There’s nothing worse than when an illness scuppers all your plans. It can be really frustrating to fall ill when you have some exciting personal plans organized, but it can be even more annoying when poor health coincides with busy periods at work. In fact, if you run your own business, you might think that you don’t have time to be poorly; there might be too much for you to get on with. Lots of entrepreneurs and company owners worry that taking time off to recuperate will result in downtime for their business which could negatively affect their profits. Thankfully, though, it doesn’t always have to be that bad. Here are some tips that can help you keep your business running even while you are ill.
Let everyone know you aren’t feeling too great
First of all, it’s a good idea to let everyone know that you are feeling a bit under the weather. Even though you may be tempted to try and hide your illness from those around you, it can actually be more beneficial to let everyone know. Of course, there is no reason to share each and every one of your symptoms, but it’s necessary to say that you aren’t quite as fit as usual. That way, they will know that you won’t be working with all cylinders burning, and they won’t be so quick to push for things. Your clients might even be quite relaxed about it and might extend a deadline for you!
Hand things over to a virtual assistant
If you don’t feel like you can tackle everything on your to-do list in one day, you might want to hire a virtual assistant to take over some of the simple admin and organizational tasks for you. There are now lots of firms that offer a virtual office service such as this. You can choose whether you want a virtual receptionist to take care of all your phone calls or an assistant who can look after your diary and help rearrange a few meetings for you. You should find that spreading out your jobs in this way can take a lot of your stress away.
Delegate tasks to your managers
As well as handing out a few of your jobs to a virtual office assistant, you might want to delegate a few of the more important ones to your managers or other high-up staff in your company. If they already have a good relationship with some of your clients, they might even be able to take your place in some meetings. I’m sure that you will start to feel a bit better once you have delegated some of your jobs so that you don’t have as much to do.
Use technology
Did you know that there are now a lot of tech devices and IT software that can make it easier for you to get work done while feeling under the weather? For instance, internet tools such as FaceTime and Skype can help you meet with your clients even if you don’t feel up to seeing them face-to-face. They might even prefer this as it means you won’t spread your illness to them! Thanks to devices such as laptops and smartphones, it’s now even possible to run your business from the comfort of your bed on those days when you feel really bad.
Look for financial aid
If your illness continues or gets quite a bit worse and you have to take a significant amount of time off work, you should look for some financial aid. Of course, the best thing you can do is to get plenty of insurance before you even fall ill. That way, your provider will pay out in the event that you lose any money due to poor health. Knowing that you are financially covered can help reduce a lot of stress too.
Don’t feel bad about taking time off
There might be some instances of illnesses that are particularly bad and make you feel like you want to do nothing more than sleep all day. And that is perfectly fine – don’t feel like you have to force yourself to go into the office. After all, your health and wellbeing are much more important that the company. Plus, I’m sure that all of your employees will be able to get on with their work without you there, and that your clients will be able to wait a day to speak to you.
Now you just need to rest up and start feeling better!
