Time Off
One thing I frequently hear from people who want to start their own business is that “it must be nice, being your own boss, then you can take all the time off you want, whenever you want”. While that may be true for some professions (doctors, lawyers, dentists, etc), and even some of them are hard pressed…I just want to clear that up. That is the biggest myth I have ever heard.
When you are “self-employed” (I hate that word, for some reason people (like banks) think that mean “unemployed”), when you don’t work, you don’t get paid. It’s that simple. Sure, you can take all the time off you want, but you won’t get paid. How do you get around this and manage to take vacations, well, here are some things that I have found helpful:
1. Laptops and wireless internet (most places have high-speed ethernet) in their rooms. I happen to be a HUGE fan of Holiday Inn Express; good rooms, easy wireless setup, and lots of “extras” (like the shower head…trust me…it’s great).
2. A PBX that can forward to your cell phone.
Important: Do not EVER give out your cell phone number, people will call it…at all hours.
Really, f you have those, you should be set. Sometimes, you have customers that don’t like to use email and would rather call, and you have to “train” them to email…easily done…more on that later.