My holiday is now imminent and every year I face the same dilemma when deciding what to do about meeting client need during this period. In the last 20 plus years I've only ever taken a fortnight off at most, my honeymoon excepted (and I think that's allowable). But I've never yet gone away without a client crisis having to be resolved before I go, and without some anxiety on my part about both what will happen whilst I'm away and what my desk will look like when I come back.
When I had partners I admit this used to be a little easier. At least there was someone manning the ship, so to speak. None of use enjoyed each other being away. It's always more difficult dealing with someone else's client rather than your own. But it did at least mean there was always cover.
That did not, however, avoid the question of whether we should be available on the end of a phone if needed. In the partnership situation we decided we should not be. Best to get right away we thought. Despite which we always left a number we could be contacted on, although as one partner once asked me 'what would you want to be called about?' I eventually decided I'd like to know if the office burned down. She, rather wisely pointed out there would be nothing I could do about that so I might as well stay away and in ignorance if it happened. We agreed therefore that fatalities and serious injury amongst staff might be a reason for being called and the rest could wait.
As a sole practitioner it's not so easy. Of course I've got an alternate, but let's be honest; they have little idea about what I do and who my clients are. So they're not available as holiday cover. And like many sole practitioners, I don't have suitable staff to cover many client requests either. This, therefore, requires some planning.
I now resolve this issue by calling all major clients before I go away to check if there is anything they want to talk about before I go on holiday. There's no harm in doing that anyway; in fact I'll mention why in my next tip. I use that opportunity to tell them they're free to call my mobile when I'm away, but please only make it an emergency. As for the rest, an answerphone message says the same thing.
This works. I have only had a couple of inappropriate calls whilst away that I can recall; one being from a directory that thought it was urgent that I place my entry in its pages (with which I did not agree ' I think directories are the worst source of work). But I have had some important calls, one indeed being about a death in a business. That person did need help, and I did not mind them calling. But even then, they had to wait for me to decide when we spoke. Because I might have my phone with me on holiday, but it is turned off. I get messages and then decide when I want to deal with them. That way the rest of family don't have to hear me discussing work when we're meant to be having fun.
It's not ideal, but this is an arrangement that makes being a sole practitioner who likes taking holiday possible. I'd recommend it.
Richard Murphy
AccountingWEB contributing editor Richard Murphy is a sole practitioner chartered accountant but was previously senior partner of a firm for 11 years. He has also been chairman, chief executive or finance director of 10 SMEs. A collection of previous articles by Richard on practice management themes is available in Practice Management Zone