May 14, 2025 • 24 mins
As a product business owner, taking time off can feel like a luxury you simply can’t afford. There’s always something that needs your attention—customers, orders, stock, marketing. The idea of stepping away can feel more stressful than restful.
In this special 250th episode, I’m sharing a rare behind-the-scenes look at my own business. Last month, I took three separate trips, and it made me reflect on what success really means. Yes, turnover matters. But so does the ability to take a proper break without everything falling apart.
Although I run a service-based business, I’ve worked with hundreds of indie retailers over the years, and I realize how difficult it is to carve out that space.
If stepping back feels impossible, I want you to know it doesn’t have to be. And if you’d like help creating a business that truly works for you, Retail By Design might be just what you need. There are still a few places left!
[00:00] Why taking time off can feel impossible for product business owners
[01:49] What three trips in one month taught me about success and balance
[03:27] The real cost of not taking proper breaks from your business
[11:44] How to plan ahead so you can step away with confidence
[17:05] How support and clear priorities make time off possible
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Stop winging it. Take your business to the next level of growth.
Retail by Design is a high-performance, six-month programme, combining award-winning business mentoring with the magic of masterminding. It’s built for ambitious, established small business owners turning over £100K+ who are ready to step out of survival mode and grow with clarity, structure and calm confidence. Learn More at https://www.resilientretailclub.com/retail-business-mentoring/
Mentioned in this episode:
Freebie download
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
How do you find it takingtime off in your business?
Is it something that you find thatyou can do easily or is it something
that you really struggle with?
That's what we're gonna delveinto in today's episode.
Hi, I'm Catherine Erdly.
I'm a small business of retail expertand the founder of the Resilient
Retail Club, where I offer one-to-oneservices, membership, and done for you
services to product business owners.
(00:24):
You can check it out atresilientretailclub.com.
And today I wanted to share, this isepisode number 250 of the podcast.
Can you believe it?
And the podcast is nearly five yearsold, which is also unbelievable.
And I wanted to take this opportunityin this episode to do something a
little bit different, and that'sactually use an example from my own
(00:46):
business to talk about taking time off.
Welcome to the Resilient RetailGame Plan, a podcast for anyone
wanting to start, grow or scalea profitable creative product
business with me, Catherine Erdley.
The Resilient Retail Game Plan isa podcast dedicated to one thing,
(01:09):
breaking down the concepts and toolsthat I've gathered from 20 years in
the retail industry and showing youhow you can use them in your business.
This is the real nuts and bolts ofrunning a successful product business,
broken down in an easy, accessible way.
This is not a podcast about learninghow to make your business look good.
It's the tools and techniques that willmake you and your business feel good.
(01:33):
Confidently plan, launch, and manageyour products, and feel in control of
your sales numbers and cash flow to helpyou build a resilient retail business.
Now, as those of you who'velistened for a while will know,
I am a service-based business whoserves product-based businesses.
(01:56):
So I don't tend to like to use toomany examples from my own business to
talk about what your business is like.
But I think in this case it is relevantbecause I had an experience recently,
which really made me think about whatit means to run your own small business
and also what success looks like.
For a lot of people and theexperience that I had was due to
(02:18):
a variety of different reasons.
I ended up having threetrips in the month of April.
So I was off for a week goingto California to Social Media
Marketing World, which was areally phenomenal conference.
Great opportunity to get some perspectiveand to really get a different view
of the business as well as the SanDiego, which is a really fabulous city.
(02:39):
I then took a four day trip to Marrakeshwith my daughter because it was the
Easter holidays and we had a bit oftime together, a bit of mother and
daughter time, which was really fabulous.
And then finally I ended up taking aweek to go to the Netherlands to go
on a biking holiday with my husband.
Now, fun fact or not so fun fact thattrip was actually rescheduled from
(03:02):
last year when my son had fallen offhis bike and ironically had fallen
off his bike and broken his leg.
And we were supposed to be going on thattrip last year and we decided we couldn't
really travel with him being injured.
And so we postponed it by a year.
So because of various different things,the timing of these Easter holidays,
this trip being moved, and the date thatthe conference was, I ended up taking
(03:23):
three trips in the month of April.
Now, why am I telling you about this?
Well, it made me reflect on the factthat often when we talk about success
in our business, often people talkabout the number side of things.
They talk about the turnoverthat they want to hit, and that
obviously is a big part of it.
But for me, it was making mereflect that as I was working.
(03:44):
You know, over the last sevenyears I've worked with probably
around 200 business owners.
And a lot of the time we aretalking about growing the business.
We're talking about more money,we're talking about better
profits, managing the stock.
We're talking about confidence,all the rest of that kind of thing.
But often, actually what we'retalking about is work-life balance
and how does the business serve you?
(04:06):
And it's one of the key pieces of workthat we do is looking at this idea of how
do you take a break from the business?
And I think about a couple ofclients in particular who for us,
after working together, after sixmonths, what did success look like?
Well, for one client, it was that theycould come in late on a Wednesday morning
(04:26):
and go to Pilates first, and they hada team in place who could actually mean
that they felt like they could have alittle bit of a lie-in and go do some
good self-care on a Wednesday morning.
