Using Technology To Enjoy That Much Needed Vacation!

It’s the annual dilemma that gives many small business owners the summertime blues: How to go on vacation and keep their business running.

How many vacations have you taken lately?

If you're like most small business owners, vacation is a distant memory or a far flung dream. In fact, according to a QuickBooks survey from Intuit, 72 percent of North American based business owners would like to take a vacation – if only they could manage their business remotely.

Read on carefully, because there is a cure. You too can manage your business remotely without losing control. Here are Seven tips I use to make it work:

1. Go mobile; stay connected: Laptop computers with wireless adapters keep you connected wherever you go. You can get online anywhere there’s coverage – the cottage, the beach, Europe, Asia and even on many cruise ships! Anywhere a cell phone works, it's likely you can get internet access also.

2. Laptop's are becoming more and more compact in the last number of years, a new laptop from Asus recently released with a 7 or 9 inch screen measures less than the size of a soft cover book and weights less than a pound, now that's portable!

3. Where there is internet access, there is remote access. Remote access tools are available that allow a secure connection from your location to your home office that's "just like being there" see your office screen just like you were in the office. Ask us how!

4. Manage your finances online: QuickBooks Online business software is a handy way to keep track of your finances anywhere, anytime – especially while traveling. You can use it to create and send professional-looking invoices via e-mail and easily track cash flow all online.

5. Get a Smartphone: More than a cell phone, a smartphone allows you to communicate instantly with customers and employees via phone, e-mail and text messages. Whether it's a blackberry an iPhone or a Palm or Windows based device, taking your calendar, your contacts and your email access with you in your shirt pocket or purse is a great way to stay in touch without staying in the office.

6. Reduce paperwork: Replacing that old copy machine with an all-in-one photocopier, fax and scanner puts an end to sending paperwork via snail mail. If you have employees, it means they can scan documents and send them to you via e-mail. Or better yet, get an online fax and reduce your carbon footprint.

7. Outsource: Look at ways you can outsource specific business management tasks. Hire a virtual or local assistant to help with administrative tasks or find a writer to write copy for your Web site. It can also include working with another business owner to trade off covering for each other’s business when traveling.

There are high-tech and low-tech ways of gaining back control of your time and your business, for more ideas or to discuss cost effective ways of implementing strategies that will let you get out of the office this summer, don't hesitate to call, of course, you might just catch me on the dock but I'm always willing to talk :)

Have a great summer season!