Would you ever close your business for a week?

Closing for an entire week. Here is why.
This blog is really an update about Rollin being closed for an entire week.
I can not remember the last time I took a complete break for more than 2 days from my company.
I have broken this blog in to some helpful sections.
I hope it helps you take a break.

The last time I took a break.
I have been a small business owner for the majority of my adult life.
For many years I ran a home daycare called Small Wonders.
I really enjoyed being with children every day.
That included being able to stay at home with my own kids.
I was able to schedule some time off with that business around holidays.
Often, I still had to shorten days because many of the parents work responsibilities and I did not want them to have to worry about childcare.
Since opening Rollin Delivery, it has been somewhat of a challenge to take a break.
Even when I travel or am just off for a day, the phones and emails still have to be answered.
So, to answer the question at hand, I am not really sure.
During the holidays I take a break.
I just have not had a break longer than 3 days in years.
Do I really need a break? Do you?
At the beginning of May I woke up a couple of mornings, after a full night of sleep, exhausted.
Of course, I got up and started the day.
I came into the office and checked off all of my morning task.
I documented everything I needed to do as I headed out the door.
I worked up until 3pm and then the midday tiredness took over.
I think that with Covid 19 and all the working but still being isolated from many of our clients, it just took a toll.
There was a ton of stress around not knowing how so many of our clients would fair during one of the weirdest times ever.
Hopefully we are on an upswing now.
But the last couple of months have been a lot!
When you are moving and working and serving, it can all just get away from you.
I did not stop to think that maybe my body was saying, “Hey gal! You are tired. Take a break.”
I finally realized how tired I was one day when I was driving to Advance, NC.
I have a client that I just adore in that area.
We go to Bermuda Run to pick up her medication from CVS or Walgreens.
Her daughter is the driving force that takes great care of her every day.
I was on my way early in the morning so I could get back to Salisbury before too late in the day.
Then my car beeped and showed this picture.

I am not sure if it was because I was driving badly or if it popped up because I had been driving for a long time.
It was the very first time that it had appeared.
I giggled a little bit when I saw it.
Then I realized how far I had driven and could not really remember some of the drive.
At that point, I did not take note of fatigue but of the fact that I was not in the moment.
I love to drive.
I look at all the beautiful scenery and marvel at the colors of everything.
My car is one of the sanctuaries in my life.
It bothered me that I was so out of it I neglected the joy of what I was doing.
I truly did need a break.
I want Rollin to be around for a long time.
At least as long as we still have clients.
I also always want to be at my best for them.
Sometimes that means taking a minute to step away and refresh.
Have you had a chance to refresh your mind and body?
Are you going so hard all the time that it all becomes a blur at the end of the day?
I believe that a renewed mind will take you so much further than an over worked, exhausted one.
The Realignment
Are you in a service business?
Do you think about ways to make your business better all the time?
Do you think about what you could offer or sell or who else you could serve most of the time?
You are not alone.
Being in business is so much fun to true business lovers that we sometime forget to turn off our business mind and enjoy other parts of our life.
My car and my body were trying to point this fact out to me.
From now on I am going to take a break and realign my business with my life.
1. I am not going to work on my business during my breaks. I am going to allow my mind to wonder to all the things I love and enjoy about my business. When I return, I will implement ways to amplify those things and lessen the things that do not serve me or my clients best.
2. I am going to preplan all my social media post so I can still be present online. There are a variety of apps that allow you to plan post in advance. I will use one of those  so my online presence does not suffer too much. If it takes me a while to get to your comments during my break, that is why.
3. I will leave a voice message on my phone to let new clients know when Rollin reopens. I will have an auto message that relays the same message in text and emails.
4. I am going to kiss and hug on my family who I hope to visit during breaks. I want to see my family more often and not just at funerals.
Will there be changes when Rollin reopens?
Most of the time the answer will be yes, but you may barely notice because they are mostly services no on really request and behind the scenes technological updates.
When I introduce a new service or services clumped together, I only give them a limited time to perform or become profitable. My goal is to give them a test and see if people respond in a positive way or if they just don’t seem interested. The fact is that it is costly for small business to take up resources with services that under perform. If I have a specific client that uses the service, I will still perform it for them if feasible. If not, I just drop it.
On this year’s break, behind the scenes, I need to add an additional employee and update some certificates to my website and security settings.
I am somewhat a minimalist in parts of my life but, I see all the new shiny things in the world and want to try them. Every so often I have to simplify and get back to what I know works.
I know I want to help another person take care of themselves and their family, if they have one. A part time employee would fill that bill.
Thanks for reading all the way to the end.
I hope this info helps you take a break before you need it.
 
Karen aka The Delivery Diva
Owner, Rollin Delivery and Errands LLC