My grade school teachers always gave us an assignment in composition when we returned back to school in the fall. From Grade 1 to Grade 3, they all followed the same formula: how did you spend your summer? The length and sophistication of the composition varied with age but they all essentially told the story of my summer vacation. I’ll admit, some stories were complete fabrications – making my summer to be more interesting than it really was – and though my teachers knew that I told tales, they still rewarded me marks for proper form and structure – and probably for entertainment value as well!

I was always good at those “How I Spent My Summer” compositions. They read more like a novel then the dry accounts some of my schoolmates came up with. Little did I know that exercise would prepare me for my future online business. I help clients tell their stories. We write copy that is as detailed as these Summer Compositions. We tell stories with as much passion and entertainment that draw in our readers.

This month, I’ll take us back to school early with the story of how I have spent my summer. Don’t worry, you won’t read false accounts of trips to the beach or a fast-paced European Odyssey but a real account of how I’ve helped a client automate his business so that he could take the summer off.

Automate Your Summer Fun

Most business owners have difficulty taking time off. As solo-entrepreneurs, there are no sick days or three week vacations – esepcially if you’re the only one minding the store. Yet online business owners are able to take more time off without a significant loss of income. Many do not trade hours for dollars. They do not run service oriented businesses, where every hour they’re not present in their business represents an hour of lost income. Many of the clients I work with sell information products – ebooks and physical courses that can be sold 24/7, 365 days a year.

In early April, my client began working with a business coach. One of his first recommendations was to take a break: schedule two months off from the business. It would seem like an odd recommendation to make but there is a method to the madness.

First, it forces the business owner to take a much needed break. We’re all guilty of burning the candle at both ends when we’re building our online businesses. And then once the business is established, we continue to plug away, building a team, creating new products, planning marketing campaigns and joint venture initiatives. We work and work and work… and often don’t take time to play until someone (usually a business coach) shows us that we’re running on empty.

But there is an ulterior motive to the recommendation. Sure it’s great to take a vacation but I suspect the real reason the recommendation is made is to force business owners into a new role in their business.

Many solo entrepreneurs are used to having their hands in the business. They create the product, pull the website together, write the copy, plan the marketing campaign, do the books, update the shopping cart, etc., etc., etc….

They’re busy doing it all even though they’ve built a team and largely automated their business.

If you’ve read the book, The eMyth by Michael Gerber (and many of my clients have), you’re familiar with the distinction he makes between technicians in the business (the people who get things done) and entrepreneurs (the visionaries who drive the direction and growth of the business). Gerber posits that if you’re busy doing the technical things in your business, you won’t have the focus or energy to do the essential strategic work that will take your business to the next level.

Let’s face it, most business owners turn to a business coach to take their business to the next level. They’re not seeing the results they want from having automated their business. And it’s mainly because of the reason Gerber identifies in his book: you don’t have the focus or energy to be an entrepreneur if you’re busy being a technician.

So the business coach recommends that you take two months off. When you come back, it’s hard to go back to business as usual – you’re finally convinced of the value of not wearing all the hats in your business and relying on your team.

The initial reaction to the recommendation is always the same. I imagine the conversation goes something like this:

Business Owner: Are you nuts? I can’t be away from my business for a week, never mind two months!

Business Coach: Let me show you how you can. I’m going to ask you some questions. Do you have a bookkeeper?

Business Owner: Sure. She tracks my sales and montiors my income and expenses.

Business Coach: Great. I assume she has access to your bank accounts and that most of your billing is electronic.

Business Owner: Yes.

Business Coach: So essentially all money matters could be handled by her. She can pay your bills.

Business Owner: Oh but wait, I pay my web designer by check.

Business Coach: Not a problem. When we’re done with this call, I want you to call your bank and find out what steps need to be taken to have your bookkeeper added as a signing authority on your account. Will you do that? Will you get the ball in motion today?

Business Owner: Yes.

Business Coach: That takes care of your financial commitments. Now, do you have a Virtual Assistant or Online Business Manager?

Business Owner: Yes.

Business Coach: Does she have the login details for all of your different internet marketing tools? Your shopping cart, your blog, etc?

