Got me thinking

[stephelen]

What do you all do if you are unwell or an emergency comes up and your unable to run your business?
I have been pondering with the idea of training my OH so that in an emergency he could take over for a while.
Has anyone else trained anyone up to run things and if so how did it go?
Had a nightmare day today, website was down most of the weekend so I have had an influx of orders to deal with, so I was thinking how much easier it would be if hubby could help out abit. :D

[willowcat]

I know where you are coming from !

I have been thinking about this a lot lately too especially as I get busier !

I need to make clear and concise instructions for someone !!??

Sharon x

[TinkerTailor]

As my business is so new, I haven't really thought about that either. But it's probaby a good idea to have someone else trained up just in case!

I must admit someone did say to me today "oh I suppose you won't be going on holiday this year because of your new business". Well, we probably won't be going on holiday anyway but it didn't make me realise that I hadn't thought of that!!!"Doh"

[Chell]

I must admit someone did say to me today "oh I suppose you won't be going on holiday this year because of your new business". Well, we probably won't be going on holiday anyway but it didn't make me realise that I hadn't thought of that!!!"Doh"

Can you not just put a message at the checkout to say that orders will be delayed?

[TinkerTailor]

Good point...either that or persuade my Mum to fill in!!!

[KeznJay]

I had never really thought about this either. Wonder if Jay ould fill in hehe. Might have to have a think about that one!

[Miranda]

It's always a good idea to plan......

One Real Nappy Week I got cellulitis (basically cut my foot in the garden hanging out the washing barefoot, got an infection which travelled up the leg....) Started feeling flue-y and ill, by the time I bothered to see the doctor was too late I couldn't keep antibiotics let alone water or food down, so was admitted to hospital with acute kidney failure.....was in hospital for 2 weeks and was 3 months before fully fit again

Fortunately we were bang up to date, but very quickly we were not. And the further behind we were the further behind we got as more people called to say 'where's my order' at our busiest time of year. Carrie my one member of staf at the time was wonderful and worked extra hours, but it was grim!

I've now delegated so at least 2 people know what to do, and if necessary can pop a message on the site, and should the same again happen I don't think it's be noticed much, as I now have 3 part time staff.

In the early days if I went away I'd divert calls to my mobile and/or ring in to the answermachine and call people back same day. I've also used call centres they are handy as they can take calls and deal with them but they are expensive.

[antonia]

I have a blackberry, which is very liberating in one way - you can work from almost anywhere and not worry you're missing something - important for me so I don;t miss media calls. Also, as the years have gone by, I've built up a netwrk of people who have worked for me, and can delegate stuff - when i was on maternity leave Lorna carried on doing my admin but took over more tasks, and I had louise working on the pr side of things. in theory, if I was stuck down, that could happen again. So, I guess my tip is to get other people up to speed on what you are doing. why not write a 'how to' guide in case, say, your dh had t take over suddenly - a simple step by step on where to check for orders, how to deal wth payments and send stuff out.

[MerrilyMe]

I've got some jobs delegated out and some people who know the business well enough to do stuff. My neighbour does some part time hours for me and can pack parcels for a week, my counsin in law is learning, dh can print off the orders and down load paypal money etc and i have a couple of friends/coders/hosting people etc with ftp access who could go on put up a notice or mend the site. The neighbour also often takes in deliveries and comes in to put them away. She and dh are both able to get into the control panel if they have to and amend order status or email a customer.

In fact, i rely a lot of people but it has made me aware of how much is in my head - in fact, next on my list of things to do is a sort of BeadMerrily manual. It is amazing how soon it becomes important really.

The thing i'm still not very able to farm out is customer emails - i need to think up a way of dealing with that for when i go away now, but it isn't easy as i'm such a control freak!

[Daffs]

I have 2 people, maybe 3 who I would trust to monitor/answer emails and alike if I got really sick or something. It does worry that I get behind if I so much as take a day off so am working on a solution at the moment to make my life easier and far more maintainable (instead of drowning in work all the time)

[sadierhianne]

I'd close, if i am that ill i can't work or just attend to the basics i'd rather not have the stress of worrying about it all. Not a very businesslike reply i know but i just think that health is more important than money or anything really.

We went away on holiday for two weeks in August, i out a message up, people still placed orders and i posted them as soon as i got back, same at Christmas.

My business gets in the way of enough of my family time and whilst i want it to be sucessfull i am determined to take decent holidays and weekends. last weekend was my first weekend off, no, maybe the second and that's the way it will go from now on.

I will just have to chat less.

xx

[Chell]

I will just have to chat less.

xx

Bet you don't :tcwozerek

[sadierhianne]

I know,

I need WW for my weight problem
I need AA for my drink problem
I need Trogette for my spelling problems
I need therapy for my chat addiction.

:hysterica

[Tinkabell]

My business is a joint one with DH so I know if I am ill he will look after it. When we go on holiday we put a sign up on the site and we email all our users to inform them there will be no support for the software whilst we are away.

Don't know what I would do if dh was away or seriously ill as he is the one that develops the software and knows it inside out, I do the admin and general telephone calls/emails.

[sadierhianne]

I Just asked Dh what he would do if i was ill - i told him that she should learn a bit about my business - he said that i'd have to turn it off.

I am very much unsupported with my business which is really hard.

[Al1x]

Wen i was in hospital having Amelia i talked DP through checking our orders over the phone! when we got home he carried on doing it untill he had to go back to work :)

[Chiggs]

It's a tricky one.

I rely on dh loads as it is, which I do feel guilty about because he has a (pretty stressful) fulltime job, but he'd certainly sort things out if I was ill (short term, though)
My Mum has filled in before when dh and I have been away, and did a great job, despite being nervous!

I wish I had a cunning plan to fall back on, though.

[sadierhianne]

This thread has really depressed me.

I realise that i am comp-letely unsupported by my OH - can't bring myself to say DP today. I tried to get him involved with part of my business a few weeks ago and he seemed interested, really interested but then when some stuff didn't work out as well as planned he backed off, he won't show any more interest. I thin that if i did all the hard work he might but i can't cope with any more work right now - talking kids, renovating etc etc. So i think it has just dawned on me that he will not be part of my business and wouldn't help out if i needed him to be.

Maybe if i start to take some money out of it he will think it is a serious job.