And for another client, it was thatthey took a two week holiday in
August, they kept the business open.
Previous years they had felt likethey had to close the business down,
(04:48):
which lost them a lot of momentum.
They just weren't able to take a break.
And this time they were able to have ago away for two weeks, not think about
the business, have a proper switch off.
And that for me, I feel like that isa really great, amazing achievement.
And when you started your business,you who knew that you were gonna
(05:11):
feel like taking two weeks offin the month of August is gonna
feel like a real achievement?
But I honestly believe that it is.
And so for me personally, what Ifound was that in the month of April
I was able to do all of these things.
I was able to spend time with my daughter.
I was able to spend time with my husband.
I was able to travel for thebusiness, which was phenomenal,
(05:31):
and really gave me new perspectivesand new things to think about.
And all of those things were possible,but none of them happened by accident.
And incidentally, I was able to feelconfident that emails were still going
out, marketing was still happening,that my clients were being looked after.
That the business was stillable to move forward rather than
(05:54):
feeling like, okay well that's it.
I've really put a spanner inthe works by going away and
stepping away from the business.
So that's what I wanted to talk about.
You know, if taking time off feels like aluxury that you can't afford, then that's
what this episode's really all about.
So, why is it so hard to step away?
I think a lot of the time it'ssimply we have to recognize that
(06:16):
the business for a product businessowner, for a retail business or
e-commerce business, it's very intense.
There is a constant daily stream ofquestions and queries from customers.
You may have fulfillment thateither you have to do or you are
working with a fulfillment company.
You've got social media demands,you've got marketing, you've got
(06:37):
suppliers, you've got stock management.
There's just a lot.
And often business owners as they grow,they have to really, very mindfully
take themselves outta the business.
Otherwise, what they find is thatthey end up doing everything so they
end up being the entire business.
(06:58):
So no team, no automation, nosystems in place, and I think
personally, it's often a sign.
You know, one of the questionsthat I ask people if we're kind of
in this diagnostic phase of like,what's going on in your business?
We say, like, imagine if you won afour week holiday around the world.
(07:19):
This is actually a talk thatI did with Elizabeth Styles
about scaling your business.
And the example that she used, giveher full credit for this was that if
you won a full week around the world.
All expenses paid trip.
So it was a top prize in acompetition and you won this.
Could you take that trip andyour business keep running?
(07:40):
And it's actually a very usefulway of diagnosing what's going on
in the business and where you'remaybe too involved on a daily basis.
If the answer to that is absolutelya hundred percent no way.
It's a good exercise to think about.
Can you take time out?
And I think as well, something thatmaybe you might resonate with is guilt.
(08:00):
A lot of people I talk to,they feel really guilty.
The idea of oh, well if I'm notthere to help, if there's a problem.
And it's really something that peopleget into this mindset that if they take
time out, that that somehow is a signof lack of commitment to the business.
And I think personally, it's somethingthat is really helpful to have a
(08:22):
bit of a reframe around to say,actually it's not a sign of weakness
or sign of lack of commitment totake time off from the business.
It's a sign that your business canactually support itself without you, which
is frankly something that in the longterm, we all have to get to that point.
So I think it's really importantthat we get clear about the fact that
(08:44):
it's not about lack of commitmentif we want to take time out.
In fact, if anything, it issomething really positive.
And I think the other thing to recognizeis what happens if you don't take breaks.
And for me, what I see when I talk topeople and they aren't able to step
away from the business in the way thatthey want to is frankly, it's burnout.
It's fatigue.
(09:06):
It's making bad decisions or it'seven resentment of a business
that you probably do love.
Still love.
But it can make you fall out oflove pretty quick if you feel
like you can never get away.
And I think the other thing aswell, that's really difficult.
Is that the vast majority of people that Ispeak to when they started their business,
they started it because they reallywanted something different for themselves.
(09:30):
They wanted to reconnectwith their creativity.
They wanted to do somethingthat had meaning, had purpose,
connection with their community.
They wanted to create a businessthat was kinder and better and
left the world in a better place.
In than which they found itas opposed to being harmful.
And they also wantedsomething more for themselves.
(09:51):
They wanted more flexibility.
They wanted a life that was on their termsas opposed to on somebody else's terms.
So for many people, that is thereasoning behind starting their business.
And so it is particularly painfulif you get to the point in your
business where you don't have thatfreedom and flexibility that you
thought you were going to have becauseyou just don't feel like you can
(10:13):
take a break and you can step away.
And I think that that is a big, bigissue for a lot of people and it
can really impact your motivationand effectively, your burnout.
And, you know, worst of all really isthat you can't scale a business that only
works when you are giving it 110% becausethat is just simply not sustainable.
(10:38):
As in, it's not gonna besomething that you can keep
doing year after year after year.
And if you have growth without it beingsustainable growth, then that's not really
true growth, that's an endurance testand eventually something has to give.
And so for me, I certainly, when Ifirst started, my business would have
(11:01):
found it very, very difficult or almostimpossible to take that time out.
But as I've been running the businessfor longer and longer, then I was able to
be extremely intentional about planningaround this time period in my business.
