One of the biggest tests of your business isn't how it runs when you're there. It's how it runs when you're not.

Summer vacation season is here, and whether you have a team or you're a solopreneur, taking time away requires a little planning.

If You Have a Team

Successful vacations start long before you leave. If your team relies on you to answer every question and solve every problem, the week before your vacation is too late to fix that.

Months before you leave, start encouraging independent decision-making. When someone brings you a problem, don't immediately give them the answer. Ask them what they think. Help them work through it.

Create systems. Document recurring processes. Make it easy for people to find answers without you.

And here's the hard part: they may make decisions you wouldn't have made, and that's okay.

I know it can feel scary to leave, but if you never go, your team will never learn that they can do it without you. In my experience, you take a deep breath, trust your team, and it'll go just fine.

If You're a Solopreneur

Vacation looks a little different when you're the entire company.

When I was running Erin's Faces by myself, I continued taking orders while I was away, but I clearly communicated exactly what customers could expect. Orders placed between June 20 and June 27, for example, would begin shipping on June 30. And that information should be everywhere: in a banner at the top of your website, at checkout, and in the order confirmation email customers receive after placing their order.

I continued to check customer service emails once a day. As a one-person operation, I felt it was important to make sure no urgent questions were sitting unanswered, so I'd carve out 20 minutes or so to review emails and respond as needed. It's much easier to stay on top of things as they come in than return to a week's worth of customer questions all at once.

And lastly, make sure you have time blocked off when you return. You'll need dedicated hours to process the orders that came in while you were away and get everything shipped out.

The Goal

The goal is to build a business that can survive without you for a week (or more).

If you have a team, vacations help build independence, confidence, and trust. If you're a solopreneur, they help you create the habit of stepping away while continuing to take care of your customers through clear communication.

Taking time away makes you a better leader, a better business owner, and a happier human being. So take the vacation!