Vacation and the Small Business Owner

I don't know about you, but I find it's difficult to take vacation.

On one hand, I know I need it. I need to get away, flush the brain, stay up late, sleep in late, eat a bit too much, throw back a few more than usual, do something new, watch my girls learn to swim, hang with the wife and kids, etc.

On the other hand, it's difficult to separate myself from the business. A lot of who I am is wrapped up in flyte. I don't see work as a bad thing. I miss flyte. I miss the people I work with, our clients, and the challenges of running a small business. Blogging, sales & marketing, talking about developing online strategies...I enjoy these things. Sometimes vacations seem more stressful.

How early do we have to get to the airport? Where'd I leave my boarding pass? Did I pack everything? How long will the lines be at Disney? Did I leave anything important at the condo? Will we get our security deposit back...can I get grape juice come out of that fabric?

Still, it looks like I left the company in good hands. We launched three sites last week! (More on that later.) There were no major fires. No one called me on my cell. The building is still standing.

I also got in some great reading. I read the story of Patagonia, Let My People Go Surfing. (More on that later, as well.) I'll never look at Patagonia as just another company again.

In any case, it's good to be back. Now about those sites we launched....

Rich Brooks
Small Business Owner