And it really, for me, being ableto do that, being able to step
away, do these various differentthings and then step back in.
(11:23):
It was very, very rewarding tobe able to do that, first off.
And secondly, it made, really made mereflect on the number of people that
I speak to that feel like this issomething that, it's not maybe it's
impossible for them to take a holiday,but it's very difficult for them to take
a break and very difficult for them totake a break and switch off completely.
(11:44):
So what helps?
And as I said, obviously mybusiness is a service business.
It's very different modelto product business.
But in terms of what helps in general,and what I've certainly worked with
people on in their businesses as well,there's a few things that if you think
to yourself, well actually, yeah, whenwas the last time I got a proper break?
(12:05):
Or I really just feel the pressure?
Or you're really feeling the pressure?
Then here are some suggestions.
Number one factor that helped me taketime out of my business and has helped
my clients as well was forward planning.
So I do love to plan.
I absolutely always like to getmyself planned far in advance.
(12:25):
So for example, I typically,before the end of the year.
So usually around September,October time, I will sit down
and plan out my year ahead.
So I've got a full 12 month viewbefore I start the business.
And probably, to be honest, ifI'm booking trips, I usually book
my trips fairly far in advance.
So I would perhaps even have thought aboutthe business a little bit more in detail
(12:49):
even before I've booked those trips.
But I do solid planning upfront.
So I've got a full 12 month planned out.
And in my case, to make itsimple, I just said, right, okay.
April, it looks like I'm pretty muchgonna be traveling for the majority of it.
So I'm gonna shift things around.
So I was very, very intentionalwith when I had launches.
(13:11):
In fact, those of you who came to RetailROAR, my online summits, I specifically
timed that so that it happened theweek before I went to California.
I knew that I was gonna be flat out withROAR, and then I would, we delivered ROAR.
We had a few sessions the followingweek and then I went away to California
and that was extremely intentional.
(13:33):
And a lot of the time, that is the waythat we work it with clients as well.
If they know that they're gonnabe away, then they plan around it.
So maybe don't give yourself abrand new product launch at the
time when you're gonna be away.
Sounds really obvious.
But what it also allows you to do iswork out when things do need to happen,
(13:53):
because it's not enough to just say,okay, well I'm not gonna do that launch.
Or I'm not gonna do thatproduct while I'm away.
But you need to think about,okay well in that case, what?
What will my sales gonna look like?
Where do I need to push themso that I can have this break?
And a lot of the time, that's whyI'm a big believer in this forward
planning and the sales planning likethis as well, because then you can
(14:13):
identify, okay this is a quiet time.
Right.
Well, actually this is my quiet time.
Okay, maybe I can take a break here.
You've gotta work around the rhythmof your business, and you've gotta
work around not just to say, oh, I'mnot gonna do anything while I'm away.
But okay, but when do I need to do things?
Then do I need to move some things forwardso that my sales, I feel comfortable
(14:34):
with my sales levels rather than takinga break and thinking, okay, I've got
all of this to do when I get back.
So planning a hundred percent.
For me, that was a really,really big piece of it.
Like all of my launches, everything Iwas doing in the business was very much
planned around the fact that I was goingto be taking that time off, and therefore
it meant that I just wasn't making my lifeeven more difficult than it needed to be
(14:55):
because I was given myself that space.
So having that calendar viewof your marketing, your sales
activities, your product launches,everything else, it just means that
you can avoid your pinch points.
I think as well, a lot of thetime, one of the things that really
impacts small business owners,particularly product business owners.
Is just when you look at the things inthe 12 month, 18 month timeframe, you
(15:20):
can see when things need to get done.
And it's almost always earlierthan you think it's going to be.
So for a lot of people, theyget caught out and they end up
doing things super last minute.
And so what we want to be able to dowith this forward planning is we want
to be able to pull activities forward.
So that we are not rushing.
And then just generally creates morespaciousness, and generally creates
(15:42):
a little bit more opportunity foryou to actually take some time out.
So some other things that help people whenthey're taking time out of their retail
business is that detailed sales planning.
What you gonna launch?
When?
And then all of your stock you can arrangeto have it made, manufactured, delivered.
However you obtain your stockin a time that works for you.
So again, you're just nottrying to simultaneously do
(16:04):
lots of things at the same time.
You're really clear when you wantto have quiet time and when be away,
and when you want to have time.
When you want to be busy orlaunching or getting that stock in.
And obviously you know, your team cando all of those things when you're
away, but for a lot of people, ifthey're not used to taking time out
of the business, they're going tofeel a lot more comfortable about it.
If all they're asking their teamto do is business as usual while
(16:26):
they're away, instead of a big launch.
Cashflow forecasting, a hundred percent.
That's really important part of it too.
This is something that I do withpeople inside Retail By Design.
So knowing what's gonna be comingin and going out so you don't get
a financial surprise or you don'tcome back from holiday and suddenly
think, oh no, hang on a minute.
I'm really strapped now because I wasaway and sales haven't been great.
(16:49):
So really making sure that you'velooked at when you want to be off,
what that's gonna mean for you, andthen also being able to map out your
cash flow It goes a really, reallylong way to making it feel a lot more
comfortable and a lot less fraught.
