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No fun in the sun for overworked bosses, report claims

UK business owners risk a summer burnout by not taking a proper break, claims new research released yesterday.

Of the 1000 business owners surveyed by Make It Cheaper, the business price comparison service, 14% aren’t planning any holidays at all this summer, with a further 38% staying close to home.

For those planning a holiday, it isn’t all good news, with 29% of people taking less time off in 2010 than in previous years.

Nearly two thirds (59%) acknowledge the high ‘burn out’ risk of the hours they work running their businesses.

Over a third (35%) get stressed out about finding reliable people to cover them while they are away, and even when on holiday, one in five (20%) aren’t able to switch off from work.

Very few business owners worry about staff absenteeism though (3%), showing a reassuring level of trust in employees.

Jonathan Elliott, managing director, Make It Cheaper said: “Being horizontal on a sunlounger is the perfect opportunity for business owners to read up on the latest management books and dream up new ways of increasing profits while reducing overheads.

“This is important downtime and shouldn’t be cut short because you are worried about the business. It’s better to have a way of staying in touch and the peace of mind that, if something major happens, you’ll get to know about it.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .