“Summer time, and the living is easy….”
The summer holidays are nearly here again — six weeks (or more!) of sunshine, staycations, family trips and endless cries of “Mum, I’m bored!”
For small business owners, especially those who work from home, the summer holidays can be a double-edged sword. You want to spend quality time with your family, but the business still needs to run, and clients don’t stop needing you just because school’s out.
The good news? With a little planning and some smart thinking, your business can absolutely survive — and even thrive — through the summer months. Here’s an updated list of practical tips to help you make it work this year.
How important is your small business really?
Before, I add my suggestions about how to practically manage the summer holidays, it is worth dispelling a few myths and self limiting beliefs that we mumpreneurs can subscribe to:
- Our business will still be there for us at the end of the holidays – many of our clients and customers also will be taking time out over the next six weeks, and most will be sympathetic if projects take a bit longer at this time of year.
. - Only you can dictate the pace of your business – taking the foot off the accelerator pedal for six weeks, may actually give you the recharge time you need to get the business really firing on all cylinders in the autumn.
. - Our children may actually enjoy the variety that play schemes, play dates and the odd DVD on a wet summer’s day can bring, rather than resenting our need to do some work.
. - If we were properly ‘employed’ we would only be getting 2 weeks off over summer – so spending a few days a week on the business, is no big deal.
. - The world will not end if you have an untidy house or buy a couple of ready-meals…
So give yourself a bit of grace this summer – you can only do as much as you can do, and it will be enough, both for your children and for your clients and customers.
That being said there are a few things you can do, that may make your life a little bit easier, and a bit of planning and preparation is always a good thing. My children are pretty much grown up now and the problem has just about gone away for us, but here are some of the best tips that I have used over the last 20 or so years of working form home with children.
1. Plan Ahead
Re-timetable any non-essential tasks for the beginning of September, or later on in September if you have children going to new schools this year that might need settling in. The earlier you start planning, the better. Map out your key deadlines, client work, and personal commitments for the summer.
Use a simple project management tool like Trello or Asana to keep everything organised and visible.
💡 Top tip: Block out any days you know you’ll be away and set realistic expectations about how much you can achieve during the school holidays.
2. Communicate with Your Clients
Let clients know well in advance if you’ll be taking time off or working reduced hours.
Most clients will appreciate the heads-up and will be happy to adjust timelines if they know what to expect.
Email is fine, but for extra clarity consider adding your summer hours to your email signature or scheduling an out-of-office reply using Gmail or Outlook.
3. Prioritise Ruthlessly
During the summer, it’s all about working smarter, not harder. Prioritise the tasks that generate revenue or directly move your business forward.
If you usually try to do all the things, give yourself permission to focus only on what’s essential. The rest can wait until September.
4. Batch Your Content in Advance
Rather than scrambling to post on social media between trips to the beach, batch-create your content ahead of time.
Tools like Canva and Buffer make it easy to schedule social media posts weeks in advance.
If you send newsletters, try to write and schedule them ahead of time using platforms like Mailerlite or ConvertKit.
5. Set Boundaries with Your Family
It’s okay to want to protect your work time, even during the summer holidays. Explain to your family when you’ll be working and when you’ll be fully present with them. Visual cues can help — for example, putting a sign on your office door during focused work times or using a timer so kids know when they’ll have your attention again.
Make sure you have days when you are not working at all, and make sure that the children know that they will have your full attention at this time. Put an out of office message on your email and let your phone go to answerphone. then get out there, have some fun and make some memories. they are only small for such a short time.
This year for me is the first one where my children have a much better social life than me – in fact it wasn’t even possible to have a big family holiday this year, as there wasn’t a 7-day period in the summer when everyone was free. We will have a short visit to see relatives and that is all – my husband and I will be holidaying solo once the kids are back to uni. I can tell you this bit feels very weird, so make sure you make the most of the time that you have.
6. Adjust Your Working Hours
Consider shifting your work schedule to fit better around family life.
If possible, work early in the morning or later in the evening when it’s quieter and cooler (especially helpful if we get another UK heatwave this year!).
Many parents find they can get a surprising amount done in short bursts if they know they have limited time.
7. Explore Childcare Options
If you need dedicated work time, don’t be afraid to get help. Look into local holiday clubs, playdates with friends, or even hiring a teenager to babysit for a few hours a week.
Websites like childcare.co.uk can help you find local options.
Please be a sweetie and pin this…
8. Embrace Flexibility
One of the perks of running your own business is that you can be flexible.
Maybe you won’t be as productive as usual — and that’s okay. Instead of stressing about everything you’re not doing, focus on being fully present wherever you are: with your family during family time, and with your business when it’s work time.
9. Automate Wherever Possible
Now is a great time to lean on automation.
Set up automated invoicing and payment reminders using tools like Xero or QuickBooks.
Use email autoresponders to manage expectations.
And if you sell products, consider using automated ecommerce platforms like Shopify to handle orders.
10. Outsource Some Tasks
If budget allows, this could be the perfect time to delegate some work.
You could hire a virtual assistant (VA) to help with admin, social media or customer service. Platforms like PeoplePerHour and Fiverr make it easy to find freelance support.
Even getting help with household tasks — like hiring a cleaner or ordering groceries online — can free up valuable time.
11. Manage Expectations — Yours Included!
Be realistic about what you can achieve during the summer holidays.
You probably won’t have the most productive quarter of the year — and that’s okay. Remember why you built this business in the first place: to have more freedom and flexibility.
Give yourself permission to slow down a little, and enjoy the summer with your family.
12. Take a Proper Break
Finally, remember to take at least some time completely off.
Burnout doesn’t help anyone. Even if it’s just a few days here and there, fully switching off will help you return to work refreshed and ready to go.
Surviving, and thriving, through the summer holidays as a small business owner takes a bit of planning, flexibility, and self-compassion. You may not get everything done. But with a few smart tweaks, you can keep your business ticking over while making precious memories with your family.
And remember — September will come around soon enough, and when they go back, maybe you will decide to keep some of the flexibility and efficiency that you carved out over the summer, and use the time for something more fun.
Good luck with your summer!
What’s your personal strategy for managing the summer holidays? If you have any more good tips for us please leave them in the comments.
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All very good tips although slightly more difficult for us in the wedding industry – imagine 6 weeks with your children in your PEAK summer season! Ahhh springs to mind. I’m lucky my husband works with me 3 days a week so we plan to have 1 family day per week, I’ve booked them into clubs + my husband will take them out as well. Luckily they understand mummy is working and know this is when I have most of my weddings. I do always feels guilty not being able to dedicate 100% of my time but I’d rather be the boss then work for someone!
It’s different when the day to day running of the business is entirely in your hands – it can be hard to relax even in the summer! I used call answering service that just put through the important calls so I knew everything was under control, huge weight off the shoulders. Business owners certainly shouldn’t dismiss the idea of outsourcing.
Very practical advice as a lot of home based businesses grind to a halt in the holidays.Using a voice mail service is the only answer as we all know the phone always seems to ring when we are just about to do some thing.I have run a home based business for the past 18 years around 4 children,it can be hard at times but not impossible.Thanks again for the post.
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thank you for sharing these tips its really helpful for my business. please share more