Then the other really, reallyimportant element to this is support,
and that was partly what I did.
(17:11):
I actually realized back in sortof October, November, that based
on everything I wanted to do in thebusiness, based on the time that I
wanted to take out and look thinking,reflecting on the current team that I had.
I felt like there were a couple of areasthat I could use some more support,
and therefore I brought that in wellin advance, so that when I was off, I
(17:31):
knew I had that extra level of support.
And I think that isreally a key part of it.
Going back to this idea about could youtake time out of the business if you
had to be off for four or six weeks?
You know, that's a really goodindicator of where you could do
with some additional support.
Now obviously, I appreciate that it'san extra cost, bringing people in.
And is something that I mapped throughwith clients one-to-one very carefully.
(17:53):
But understanding where you may bemissing that support and what kind of
support you might need, it's really,really helpful and really useful.
As opposed to thinking, oh, I shouldbe doing it all, or maybe it's wrong
for me if I want to take a break.
He's like, no, you need to take a break.
You need to have breaks.
That's part of running a business.
What support do you need inorder to let you do that?
Something that I often think about,one of these stories that I heard
(18:15):
was about the runner, Mo Farah.
The story was that Mo Farah has, or maybethis is very common for athletes, I dunno.
But Mo Farah, he has two teams.
He has a team that looksafter his active training.
You know, everything that he does as arunner to improve his actual workout.
And then he has another team thatis about his rest and nutrition.
(18:38):
So basically two teams.
One for work and one forrest and recuperation.
And that is because the athletes recognizethat their peak performance is completely
dependent on their ability to restand recuperate in the quieter seasons.
And so, I think it's thesame for business owners.
If we think that we should be ableto do everything and stepping away
(19:02):
from the business is abandoning it.
We are not thinking about thisfrom the Mo Farah standpoint, and
we are not thinking about how ourability to perform is really, really
related to our ability to recharge.
So have a think about where you'vegot support in your business.
And again, if you were to step awayfor four weeks, what are the areas
(19:24):
that you would have problems with?
And what could you doto help support that?
Because once you've got that supportin place, then it makes a huge
difference to your ability to step away.
And if you don't have that, then it'sgonna be very difficult for you to
take the breaks that you need, frankly.
And then the final part that helpedme a lot with my own trip was just
(19:48):
being really clear on priorities.
So there were lots of thingsthat I just had to park until
May, I just had to say, right.
That's a May job because, and Iwas saying that from about February
onwards, because I had to getreally clear on my priorities.
I had to get really focused on what Ineeded to achieve in the month of March.
And be aware of the fact that Aprilwas pretty much off bounds and then
(20:11):
be able to pick up again in May.
So it was really, really useful exercisefor me to get really clear on priorities
and then I was able to effectively,almost like create the space for myself.
Step out, know things that still running,lots of prep work involved as well.
Trying to make sure that peoplewouldn't need things from me while
I was away and then I was ableto step away and take that break.
(20:32):
So this is exactly as well.
What really struck me was I was thinkingabout this, was that inside Retail
By Design, my one-to-one accelerator.
This is really what we go through.
So I have the focus framework.
The focus framework is your, we lookat your business foundations, we
look at everything to do with yourprofitability or stock management,
(20:53):
your costs and everything else.
Make sure that that'sall where it should be.
We look at your offer strategy.
So we look at what you're selling,who you're selling it to, how
much you're selling of it.
We look at your calendar planning,that's the other one, the sea of focus.
And this is really important when itcomes to things like taking time out.
(21:14):
So looking at your calendar well inadvance, knowing exactly what you've got.
We look at upskilling use, that you'vegot those skills that you need to grow.
And then we also have theS, which is for support.
So we look at the support, the structure,the systems in the business, and we make
sure that you've got those in place.
Which again, all really helps youtake that step back, step out.
(21:35):
And have the ability to have somefreedom from your business, rather
than feeling like there's no waythat you can possibly ever step away.
And it is possible also just to say if youfeel like, oh, I haven't had that before.
I certainly have worked with peoplewho've gone from feeling like they're
absolutely 100% tied to the business,to being able to actually take that
time out, have a break, go away forthe weekend, go to a friend's wedding,
(22:00):
come in late on a certain day orwork, have a day off, have a day off.
I mean, who knew?
Without feeling guilty and without feelinglike the business was falling behind.
So one of the clients from Retail byDesign said to me, " For the first time
in five years, I've woken up to the ideathat I need a business that works for me
rather than me working for my business."
(22:22):
And I think that it really,to me, is success, is right?
You know, again, like yes,turnover, growth, success, yes.
More money in the bank is success.
And of course more money and payingyourself more is also an important part
of being able to step away financially.
But I think the key thing is aboutfeeling like the business is something
that, as I said, works for you ratherthan you giving everything you've
(22:46):
got to the business again and again.
So if any of this resonates and you'rethinking, yes, this sounds good to me.
And you would like to be able totake some time out without feeling
super stressed out, then we arenearly at the point of closing the
enrollment for Retail By Design.
