Business owners need to take time off

NEW YORK — With the summer months nearly half over, some business owners are finding it hard to let go for a vacation, even for a few days. But many do feel confident about taking time off because technology helps them stay in touch, and talented employees are able to keep the office running smoothly.

For quite a few years now, small business owners have been able to stay in touch with the office or clients with cell phones and smart phones, handheld computers and laptops. So questions can be answered, brush fires put out and hard feelings soothed — and fewer business owners can use the excuse of "I can't afford to be out of touch" that kept many of them from taking vacations in the past.

Many company owners might not realize that the business will benefit from the boss getting away for even just a few days.

Those who take vacations say they're more creative and more productive for having had some time off.

"I feel more relaxed; I see things from a different perspective," said Andrew Edson, who owns a public-relations firm bearing his name in New York. Like many owners, he vacations with an arsenal of technology that allows him to spend time with his family but also do whatever work might be needed.

Some owners are taking less vacation right now because of the uncertain economy, choosing instead to stay home to nurture client relationships or prospect for new business.

Amanda Vega, who usually spends more time at her public relations firm's New York office during the summer, is staying in Phoenix to keep working with her clients there. With the economy dicey, "there's just such a heightened sense of fear that they require more face time," she said.

Vega says she's working six days a week, so even long weekends are out of the question. Still, she will be taking a cruise in December, an annual trip that this year will be her honeymoon.

Although she's staying on the job, Vega wants to be sure her employees do take their vacations this summer; she's concerned about their possibly burning out. So, she said, "I'm making sure they take time off."

It can understandably be very hard for new entrepreneurs to tear themselves away from their businesses, especially when a company is quite embryonic. There's no money coming in yet, and there's a lot of prospecting for customers to be done.