Being an entrepreneur has so many perks. I can work from the road, I can set my own hours, I can do what I want to do when I want to do it. The one catch? Being the boss means no sick days.
In a rather amazing twist, for the first time in the nearly year long partnership of our business, Stephanie & I have managed to both get sick at the same time. Completely separate illnesses, as we are thousands of miles apart, but sick none the less. Normally, if one of us is sick, the other one can take charge and make sure things get done. That has not been the case for the past 24 hours. (Fortunately, thanks to the power of medicine, we are both on the mend!)
It is moments like these where having great systems in place really is important. I first learned this lesson early in my photography career when I landed in the hospital for emergency surgery just a week before I was supposed to photograph a wedding. Fortunately, I had a backup plan, and while I was only there for the ceremony (against doctor’s orders), my clients were still well taken care of. I was so glad I had a system in place, and didn’t have to spend time in the hospital worrying about it all!
If you’re the boss of your own business, what systems do you have in place to take care of your clients and customers? If something happened to you, and you weren’t able to handle things, could someone step in and take over for you? Does anyone know how to get to your client’s contact information? Your schedule? Would your business go on without you?
You’re taking on a lot of responsibility when you’re running a company. Most of us take on payments in advance of work being completed. Your clients expect you to follow through with your commitments — and if you can’t do it? You should make sure someone else can.
Share the information with your spouse and a trusted friend. Bonus if they can do the work in your absence, but if not make sure they know who to contact to get things done for you. Make a list of critical websites, passwords, and anything else they might need to know. Not fun to think about, but having that system in place before you need it will relieve you of so much stress when you’re sick and you can’t focus on it at all.
Being the boss means being responsible. Even when it means no sick days.
Christine Tremoulet
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