But we do have a couple of spaces left.
So if you look in the show notes, there'san opportunity to book a call, or you
(23:08):
can head over to resilientretailclub.comand look at Retail by Design, and you
can find out all about the program there.
But I would love to hear from you.
Why not head over to Instagram@resilientretailclub?
Let me know what you thoughtabout today's episode.
Let me know what your plansare for taking time out, and
I would love to hear from you.
If you have a moment to like and reviewthe podcast, that would be hugely helpful.
(23:32):
You can review it in Apple Podcastsand you can also like, and rate to
the podcast inside the Spotify app.
And of course, if you like, followor subscribe, you'll be the first
to know about each new episode,which comes out on a Thursday
morning, and I'll see you next week.
How do you find it takingtime off in your business?
Is it something that you find thatyou can do easily or is it something
that you really struggle with?
That's what we're gonna delveinto in today's episode.
Hi, I'm Catherine Erdly.
I'm a small business of retail expertand the founder of the Resilient
Retail Club, where I offer one-to-oneservices, membership, and done for you
services to product business owners.
(00:24):
You can check it out atresilientretailclub.com.
And today I wanted to share, this isepisode number 250 of the podcast.
Can you believe it?
And the podcast is nearly five yearsold, which is also unbelievable.
And I wanted to take this opportunityin this episode to do something a
little bit different, and that'sactually use an example from my own
(00:46):
business to talk about taking time off.
Welcome to the Resilient RetailGame Plan, a podcast for anyone
wanting to start, grow or scalea profitable creative product
business with me, Catherine Erdley.
The Resilient Retail Game Plan isa podcast dedicated to one thing,
(01:09):
breaking down the concepts and toolsthat I've gathered from 20 years in
the retail industry and showing youhow you can use them in your business.
This is the real nuts and bolts ofrunning a successful product business,
broken down in an easy, accessible way.
This is not a podcast about learninghow to make your business look good.
It's the tools and techniques that willmake you and your business feel good.
(01:33):
Confidently plan, launch, and manageyour products, and feel in control of
your sales numbers and cash flow to helpyou build a resilient retail business.
Now, as those of you who'velistened for a while will know,
I am a service-based business whoserves product-based businesses.
(01:56):
So I don't tend to like to use toomany examples from my own business to
talk about what your business is like.
But I think in this case it is relevantbecause I had an experience recently,
which really made me think about whatit means to run your own small business
and also what success looks like.
For a lot of people and theexperience that I had was due to
(02:18):
a variety of different reasons.
I ended up having threetrips in the month of April.
So I was off for a week goingto California to Social Media
Marketing World, which was areally phenomenal conference.
Great opportunity to get some perspectiveand to really get a different view
of the business as well as the SanDiego, which is a really fabulous city.
(02:39):
I then took a four day trip to Marrakeshwith my daughter because it was the
Easter holidays and we had a bit oftime together, a bit of mother and
daughter time, which was really fabulous.
And then finally I ended up taking aweek to go to the Netherlands to go
on a biking holiday with my husband.
Now, fun fact or not so fun fact thattrip was actually rescheduled from
(03:02):
last year when my son had fallen offhis bike and ironically had fallen
off his bike and broken his leg.
And we were supposed to be going on thattrip last year and we decided we couldn't
really travel with him being injured.
And so we postponed it by a year.
So because of various different things,the timing of these Easter holidays,
this trip being moved, and the date thatthe conference was, I ended up taking
(03:23):
three trips in the month of April.
Now, why am I telling you about this?
Well, it made me reflect on the factthat often when we talk about success
in our business, often people talkabout the number side of things.
They talk about the turnoverthat they want to hit, and that
obviously is a big part of it.
But for me, it was making mereflect that as I was working.
(03:44):
You know, over the last sevenyears I've worked with probably
around 200 business owners.
And a lot of the time we aretalking about growing the business.
We're talking about more money,we're talking about better
profits, managing the stock.
We're talking about confidence,all the rest of that kind of thing.
But often, actually what we'retalking about is work-life balance
and how does the business serve you?
(04:06):
And it's one of the key pieces of workthat we do is looking at this idea of how
do you take a break from the business?
And I think about a couple ofclients in particular who for us,
after working together, after sixmonths, what did success look like?
Well, for one client, it was that theycould come in late on a Wednesday morning
(04:26):
and go to Pilates first, and they hada team in place who could actually mean
that they felt like they could have alittle bit of a lie-in and go do some
good self-care on a Wednesday morning.
And for another client, it was thatthey took a two week holiday in
August, they kept the business open.
Previous years they had felt likethey had to close the business down,
(04:48):
which lost them a lot of momentum.
They just weren't able to take a break.
And this time they were able to have ago away for two weeks, not think about
the business, have a proper switch off.
And that for me, I feel like that isa really great, amazing achievement.
And when you started your business,you who knew that you were gonna
(05:11):
feel like taking two weeks offin the month of August is gonna
feel like a real achievement?
But I honestly believe that it is.
And so for me personally, what Ifound was that in the month of April
I was able to do all of these things.
I was able to spend time with my daughter.
I was able to spend time with my husband.