Business Owner: Yes, she set most of those accounts up.

Business Coach: Great! Does she know the other members on your team. I know you have a graphic designer and that you have a dedicated server – does she know your technician?

Business Owner: Yes – well mostly she can handle all of the server management but knows who to contact if there’s something she can’t handle.

Business Coach: And are there other’s she can call on if she needs help?

Business Owner: Yes, she has helped me build a team. I have a ghost-writer and a graphic designer and a bookkeeper – she introduced me to all of those people.

Business Coach: Excellent. So your task is to spend the next few weeks planning a promotion calendar for the time you’ll be gone. Write the broadcasts, schedule any new initiatives or website maintenance, etc. I know you write a monthly newsletter, write three month’s worth. Plan a weekly schedule for her to follow. Can you do that?

Businss Owner: Yes, it will be a lot of work but yes, I can plan that.

Business Coach: Good. Then I want you to do two more very important things. First is to set a deadline for the start of your time off. And I also want you to empower your Virtual Assistant to act on your behalf when you’re gone. That means contacting anyone who supports you and your business to let them know that she will be managing things in your absence and that you’re leaving all decisions to her. It also means telling her that she’s in charge. That you trust her to make the decisions for you in your absence. This is important. Can you do that?

Business Owner: Yes, it’s a huge trust and responsibility but I know she can handle it.

Business Coach: Excellent! Now do you see how it’s possible for you to take the time off?

Business Owner: Yes, I am looking forward to it. I can’t wait!

How do I know that’s how the conversation would proceed? Mainly because it’s the conversation I had with my client after he finished his coaching call. I’m the Business Coach in the excerpt above. (My client does have a business coach and he did instruct him to take time off but challenged him to come up with ways to make it possible).

So that’s how I’ve been spending my summer. In fact, I did such a good job of convincing my client that he had automated his business to such an extent that he could comfortably take time off, that he stretched the recommended two months into four!

Planning Time Away

I know what you’re thinking: your business isn’t at that stage yet. And you may be right. If you’re not consistently earning an income from your online business, then you can’t afford to take four months off. But you can probably afford to take more time off than you do.

Let’s look at how.

The client I spoke about above has a very successful online business. He consistently earns $50K monthly and has been averaging $25K in his absence. While your sales may not be at that level yet, there are a few things from his business that you can apply to your own.

First of all, his income is derived entirely from products, not services. He doesn’t run live programs, teleclasses or offer one-on-one coaching. His product catalog consists of a mix of digital products (ebooks, audio programs) and physical products (books, a CD homestudy program with workbooks). The physical products are shipped from a fulfillment center so he doesn’t need to personally be putting addresses on envelopes and making the trek out to the post office.

He has a team. He relies on a few graphic designers, a team of interns, a bookkeeper, an SEO specialist and of course his online business manager (me!). We’ll soon have a Customer Service Specialist and we have a backup to manage minor website updates and the web server. The point is, he doesn’t do this alone. As his Online Business Manager, I have the task of managing his team so that he doesn’t have to. That leaves him time to create content for his products or write copy (though that too is something that can be outsourced).

His business is automated. That’s key. He doesn’t need to be manually processing orders or even uploading them to the fulfillment house. His shopping cart enables him to be in business 24/7 and his online business manager co-ordinates what needs to be done after an order comes in. If it’s a physical product, the order gets uploaded to the fulfillment center. If inventory is running low, the business manager contacts the supplier to restock supplies. If bills or affiliates need to be paid, the bookkeeper has a system for doing so. Everything runs like clockwork and if there’s ever a snag, he’s never the person that has to deal with fixing it. That’s what he relies on his Online Business Manager for.

So no matter where you are in your online business, you can take a page from his book. The first step would be to create a product – whether digital or physical – and start transitioning your business from service oriented, active income to passive income. When you’re ready to start selling your product, that’s when you need to get onboard the automation wagon. Hiring an assistant may come a little later – the first step would be to create a product.

We’ll take a little closer look at product development in the coming weeks but for now, I’m going to challenge you to spend some time thinking about how you can grow your business to the next level and spend time enjoying a little more of the fruits of your labor.

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