Taking time off — price it before you book it
A week off is not a loss to make up later. It is a cost your rate must carry before you book it. Price it, pick the dates and tell people once. Then decide what an emergency means while you are away.
You are not paid for 52 weeks a year. Your rate must carry the weeks you do not work. Price the weeks off before you book them. Divide what you must clear in a year by your billable weeks, not by 52. Pick the dates from your diary, not from hope. Tell clients once, early, in three places. Then decide what happens to an emergency while you are away.
You are not paid for 52 weeks a year. The weeks you work must cover every week you do not work. So a week off is not a gap to make up after it happens. It is a cost. It belongs in your rate before you book the time, not after you get back.
This guide covers a break that you plan and book. The off sick guide covers a morning when you suddenly cannot work.
1. Price the weeks off before you book them
Start from 52 weeks a year. Subtract the weeks you plan to take off. Also subtract the weeks you already lose to bank holidays, illness or training. What is left is your billable weeks. These are the weeks you can invoice.
Divide what you must clear in a year by your billable weeks, not by 52. What you must clear is your own draw plus your fixed business costs. Dividing by 52 hides the weeks you do not work inside the price of every other week. The true cost of the time off then shows up nowhere. The time off check does this arithmetic for you and shows the gap between the two.
2. Pick the dates from your diary, not from hope
Look at which weeks already hold booked work. A week with two big jobs booked either side is a poor week to take off. A quiet edge is a good one. Pick the dates from what your diary shows, not from when you feel you deserve a break.
Once you have picked the dates, stop taking new bookings for them. A date you have not protected is a date a new enquiry will fill. You may not notice until it is too late to say no.
3. Tell people once, early, in three places
Say it once, and say it early enough that nobody is caught out. Three groups need to hear it. Each group needs a different message:
- Clients with work booked either side of the dates. Tell them the dates and when work picks back up. Put it in the same message that confirms their own booking.
- A client mid-job. Say plainly what stops, what does not, and the date it resumes. A client mid-job should never have to ask where things stand.
- A new enquiry. Send an away reply with the date you are back. Say what to do if the enquiry is urgent. This answers the question before it is asked twice.
The time off scripts cover all three. They also cover offering the slot before or after the break, and asking another trade to cover. They include the note that re-opens your diary when you are back.
4. Decide what happens to an emergency
Decide this before you leave, not while your phone is ringing on the first day off. There are two honest answers, and either one works. Name another trade who covers emergency work while you are away. Or say plainly that you are not available, and give the date you are back. Do not leave it unsaid and hope nothing comes up.
Do not go quiet without saying so. A client who cannot tell if you forgot them or went away will assume the worst. Do not promise to check messages if you will not check them. Do not discount to fill the week before you go. See holding your price for the four honest responses to a client who pushes back. Run the numbers through the discount check first.
What keeps running while you are away
A scheduled invoice send, a payment reminder and a recurring invoice series run on a server timer, not your laptop. They keep going whether or not you are at your desk. Before you go, look at the booked date of each job. Then you pick your dates around real work, not a guess. BizBinder does not know you are on holiday. It does not reply to an enquiry for you. You still write and send the three messages above yourself.
Common questions
How many weeks off can I actually afford?
Whatever your rate already carries. Work out your billable weeks: 52 minus the weeks you do not work. Then divide what you must clear in a year by that smaller number. The time-off check below does this arithmetic for you and shows the line per billable week.
Should I discount my rate to make up for the week I missed?
No. A discount cuts the very rate that must carry the week off. See holding your price for the four honest responses to a client who pushes back. Run any discount you are considering through the discount check first.
What is the difference between this and the quiet season?
The quiet season measures a dip in a year you did not choose. It is a slow quarter that arrives on its own. This guide prices a block of weeks that you choose to take. The question is different, but the rule is the same: price it before it arrives, not after.
Do I need to close the business completely?
No. Some tradespeople hand urgent work to another trade and stay reachable for nothing else. Others close fully and give a return date. Either is a real choice. The guide below covers both, with a plain away reply for a new enquiry.
What if I get an emergency call while I am away?
Decide this before you leave, not while your phone is ringing. Name a trade who covers emergency work while you are away. Or state plainly that you are not available, and give the date you are back. Both are acceptable answers. An unclear one is not.
Want each job to keep its booked date?
BizBinder does not know your holiday plans and has no away or out-of-office setting. That read stays yours. Reminders, scheduled sends and recurring invoices run from its own server-side timer, so they keep going while you are away. Each job keeps its booked date, and the This week page shows the current week.
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- 01 A person reads your note — not a queue.
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- 03 Your admin starts filing itself.
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- guide How to keep track of jobs without a spreadsheet The six-stage system here is the frame for the tools and sheets in this stage.
- tool Small business admin health check Answer ten quick questions on quoting, invoicing, getting paid, staying organized, and follow-up. You get a score and a plan for your two weakest stages.
- tool Day plan check Enter your start time, your target finish, and up to six jobs with their travel and on-site time. The tool shows if the day fits. It also shows the first job that misses its fixed start time.