I was able to travel for thebusiness, which was phenomenal,
(05:31):
and really gave me new perspectivesand new things to think about.
And all of those things were possible,but none of them happened by accident.
And incidentally, I was able to feelconfident that emails were still going
out, marketing was still happening,that my clients were being looked after.
That the business was stillable to move forward rather than
(05:54):
feeling like, okay well that's it.
I've really put a spanner inthe works by going away and
stepping away from the business.
So that's what I wanted to talk about.
You know, if taking time off feels like aluxury that you can't afford, then that's
what this episode's really all about.
So, why is it so hard to step away?
I think a lot of the time it'ssimply we have to recognize that
(06:16):
the business for a product businessowner, for a retail business or
e-commerce business, it's very intense.
There is a constant daily stream ofquestions and queries from customers.
You may have fulfillment thateither you have to do or you are
working with a fulfillment company.
You've got social media demands,you've got marketing, you've got
(06:37):
suppliers, you've got stock management.
There's just a lot.
And often business owners as they grow,they have to really, very mindfully
take themselves outta the business.
Otherwise, what they find is thatthey end up doing everything so they
end up being the entire business.
(06:58):
So no team, no automation, nosystems in place, and I think
personally, it's often a sign.
You know, one of the questionsthat I ask people if we're kind of
in this diagnostic phase of like,what's going on in your business?
We say, like, imagine if you won afour week holiday around the world.
(07:19):
This is actually a talk thatI did with Elizabeth Styles
about scaling your business.
And the example that she used, giveher full credit for this was that if
you won a full week around the world.
All expenses paid trip.
So it was a top prize in acompetition and you won this.
Could you take that trip andyour business keep running?
(07:40):
And it's actually a very usefulway of diagnosing what's going on
in the business and where you'remaybe too involved on a daily basis.
If the answer to that is absolutelya hundred percent no way.
It's a good exercise to think about.
Can you take time out?
And I think as well, something thatmaybe you might resonate with is guilt.
(08:00):
A lot of people I talk to,they feel really guilty.
The idea of oh, well if I'm notthere to help, if there's a problem.
And it's really something that peopleget into this mindset that if they take
time out, that that somehow is a signof lack of commitment to the business.
And I think personally, it's somethingthat is really helpful to have a
(08:22):
bit of a reframe around to say,actually it's not a sign of weakness
or sign of lack of commitment totake time off from the business.
It's a sign that your business canactually support itself without you, which
is frankly something that in the longterm, we all have to get to that point.
So I think it's really importantthat we get clear about the fact that
(08:44):
it's not about lack of commitmentif we want to take time out.
In fact, if anything, it issomething really positive.
And I think the other thing to recognizeis what happens if you don't take breaks.
And for me, what I see when I talk topeople and they aren't able to step
away from the business in the way thatthey want to is frankly, it's burnout.
It's fatigue.
(09:06):
It's making bad decisions or it'seven resentment of a business
that you probably do love.
Still love.
But it can make you fall out oflove pretty quick if you feel
like you can never get away.
And I think the other thing aswell, that's really difficult.
Is that the vast majority of people that Ispeak to when they started their business,
they started it because they reallywanted something different for themselves.
(09:30):
They wanted to reconnectwith their creativity.
They wanted to do somethingthat had meaning, had purpose,
connection with their community.
They wanted to create a businessthat was kinder and better and
left the world in a better place.
In than which they found itas opposed to being harmful.
And they also wantedsomething more for themselves.
(09:51):
They wanted more flexibility.
They wanted a life that was on their termsas opposed to on somebody else's terms.
So for many people, that is thereasoning behind starting their business.
And so it is particularly painfulif you get to the point in your
business where you don't have thatfreedom and flexibility that you
thought you were going to have becauseyou just don't feel like you can
(10:13):
take a break and you can step away.
And I think that that is a big, bigissue for a lot of people and it
can really impact your motivationand effectively, your burnout.
And, you know, worst of all really isthat you can't scale a business that only
works when you are giving it 110% becausethat is just simply not sustainable.
(10:38):
As in, it's not gonna besomething that you can keep
doing year after year after year.
And if you have growth without it beingsustainable growth, then that's not really
true growth, that's an endurance testand eventually something has to give.
And so for me, I certainly, when Ifirst started, my business would have
(11:01):
found it very, very difficult or almostimpossible to take that time out.
But as I've been running the businessfor longer and longer, then I was able to
be extremely intentional about planningaround this time period in my business.
And it really, for me, being ableto do that, being able to step
away, do these various differentthings and then step back in.
(11:23):
It was very, very rewarding tobe able to do that, first off.
And secondly, it made, really made mereflect on the number of people that
I speak to that feel like this issomething that, it's not maybe it's
impossible for them to take a holiday,but it's very difficult for them to take
a break and very difficult for them totake a break and switch off completely.
(11:44):
So what helps?
And as I said, obviously mybusiness is a service business.
It's very different modelto product business.
But in terms of what helps in general,and what I've certainly worked with
people on in their businesses as well,there's a few things that if you think
to yourself, well actually, yeah, whenwas the last time I got a proper break?
(12:05):
Or I really just feel the pressure?
Or you're really feeling the pressure?
Then here are some suggestions.
Number one factor that helped me taketime out of my business and has helped
my clients as well was forward planning.
So I do love to plan.
I absolutely always like to getmyself planned far in advance.
(12:25):
So for example, I typically,before the end of the year.
So usually around September,October time, I will sit down
and plan out my year ahead.
So I've got a full 12 month viewbefore I start the business.
And probably, to be honest, ifI'm booking trips, I usually book
my trips fairly far in advance.
So I would perhaps even have thought aboutthe business a little bit more in detail
(12:49):
even before I've booked those trips.
But I do solid planning upfront.
So I've got a full 12 month planned out.
And in my case, to make itsimple, I just said, right, okay.
April, it looks like I'm pretty muchgonna be traveling for the majority of it.
So I'm gonna shift things around.
So I was very, very intentionalwith when I had launches.
(13:11):
In fact, those of you who came to RetailROAR, my online summits, I specifically
timed that so that it happened theweek before I went to California.
I knew that I was gonna be flat out withROAR, and then I would, we delivered ROAR.
We had a few sessions the followingweek and then I went away to California
and that was extremely intentional.
(13:33):
And a lot of the time, that is the waythat we work it with clients as well.
If they know that they're gonnabe away, then they plan around it.
So maybe don't give yourself abrand new product launch at the
time when you're gonna be away.
Sounds really obvious.
But what it also allows you to do iswork out when things do need to happen,
(13:53):
because it's not enough to just say,okay, well I'm not gonna do that launch.
Or I'm not gonna do thatproduct while I'm away.
But you need to think about,okay well in that case, what?
What will my sales gonna look like?
Where do I need to push themso that I can have this break?
And a lot of the time, that's whyI'm a big believer in this forward
planning and the sales planning likethis as well, because then you can
(14:13):
identify, okay this is a quiet time.
Right.
Well, actually this is my quiet time.
Okay, maybe I can take a break here.
You've gotta work around the rhythmof your business, and you've gotta
work around not just to say, oh, I'mnot gonna do anything while I'm away.
But okay, but when do I need to do things?
Then do I need to move some things forwardso that my sales, I feel comfortable
(14:34):
with my sales levels rather than takinga break and thinking, okay, I've got
all of this to do when I get back.
So planning a hundred percent.
For me, that was a really,really big piece of it.
Like all of my launches, everything Iwas doing in the business was very much
planned around the fact that I was goingto be taking that time off, and therefore
it meant that I just wasn't making my lifeeven more difficult than it needed to be
(14:55):
because I was given myself that space.
So having that calendar viewof your marketing, your sales
activities, your product launches,everything else, it just means that
you can avoid your pinch points.
I think as well, a lot of thetime, one of the things that really
impacts small business owners,particularly product business owners.
Is just when you look at the things inthe 12 month, 18 month timeframe, you
(15:20):
can see when things need to get done.
And it's almost always earlierthan you think it's going to be.
So for a lot of people, theyget caught out and they end up
doing things super last minute.
And so what we want to be able to dowith this forward planning is we want
to be able to pull activities forward.
So that we are not rushing.
And then just generally creates morespaciousness, and generally creates
(15:42):
a little bit more opportunity foryou to actually take some time out.
So some other things that help people whenthey're taking time out of their retail
business is that detailed sales planning.
What you gonna launch?
When?
And then all of your stock you can arrangeto have it made, manufactured, delivered.
However you obtain your stockin a time that works for you.
So again, you're just nottrying to simultaneously do
(16:04):
lots of things at the same time.
You're really clear when you wantto have quiet time and when be away,
and when you want to have time.
When you want to be busy orlaunching or getting that stock in.
And obviously you know, your team cando all of those things when you're
away, but for a lot of people, ifthey're not used to taking time out
of the business, they're going tofeel a lot more comfortable about it.
If all they're asking their teamto do is business as usual while
(16:26):
they're away, instead of a big launch.
Cashflow forecasting, a hundred percent.
That's really important part of it too.
This is something that I do withpeople inside Retail By Design.
So knowing what's gonna be comingin and going out so you don't get
a financial surprise or you don'tcome back from holiday and suddenly
think, oh no, hang on a minute.
I'm really strapped now because I wasaway and sales haven't been great.
(16:49):
So really making sure that you'velooked at when you want to be off,
what that's gonna mean for you, andthen also being able to map out your
cash flow It goes a really, reallylong way to making it feel a lot more
comfortable and a lot less fraught.
Then the other really, reallyimportant element to this is support,
and that was partly what I did.
(17:11):
I actually realized back in sortof October, November, that based
on everything I wanted to do in thebusiness, based on the time that I
wanted to take out and look thinking,reflecting on the current team that I had.
I felt like there were a couple of areasthat I could use some more support,
and therefore I brought that in wellin advance, so that when I was off, I
(17:31):
knew I had that extra level of support.
And I think that isreally a key part of it.
Going back to this idea about could youtake time out of the business if you
had to be off for four or six weeks?
You know, that's a really goodindicator of where you could do
with some additional support.
