone to be in charge while you’re gone. Inform your employees who this person is and instruct them to direct all their concerns to your appointee. Choose an appointee who you trust can make decisions on your behalf and knows how to filter which concerns are urgent or not. This person can also help keep the productivity of your workplace efficient while you are gone.
This way, countless employees won’t reach out to you during your trip.
Prepare For Your Absence Weeks or Months in Advance
How soon you should start planning for your absence depends on how long you’ll travel. If you’re going to travel for a few days, giving your employees a heads-up a week or two before your trip is enough. If travelling longer, you must notify your employees in advance.
Aside from your travel dates, inform employees whether or not they can reach you. Ideally, they should only contact you in case of emergencies. Let them know that you’ve appointed someone in charge and encourage them to address their concerns to your appointee.
The whole point of informing your employees early is to give them time to organise and plan accordingly.
You Deserve a Vacation
Just because you’re running a business doesn’t mean you have to write off vacation time. On the contrary, you deserve a vacation every now and then, as being an entrepreneur isn’t an easy feat.
As long as you know how to plan and what to organise before your trip, you can enjoy your time off from work without constantly worrying about your business!
