Self employed holidays and time off.

When you’re new to self employment it can be hard to take time off work.
Whatever stage your business is at will define what makes this difficult.

New business excuses for not taking a holiday

Not really working full time hours anyway
Scared of losing the few clients you have
Scared you’ll miss out on booking new clients whilst you’re off work
Can’t really afford to lose the income

Growing business excuses for not taking time off

Scared of losing momentum now the business has picked up
Scared of clients dropping you or going elsewhere
Don’t want to let your current clients down
Worried that the walker covering your work might steal your clients

Established business excuses for not taking a break

No one to oversee staff whilst you’re away
Don’t want to let your loyal clients down
The busier you are the more money you lose by taking time off

As you can see, no matter what stage your business is at, you’ll always be able to find a reason not to take a holiday!

Many business owners thrive by working constantly but for most of us, time off is essential despite any worries you may have.

Just like other self employed people, we have similar worries about loss of income or staff whilst we’re away.
But, unlike other self employed professions, our work can’t just be put on hold for a week.

Let’s take a look at some options regarding what to do with your bookings whilst you’re enjoying your holiday.

Options

Cancel all walks

This would be the most drastic option to take but for some walkers, and their particular clients, it works.

Giving owners plenty of notice in terms of your holiday dates would be a must for this option in order to give them enough time to arrange alternatives for their dogs.

Businesses who opt for this solution tend to give out holiday dates at the beginning of the year for the rest of the year.

The downside to this option is if you needed to change your dates at the last minute, or if you prefer to not plan so far in advance yourself, then giving such short notice can and might upset some clients.

Ask someone to cover walks

Finding someone else to complete the walks whilst you’re away provides a continuation of care and makes life really easy for the client.

It is prudent to inform your clients that someone else is taking their dogs out. Some owners will be fine with this as long as their dog gets taken out, some owners will not be fine and will want to meet the person first or make other arrangements.

The person you choose to cover you should be someone you trust to do the job to the same standard as you usually provide.

For this reason, I would be more inclined to have someone from your walking network cover you, rather than a friend or family member who may not have any experience of what this job entails. As we know, it’s not just about popping a lead on a dog and off you go!

Remember to ensure you have employer liability insurance as part of your business insurance.

If the client/owner pays you directly and then you pay the cover walker then it’s your insurance that is covering the dog for the walk.

If the client leaves cash or pays the cover walker directly by any other method then it’s the cover walker’s insurance that is covering the walk that day. The exchange of money implies a contract exists between the walker and the owner.

Having the owners continue to pay you directly is the simplest solution, stops the cover walker from charging less than you do and potentially having your client go with them as a cheaper option and if you’re concerned about having the walker covered by your own insurance then you might ask yourself if you’ve chosen the right cover walker.

Give clients details of other walkers

The third option is to leave the client details of other dog walkers who may have space to walk their dog.
This option is risky for two reasons.

Firstly, they may switch walkers and not come back.

Secondly, it’s not the best option in terms of customer service because it puts the onus on the client to sort it all out.

Making life easy for your clients is better customer service and leads to more loyalty from them.

In my experience, I find a mixture of the first two options the best solution.

This gives the client the option to cancel and make other arrangements but also provides a solution to them if they’re unable to do so and still need their dog walked or visited.

Not only does it provide the owner with choice, but also makes those choices easy and low effort which they will appreciate.

Best time of year

In general, the best time of year to take self employed holidays is during the school holidays, especially the summer break or over Christmas.

This is when owners might have holidays themselves (so the dogs will be in kennels or home boarding), be off work more if they have children at home and will generally be able to make alternative arrangements or be available themselves to walk their own dogs.

Amount of notice

Whichever option you choose in terms of covering the walks, it’s best to give as much notice as possible.
The shorter the notice you give, the more help your clients may need in terms of requiring cover rather than cancelling walks.

If you’ve given your holiday dates months in advance it’s wise to remind your clients about those dates at least a month prior to the time off and then once more a week beforehand. Clients can be notoriously forgetful!

Enjoy your time away guilt free

Got a separate business phone? Give it to someone else. Set up an auto-reply on your emails. It’s tempting to check in and far too easy to get sucked into answering texts and emails.

Set boundaries early on by only communicating with clients during set times and then when you’re away they’ll be more respectful of your boundaries.

Hopefully, there are a few tips there to make sure you take your holiday, enjoy your holiday guilt-free and return to your dog walks refreshed, relaxed and looking forward to seeing them again.