Now obviously, I appreciate that it'san extra cost, bringing people in.
And is something that I mapped throughwith clients one-to-one very carefully.
(17:53):
But understanding where you may bemissing that support and what kind of
support you might need, it's really,really helpful and really useful.
As opposed to thinking, oh, I shouldbe doing it all, or maybe it's wrong
for me if I want to take a break.
He's like, no, you need to take a break.
You need to have breaks.
That's part of running a business.
What support do you need inorder to let you do that?
Something that I often think about,one of these stories that I heard
(18:15):
was about the runner, Mo Farah.
The story was that Mo Farah has, or maybethis is very common for athletes, I dunno.
But Mo Farah, he has two teams.
He has a team that looksafter his active training.
You know, everything that he does as arunner to improve his actual workout.
And then he has another team thatis about his rest and nutrition.
(18:38):
So basically two teams.
One for work and one forrest and recuperation.
And that is because the athletes recognizethat their peak performance is completely
dependent on their ability to restand recuperate in the quieter seasons.
And so, I think it's thesame for business owners.
If we think that we should be ableto do everything and stepping away
(19:02):
from the business is abandoning it.
We are not thinking about thisfrom the Mo Farah standpoint, and
we are not thinking about how ourability to perform is really, really
related to our ability to recharge.
So have a think about where you'vegot support in your business.
And again, if you were to step awayfor four weeks, what are the areas
(19:24):
that you would have problems with?
And what could you doto help support that?
Because once you've got that supportin place, then it makes a huge
difference to your ability to step away.
And if you don't have that, then it'sgonna be very difficult for you to
take the breaks that you need, frankly.
And then the final part that helpedme a lot with my own trip was just
(19:48):
being really clear on priorities.
So there were lots of thingsthat I just had to park until
May, I just had to say, right.
That's a May job because, and Iwas saying that from about February
onwards, because I had to getreally clear on my priorities.
I had to get really focused on what Ineeded to achieve in the month of March.
And be aware of the fact that Aprilwas pretty much off bounds and then
(20:11):
be able to pick up again in May.
So it was really, really useful exercisefor me to get really clear on priorities
and then I was able to effectively,almost like create the space for myself.
Step out, know things that still running,lots of prep work involved as well.
Trying to make sure that peoplewouldn't need things from me while
I was away and then I was ableto step away and take that break.
(20:32):
So this is exactly as well.
What really struck me was I was thinkingabout this, was that inside Retail
By Design, my one-to-one accelerator.
This is really what we go through.
So I have the focus framework.
The focus framework is your, we lookat your business foundations, we
look at everything to do with yourprofitability or stock management,
(20:53):
your costs and everything else.
Make sure that that'sall where it should be.
We look at your offer strategy.
So we look at what you're selling,who you're selling it to, how
much you're selling of it.
We look at your calendar planning,that's the other one, the sea of focus.
And this is really important when itcomes to things like taking time out.
(21:14):
So looking at your calendar well inadvance, knowing exactly what you've got.
We look at upskilling use, that you'vegot those skills that you need to grow.
And then we also have theS, which is for support.
So we look at the support, the structure,the systems in the business, and we make
sure that you've got those in place.
Which again, all really helps youtake that step back, step out.
(21:35):
And have the ability to have somefreedom from your business, rather
than feeling like there's no waythat you can possibly ever step away.
And it is possible also just to say if youfeel like, oh, I haven't had that before.
I certainly have worked with peoplewho've gone from feeling like they're
absolutely 100% tied to the business,to being able to actually take that
time out, have a break, go away forthe weekend, go to a friend's wedding,
(22:00):
come in late on a certain day orwork, have a day off, have a day off.
I mean, who knew?
Without feeling guilty and without feelinglike the business was falling behind.
So one of the clients from Retail byDesign said to me, " For the first time
in five years, I've woken up to the ideathat I need a business that works for me
rather than me working for my business."
(22:22):
And I think that it really,to me, is success, is right?
You know, again, like yes,turnover, growth, success, yes.
More money in the bank is success.
And of course more money and payingyourself more is also an important part
of being able to step away financially.
But I think the key thing is aboutfeeling like the business is something
that, as I said, works for you ratherthan you giving everything you've
(22:46):
got to the business again and again.
So if any of this resonates and you'rethinking, yes, this sounds good to me.
And you would like to be able totake some time out without feeling
super stressed out, then we arenearly at the point of closing the
enrollment for Retail By Design.
But we do have a couple of spaces left.
So if you look in the show notes, there'san opportunity to book a call, or you
(23:08):
can head over to resilientretailclub.comand look at Retail by Design, and you
can find out all about the program there.
But I would love to hear from you.
Why not head over to Instagram@resilientretailclub?
Let me know what you thoughtabout today's episode.
Let me know what your plansare for taking time out, and
I would love to hear from you.
If you have a moment to like and reviewthe podcast, that would be hugely helpful.
(23:32):
You can review it in Apple Podcastsand you can also like, and rate to
the podcast inside the Spotify app.
And of course, if you like, followor subscribe, you'll be the first
to know about each new episode,which comes out on a Thursday
morning, and I'll see you next week.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.