How to ask yourself for a holiday
In which the author reflects on an under-discussed aspect of self-employment; who do you talk to about time off?
As everyone who has even stood next to me in the queue at Tesco knows by now, I’ve launched my own business.
After a decade in politics, journalism, communications, and similar dark arts, I decided to take what I like, discard what I don’t, and create an agency with a new way of doing things.
I want my work to be something I’m proud to put my name on.
And so, Alan Grant Communications was born.
It’s been an amazing experience.
I expected to enter an crowded market, full of people who know this business better than I, and have to scramble, scrap, and claw for every £100 press release or bitty contract.
What happened, was nearly the opposite.
Before I even had a website, I was hired by a client for the general election campaign to provide press management and campaigning services as part of their winning press team.
Since then, I’ve grown my client base to the point where I have to think about capacity and I’ve launched that lovely new website, put together by my amazing web designer, Claire Martin. Feel free to reach out if you’d like to find out more about her.
But, for now, I am still taking on new clients and please continue to email alan@alangrantcommunications.com if you’d like to find out about becoming one.
While communication, along with strong black coffee and the films of Martin Scorsese, gets me out of bed in the morning, I can’t deny that it’s been hard work.
It’s been rewarding and a healthy change from employment, mostly because running the show appeals to my resentment of authority which has been an issue my entire life, but, as a close family member would say to me, I’ve very much “put in the hours.”
Therefore, because I believe in well-being and take pity on anyone being made sit at a desk in an office just to, as another person dear to me would say, “use the internet in a different room,” I’ve decided a short break is in order.
Starting and running my own businesses has involved several new experiences, but how to deal with holidays is the oddest.
How exactly does one go about preparing to take time off without having to ask some authority figure if it works with their schedule and if they can “manage” while one is away?
It’s all new. So, I’ve decided that the best thing to do would be to put myself in the shoes of a client and figure out what I would want from me.
The first, is clarity about whether or not regular service will be disrupted. At this stage, it’s fairly easy for me to assure clients that everything will proceed as normal. I will have my laptop and phone with me and will be contactable.
The second is about jobs that fall in the week or so that I am away. This too has been completed, by communicating clearly with clients about their needs and preparing materials, as much as possible in a reactive industry, in advance.
Finally, there is the check in. This will happen when I’m back in my usual home office and operating as normal. But clients know this is coming, which is the important part.
So, complete clarity, sensible planning, and consistent communication are what I would look for from me… so it’s where I’ve started providing for others.
With that, I’ll sign off.
Those early morning airport gin and tonics won’t drink themselves… sláinte!