Spa owner vacations: how to take a month off work next summer. 

If your knee-jerk reaction (especially as a solo spa owner!) is that it sounds too good to be true, then you should know that it is possible… but that you are likely missing three ingredients that are key to making it happen.

Namely? Focus, commitment, and, of course, spa systems!

The trick to learning how to take a month off work next summer is to narrow in on these key ingredients in order to A) stop trading time for dollars in the treatment room, B) start leveraging your role as leader within your spa business, and C) begin feeling like you have actually control over your biz and, if you’re a team leader, your staff… even when you’re not physically there.

Let’s break down how to leverage these ingredients in order to ensure that you can take a month off work next summer (or any time during the year!)

The Common Hurdle With Spa Businesses

The fact of the matter is that the majority of spa owners started their own business in order to have increased flexibility and earning potential. However, the reality is that most of you have found yourself in a job: meaning, trading time for dollars in the treatment room, working long hours, and feeling like you are chief cook and bottle washer… especially if you’re leading a team!

That means that, when you consider taking a month off work next summer, it seems impossible. No one would be there to lead the day-to-day (Bah! Fires, fires everywhere!); no one else is there to communicate upcoming promotions or new products you have lined up; and, if you are a solo, there is no one to step in and deliver your services for you, which is a common complaint of my spa coaching clients!

The core problem that underscores these common spa business hurdles is this: right now, your spa business is inefficient and can’t run without you.

Take a Step Towards Spa Owner Vacations and Learn How to Take a Month Off Work Next Summer With These Steps

“Kirsten,” you may be saying, “what’s the fix then? It sounds impossible for me!”

Awhile back, me and my “estie bestie” workshopped Mike Michalowicz’s “Clockwork: Design Your Business to Run Itself”. Like his book “Profit First”, “Clockwork” is what originally inspires me to grease the wheels of my own spa business.

Taking the concepts of “Clockwork” onboard and spending a year building up my spa systems to get to a place where I could take time off work when needed or wanted is what saved me and my business when, last September, I needed to take a month off of work in the wake of my son’s near-fatal car accident. It was a time where I could not physically be present to work, so the beauty of taking that year of effort was that, when I needed it most, my business ran seamlessly. My clients didn’t even know I was out of the mix for that period of time!

That accident was the “acid test” my spa business needed to prove that my systems were rock-solid… and, now that they’ve been tried-and-tested, I’m taking the full month of July off this summer. 

Here are the nuggets from “Clockwork” that made this possible for me… and how it can all be possible for your spa biz too!

Step #1: Analyze Where Your Time is Going

If you are the leader of your spa biz, it’s likely that you’re also the bottleneck: that means that you are getting in the way of your own systems!

Why? Because you are used to being in the weeds. You are used to having your hands in the mix, to being the one doing and delivering tasks… versus delegating and, more importantly, designing non-essential tasks.

Both solos and teams should be outsourcing these tasks in order to free up time for the higher-level tasks that you specifically need to handle. Easily-outsourced tasks include digital services such as spa social media management, blog and email marketing for spas, and spa copywriting. To do this, you can analyze what portion of your time is dedicated to the following:

• Doing
• Delegating
• Delivering
• Designing

These aforementioned portions should lean towards your time being primarily dedicated to the “designing” and “delegating” portion… and you can even download the Clockwork delegation sheet today to write out for yourself an accurate representation of your time! After all, you can’t change what you don’t know.

Step #2: Discovering What Your Queen Bee Role Is

Some of my favourite aspects of the book, which I have dedicated entire blogs to, is helping business owners discover what their Queen Bee role is.

Your Queen Bee role is defined as the one core function your business’s success hinges on. Like a real beehive, without the queen, it would collapse… just like your spa biz would without you! 

However, there is likely only one thing that you specifically do well that generates income for your spa. By niching in on what this one core function is, you can then create the accompanying structure (such as team building, outsourcing, and technology) that allows you to focus your energy on that one thing. Once you nail this, it helps to open up which systems you need to develop.

Step #3: Get to Work on Your Spa Systems!

Now that you’ve nailed down the two biggest takeaways, it’s time to set up your spa systems so that you can get your business set up for spa owner vacations.

In my free spa owners-only Facebook group, Spa Business Mastery, we frequently exchange business-related summer reads… and “Clockwork” is the best first step for getting to work on the systems and team you need to build so that you can take a whole month off next summer!

Looking for More Tips on How to Take a Month Off Work Next Summer? Reach Out Today

As a former spa owner myself, I’ve been in your shoes.

If you are looking for more tips, tricks, or hands-on guidance on how to take a month off work next summer, reach out today to book a coaching call with me soon...because I’ll be off work until August 1st!