I want a vacation

But orders and inqueries keep coming in.

[khuntley]

I have been doing this since 1995, rather been involved with web sites that need constant attention. I have worked six or seven days a week for the entire time.

Now, I am looking to get away for a week or so. Is travel a dirty word for the ecom webmaster? Main problem is a web site that gets many orders and questions by email and phone daily. I don't have any help from others. Do I:

Continue to accept orders and deal with late orders when I come back?

Bring the site down for "maintenance" for a while and leave a similar outgoing message on the phone?

Risk ruining the vacation by maintaining the web site from afar while still not shipping orders?

Any thoughts?
Kevin

[tigger]

I'm in the same boat, what I've done is show a friend how to process orders and offer him some money to call round once a night and sort my orders out.

[Web Footed Newbie]

First, glad your going on holiday, sounds like you need one!

I would recommend getting a temp worker. Train them for 1 or 2 hours to answer emails, take orders, etc. That way, your site is not down, business gets done, and while your on vacation, just check in with the temp. Depending on volume of orders or emails per day, have temp work the number of hours to accomplish the task.

If a temp is not available, do you have anyone you trust to do this for you a few hours a day? Cut them in on the profits to make them happy and they will be glad to do it next year when you go on vacation.
Hope that helps, WFN :)

[derekwong28]

Closing down your site for whatever reason is the worse thing you can do. It creates an impression that your business is not reliable, and would make any existing customers very worried.

We have just had a 5-day vacation in Phuket. We got our part-time workers print address labels, pack the items and put correct postage on them. However, they were not to be sent off until we came back. In Phuket, we answered e-mails everyday except during the weekend, and ordered supplies from our supplier so they would be there when we came back.

Once we got back, we checked that the correct items have been put into the packages and then sealed the packages and sent them off. Our customers did not noticed any delay while this happened. Although we had a very tough couple of days when we got back.

[ssjxxx]

Main problem is a web site that gets many orders and questions by email and phone daily. I don't have any help from others.

You need some automation in your life. Some good srever-side scripting to take care of putting those orders into a database for you. But I digress.

Definitely DO NOT close your site. That is the worst thing that you can do. You are not only turning away business then, but you are likely turning away future business as well.

I'm thinking that your best bet is to do a bit of daily maintenance while you're vacationing. Block off a bit of time each day to take care of the business. But don't let it interfere with your fun/relaxation. If you can afford some part-time help while you're gone, it would be wise to take advantage of that.

[khuntley]

Thank you everyone,
Alright, I'm outta here for a few days starting tomorrow.

1. Leaving shopping cart up at site up with no changes.

2. Toll free number forwarded to my cell phone with company message if I can't answer because I'm at a theme park with background noise.

3. Will check orders and email from out of town first thing every day.

4. Rush to get everything out on the day I get back.

Kevin

[onlineleben]

There were quite a few good post last fall in this thread [webmasterworld.com]

Have fun and come back relaxed with lots of orders in your inbox.

Also as mentioned above: try to automate as much as possible when you are back.

[cpnmm]

I think its really important to have regular breaks away from work. I think that getting away completely is the best thing - ie no phone calls, emails or checking in on the website for a whole week at least - you'll need the first few days to unwind. There's nothing wrong with taking holidays and if you don't you'll regret it later. I get my best ideas when I'm taking a break - you need to step back and look at the big picture once in a while.

Have a nice holiday!

[shmekkyl]

I know a woman who has a small company that handles things like this. She will train her team to take you calls, respond to emails, and process orders. If want the specifics, sticky me.

[ssjxxx]

Alright, I'm outta here for a few days starting tomorrow.

Congrats! And enjoy your well-deserved vacation!

[martyt]

We're heading out tomorrow for a 10-day vacation.

I put a notice on the web site that we'd still accept orders but nothing would ship until we get back.

I still plan to check on the web site every day or two while vacationing, plus I'll check e-mail and voicemail, but we'e a small home-based business and I can't afford to pay anyone to come ship orders for us (nor can I afford the potential mistakes).

So if we lose business, then we lose business. It'll come back shortly. This is the internet, after all, and there's an unlimited pool of potential customers just waiting to find our site...