I freakin’ love summer.

It is the most beautiful time to live in the PNW.

Portland is glorious in the summer.

People are happier.

Life in summer seems light and fresh and just…scrumptious.

Perhaps it is because so many people take vacations in the summer.

If you are an entrepreneur, you may find summer to be a frustrating jerk of a season that rubs your nose in the fact that you can’t really take time off.

Bullshit!

You can (and absolutely should) take a vacation.

You just need to know how to prep for one.

Lucky for you, I have three tips to help you get there:

#1 Schedule, Schedule, Schedule

There is a reason this is number one on the list – scheduling is critical for taking a vacation.

Look out ahead and get things on the calendar.

When you own a business, you need to plan way in advance so everything can run like clockwork.

Do you have staff working for you? What should they do when you are gone to keep things moving forward?

What needs to be done before you leave so you can actually relax and ignore your email while you are gone?

What should you pick up when you get back?

What are the priorities?

Put those on the schedule first and make sure they are non-negotiable.

Be realistic with your time, but remember that the pot of gold at the end of that rainbow is a relaxing week in Cabo…or a weekend of hiking…or an amazing staycation.

#2 Maintaining the Pipeline

First, know how you get your business.

For many people, that is from referrals.

(IMO, some of us are a little too dependent on them…but that is a post for another day.)

However, if you get your business from referrals, you need to make sure that pipeline is set up to work while you are gone.

For example, I get most of my clients from networking.

To keep that running while I am away, I need to be strategic about how I network the month before (scheduling!)

It usually takes 2 weeks to a month to get people on the schedule after a networking event.

So, I plan my vacation in that sweet spot (after the event and before the meetings).

And – most important – I put all those meetings on my calendar ahead of time for the week I get back, to help me get back into the swing of things right away.

#3 Track the Trends

As I said, Portland is fantastic in the summertime.

Because of that, the whole local business community pretty well comes to a screeching halt when the sun comes out.

Business is pretty much non-existent from the end of July until at least mid-August. Sometimes until the kids go back to school in September.

I track the trends in my business and I know this is a time I probably won’t get too many deals done anyway – because the clients I would be adding aren’t doing business anyway!

So, I plan my vacations for a time when I know business would already be slow.

Take that trend and turn it to your advantage – boom. (If I had a mic, I would totally drop it right now.)

Until then…stay passionate!