Own company "holidays" - best way of dealing with

[Lorrymac]

Hi,

not sure if anyone can help me here...i'm currently in the process of rolling out my own company and the idea is for it to be run by my husband and myself. thing is, we're not sure what to do regarding holidays - i.e. if we want a 2 week family holiday midyear, or maybe a week off for half term etc where we would cover this and how we would deal with it with clients... i'm not being clear here probably.... our business will involve mostly remote support which to be honest we could deal with from anywhere in the world. although we would prefer contact to be only on an emergency basis which given the industry we're in, won't be likely. the other part of our business involves visiting the client and providing a report on a monthly/fortnightly/weekly basis. obviously if we take a holiday at some point in the year we won't be able to fulfil our obligations - how do companies deal with this? is it wise to chose "shut down" times i.e. christmas etc and 2 weeks of the year in the terms and conditions so the client knows we're not available, or is it ok to give a certain period of time of notice and just say "we are on holiday and normal service with resume on x date..."? i'm just not sure - it's a company as in, it's a limited registered company, but in a sense it's more of a self employed role... bit confusing really and i can't find out who i need to speak to to get all the finer details ironed out. any advice greatly appreciated!
Lorraine

[HelpfulHarry]

Your question is too vague for anyone to give advice. Surely if the service you give is something your customers need all the time, you cannot just disappear for a couple of weeks. You really need to be more specific about your service, you make it sound like something to do with computers, I know that if I paid someone to service my computer needs (for my business) then I would expect the service 52 weeks of the year.

[helpmetoo]

mmm,
interesting trail of thought,
lets start our own company,
now ..the most important thing to consider....holidays!

welcome to the world of the self employed,
the buck stops with you,
if you dont earn enough profit to pay for holiday cover of a suitable standard then you 'dont take holidays until you can afford them',
have you also planned a few corporate lunches?

perhaps after applying yourselves totally for the first year the holidays will become manageable, a small sacrifice to make in the long term view.

[redcrx]

I work within our small family firm, I get a day off here and there. My parents take a 2 week break every 3 or 4 years.

I have 2 weeks holiday to look forward to this year, when i give birth.

Holidays are one of the sacrifices when self employed.

We do have a shutdown over xmas and new year though, but that is because our customers nearly all close as well. Any that stay open do get supplies if they need them.

[Twenty20]

I think redcrx hits the nail on the head. When you set up a small company it's very difficult to have holidays. You'll probably manage an odd day here or there but as for two weeks.....But this is just one of the sacrifices you make to run your own business.

As the company gets bigger and more established, its possible you can employ an extra person or two who, if they are capable, should be able to cover for you. Dont bank on any holidays for a little while yet though.

[Oneeyedvic]

Two things:

1) My favourite quote: When you are self employed, you only have to work half a day - pick any 12 hours you like.

2) With regards holidays, it is possible to arrange these. You need to find someone who does a similar business to yourself but far enough away that they will not poach your customers and ask them to take care of your client. I have seen this work locally to good effect.