As the weather in Toronto is expected to reach a balmy 34 degrees celcius today, I thought it would 
be a good time to write about entrepreneurship and summer vacations. The kids are out of school and the beach is calling but does that mean we small business owners will be taking time off? If you can’t take a true vacation, you do have some options.
According to Regus Canada, “a recent survey that found 41 per cent of entrepreneurs will be dealing with email, making calls and attending to significant pieces of work while on their summer vacation.” This is often described as a “workation.” But in order to do this, you need to be well-prepared. Below are some tips and tools you can use to support your workation:
- Be prepared with virtual office tools. Here’s a recent blog that I wrote about how to setup an “anywhere office.”
- Set expectations with customers that you will be away and that you might be a little slower to respond to e-mails and calls. Or, let them know far enough in advance that you can deliver on major projects before-hand.
- Have a back-up plan in case you wifi or computer goes down. Is there an internet cafe or library nearby that you can use to check-in on your e-mail? Also, back-up your files on a USB stick or in the cloud so that you can access them on another device.
- Try to win a free virtual office! Regus Canada will be giving away five virtual offices until the end of 2012. Visit the Regus Canada Facebook Page to enter the “I’d rather work virtually anywhere than the office this summer” contest.
Do you have a workation tip for other small business owners? Please share in the comments section below.