Out Of Office: You Can Step Away – and Still Show Up

📆 Plan ahead and Know your Seasonal Business Flow

Montana is beautiful indeed – it can also be seasonally intense. From the tourist booms to unpredictable weather, understanding the industry and your business rhythm is crucial.

Start with tracking your business flow: look at past sales, booking, or engagement trends. Then you can ask yourself, ‘What does the time I want to take off typically look like for my business?’

Choose vacation your dates strategically. Choosing a time that naturally aligns with business lulls. Block those dates of as early as you can – block these dates on every calendar you use, whether it is a digital calendar, a booking platform, etc. Also, let your team know! Make sure it is marked on their calendars as well.

👉 Pro Tip: Add a buffer to your vacation – avoid booking anything on the first and last day of your vacation to ease the transition between work and vacation.

👥 Delegate with Confidence: Letting Go to Level Up

Many women small business owners – especially those working solo or leading smaller teams – fall into the trap of doing everything themselves. Montana is a place where the ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’ mentality runs deep. Grit is a superpower – here is the thing; burnout doesn’t build legacy.

It can stall growth in more ways than one. Rest can actually fuel sustainability. Delegation creates opportunities to build trust and empower others while streamlining your systems. With delegation, you can build a more sustainable business model that doesn’t just rely on you.

The goal is to prepare someone else to keep the wheels turning while you are away. First, start with identifying time sensitive tasks like responding to clients, customer service, and content publishing. Identifying the tasks that need to be handle as they come in, and training your team to handle them, is a key step to vacation-proofing a business.

👉 Pro Tip: Progress not Perfection. Your team might not do task exactly as you would, and that’s okay. Accept that a few things may not go according to plan, and that’s okay.

📨 Automate Client & Customer Communication

Automating certain tasks allows you the freedom to know going on vacation doesn’t mean ghosting your customers. It also helps your team to be able to focus on the tasks that need their immediate attention.

The most important is an automatic email reply for your email that lets others know that you are out of the office, when you are returning, and who to reach out to in the meantime.

Example Out-of-Office Message:

“Hi there! I’m currently on vacation from [start date] to [return date] and will be responding to emails after [date]. If your request is urgent, please reach out to [delegate name + email]. Thanks for your patience while I recharge—can’t wait to connect when I return!”

Other automation that you can do are on your booking software. Block off your vacation days so no one can book with you during that time. You can use software to help with the automated appointment scheduling if needed. You can also add intake forms so customers can still express interest in booking.

Schedule your social media in advance. If you are just using direct platforms, such as Facebook, you can schedule your posts a few weeks in advance. You can also use a scheduling platform that is attached to your social media accounts and that should allow you to schedule further out if needed.

🚨 Emergency Plans – Just in Case

While we want your vacation to be relaxing, it is a wise choice to have a basic contingency plan in case something does go awry. Especially in Montana where remote areas might mean spotty service, it is essential to prepare for the unexpected.

This isn’t about planning for a disaster; it’s about empowering your team to handle challenges in your absence.

Make sure you and your team have clear definitions of what constitutes an emergency.

You can create a digital ‘first aid kit’ for your team. This can include the way you want certain emergencies to be handled, direct contact info for you while you are away, log ins, whatever you feel you want your team to know and/or have readily available in case something arises.

👉 Pro Tip: Create a quick list that can list any actual emergencies you want to be privy to.

🏔 Montana Bonus Tip: If you’ll be in areas with limited cell service (which is common), prepare an auto-reply SMS or voicemail message to set expectations.

🏞️ Vacation-proofing even without a team!

It is possible to prep your business so you can take a well-deserved vacation – even without a team. Many tips we’ve already covered still apply to you, but here’s how to tailor them when you’re running the show solo:

Planning ahead is an important first step. It allows you time to let your clients know, block of your calendar and make the proper preparations.

Automation will be your best friend during your vacation. Automating repeated tasks, and things like an automatic email reply stating you are out of the office can make a world of difference.

If you are able to, batch work before vacation. Write emails, work on client content, record emails, create social media posts, etc. and schedule them out to be sent or published for when you are on vacation to stay on track.

You can create a “While I am Away” Hub: you can create a FAQ page that answers questions you regularly would be answering yourself, pin a post on Instagram and Facebook stating you are on vacation, create a form where your clients are able to book time with you after you are back from vacation, etc.

👉 Pro Tip: Call in back up if you can. If you have a trusted fellow entrepreneur in your network, and they are willing to help out, have them be ‘in case of emergency plan’. You can even offer a trade, they cover your vacation and you will help cover theirs.

Enjoy your vacation! Set boundaries, and know that the business can hold steady while you take a breath – rest is an important part of running a sustainable business.

✨ In Closing

You have the tools, the team, and the mindset to take a vacation!

You started your business with determination to have freedom, flexibility and the ability to enjoy this beautiful state. By planning ahead, delegating and automating and setting up a simple emergency plan, you are building a business that supports your life – not one that consumes it.

“Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.” – Dolly Parton.

So go on! Set your out-of-office. Pack your bags. Enjoy vacation! You have earned this!

Need help putting this plan into action?

Contact our business advisors at the Rocky Mountain Women’s Business Center!