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 has to carry before you book it. Price it, pick the dates, tell people once, and decide what an emergency means while you are away.
You are not paid for 52 weeks a year, so your rate must already 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. Every week you do not work still has to be covered by the weeks you do — so a week off is not a gap to make up once it has already happened. It is a cost, and it belongs in your rate before you book the time, not after you get back.
1. Price the weeks off before you book them
Start from 52 weeks a year. Subtract the weeks you plan to take off, and the weeks you already lose to bank holidays, illness, or training. What is left is your billable weeks — the weeks you can actually invoice.
Divide what you must clear in a year — your own draw plus your fixed business costs — by your billable weeks, not by 52. Dividing by 52 hides the weeks you do not work inside every other week's price, so the true cost of the time off never shows up anywhere. 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 genuinely quiet edge is a good one. Pick the dates from what your diary actually shows, not from when you feel like 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 without you noticing 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 in a different way:
- Clients with work booked either side of the dates. Tell them the dates and when work picks back up, 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. An away reply that gives the date you are back, and what to do if the enquiry is urgent, answers the question before it is asked twice.
The time off scripts cover all three, plus offering the slot before or after the break, asking another trade to cover, and 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. What does not work is leaving it unsaid and hoping nothing comes up.
Do not go quiet without saying so — a client who cannot tell whether you have forgotten them or gone away will assume the worst. Do not promise to check messages if you will not actually check them. And 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, and 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 all run on their own timer, not on your laptop — so they keep going whether or not you are at your desk. Before you go, look at which weeks already hold booked jobs, so you pick your dates around real work instead of a guess. BizBinder does not know you are on holiday and does not reply to an enquiry for you — the three messages above still need writing and sending 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 is meant to carry the week off. See holding your price for the four honest responses to a client who pushes back, and run any discount you are actually 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 — a slow quarter that shows up on its own. This guide prices a block of weeks you do choose to take. Different question, same rule: 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, along 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. Either name a trade who covers emergency work in your absence, 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 to see which weeks already hold work?
BizBinder does not know your holiday plans and has no away or out-of-office setting — that read stays yours. What it does is run reminders, scheduled sends, and recurring invoices from its own server-side timer, so they keep going while you are away, and sort your jobs into a week view so you can see which weeks already hold booked work before you pick your dates.
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