Startup Guides > 4 Things Entrepreneurs Must Do Before Going on Vacation

It's that time of year again when you and a lot of other entrepreneurs may be looking at former 9-to-5 colleagues with some envy, as they plan their annual two-week vacation with family or friends.

Can you afford to take two weeks away from your business and have it run as smoothly as it does when you're in it? If you can, that's great. You've successfully found a way to systemize (or systematize?) your operations and put people you can trust in charge of running things and getting the job done.

If you can't, or if you're in a growth stage where you don't see how it's possible, you need to step back and assess how you're working your business - or how your business is working you.

The real definition of a successful business is a profitable enterprise that works without you. Note the last part of that sentence because until you can systemize and scale your operations to work without you, all you've done by starting a business is given yourself a high-paying (hopefully!) job...