INtroduction
Welcome to the Thrive By Design Summer Series - quick, practical episodes to help you step into the holiday season with clarity, calm, and confidence. Whether you’re taking a full break or just slowing the pace, these episodes will help you set things up so your business keeps humming while you recharge.
As we head toward the end of the year, there’s this collective sigh that happens across the service business world. You can almost feel the, “Oh my gosh, I just need to get to summer and stop for a bit,” energy. And honestly? Fair enough.
You’ve spent the year juggling clients, deadlines, delivery, admin, and about a hundred tiny decisions a day. By December, your brain is basically a browser with 47 tabs open, three frozen, and one making music - and you cant work out which one it is.
So the idea of taking a proper break? Bliss.
But here’s the truth most business owners quietly know:
Switching off doesn’t happen just because the calendar rolls over. It happens because you set it up.
The people who come back in January feeling refreshed and grounded? They’ve usually taken a few simple steps before shutting down for the year.
So in this summer series episode, I want to walk you through the five things to check before your annual shutdown - not as a rigid list, but more like the conversations you need to have with yourself before you step away.
These are the things that stop you lying awake on Boxing Day thinking, “Did that invoice go out?” or “Is that client expecting me to reply?” or “Is my team going to be okay without me?”
Let’s make this summer break feel like a real break - not just working from a different location.
1. Cashflow Coverage
Let’s start with the big one - cashflow.
The thing that will either let you relax on the deck with a chilled drink or have you checking your banking app every second day just to make sure you’re still okay.
Cashflow over summer is… interesting. Work slows, clients disappear, everyone goes into “holiday brain,” and while income tends to quiet down, expenses don’t. The rent still comes out. Payroll still comes out. Subscriptions absolutely still come out.
So before you close up for the year, just take a moment to get a sense of what money is coming in and what’s going out over the break. You don’t need to build a complex spreadsheet or channel your inner CFO - this is simply about visibility. Knowing what you’re walking into.
And if you want to go deeper into this - really understand how to plan your summer cash position to avoid the January squeeze, and make cashflow feel predictable rather than something you cross your fingers over - head to Episode 5: The first of our Summer Series where we cover The Summer Cashflow Checklist. That episode is a full walkthrough of how to prepare your cashflow specifically for this time of year. It’s the detailed, step-by-step version.
But here, for now, think about it like this:
Cashflow clarity gives you permission to relax.
So many servicepreneurs go into January slightly panicked because they forgot something - an expense they didn’t factor in or invoices they didn’t send because December felt like a sprint.
I had one client - a design agency owner - who went into the Christmas break thinking he was completely fine. He’d delivered a bunch of work in December, so he assumed the money would come in. But because December was frantic, he hadn’t actually invoiced any of it.
So while he was trying to switch off, his bank balance kept dipping… and suddenly this beautiful holiday he’d planned became a stress-fest.
The next year, we made one small rule:
Anything completed by mid-December got invoiced before he switched off.
That was it.
And suddenly he had the most peaceful January he’d ever experienced.
Cashflow clarity doesn’t need to be complicated - it just needs your attention before you step away.
2. Client Communication
Once you’ve sorted your cashflow, the next thing to think about is your clients - and more specifically, what they think is happening over the break.
We make this assumption that clients just know when we’re closed. “It’s Christmas, obviously I’m taking a break.”
But your clients live in their own worlds with their own calendars and pressures and deadlines. Their idea of “obvious” might be very different from yours.
And when there’s ambiguity, that’s when unexpected messages pop up. A request here. A “quick update” there. And suddenly your holiday doesn’t feel like a holiday anymore.
You don’t need to send a formal announcement or make a big production out of it. A simple message that says, “This is when we’re closing, this is when we’re back, and here’s what won’t be happening during that time,” is more than enough.
And if you’re mid-project, this is your chance to tie things off neatly. Let them know what will be finished before the break and what will be picked up in January so their expectations are aligned with reality. It avoids frustration, confusion, and those awkward “Oh… I thought you were working” moments.
I once worked with a consultant who assumed her clients just knew she took two weeks off. She didn’t say anything because she thought it was obvious.
It wasn’t.
She walked into January to an inbox bursting with clients expecting progress. None of them were upset - they genuinely thought she was around.
The next year she communicated early, clearly and kindly - and her January was a completely different experience. Calm. Controlled. No surprises.
Clear communication creates space for you to truly switch off.
3. Team Wrap-Up
If you have a team - whether they’re employees, contractors, or just someone who supports you a few hours a week - this is the time to bring everything together before you close for the year.
Think of this as tidying up the digital workspace, the same way you’d tidy your physical desk before going on holiday. It’s not about perfection - it’s about finishing lines.
Check in with them about what needs to be wrapped before they log off. Make sure no one is halfway through something that will feel messy or confusing when everyone comes back in January. Encourage them to update shared folders, close off tasks, and tie up anything dangling.
Payroll and holiday pay are also worth double-checking early. Nothing yanks you out of holiday mode faster than a panicked message from a team member saying something didn’t go through. A little attention here saves a lot of disruption later.
And finally, help your team land the plane gently. Give them clear final priorities and a simple plan for the first week back. It gives everyone confidence and creates a soft landing in the new year.
4. Systems & Automations
This one can save your sanity.
Before you switch off, take a moment to make sure your systems and automations are working for you - not against you.
You know those moments where something gets triggered automatically and you think, “Oh no… that’s terrible timing”?
Yeah. We’re avoiding those.
Set your out-of-office.
Update your voicemail.
Just glance over your scheduling tools, your invoice reminders, your automations - anything that might fire without you realising it.
Make sure your accounting software isn’t going to send an invoice reminder on Christmas Day. Make sure your email sequences aren’t going out with messages that don't fit the holiday period. Make sure nothing odd is scheduled for social media unless you want it there.
And if you use project management tools or CRMs, give everything a quick look so that when you come back, you’re not greeted with digital chaos.
Ten minutes here can save you from a whole lot of surprise notifications while you’re trying to relax.
5. A Gentle Introduction to Boundaries
Now, before we wrap up, I want to talk about something that isn’t a task at all… but it’s the thing that will ultimately determine whether your holiday is restful or not. And we’re going to spend the next Summer Series episode diving much deeper into this.
It’s boundaries.
You can have the most beautifully planned shutdown in the world, but if your boundaries aren’t solid - especially with yourself - your holiday can still disappear.
Most servicepreneurs are great at telling clients when they’re off… and then terrible at actually being off. You see a little notification come through, and before you know it you’ve responded. Or you open your inbox “just for a second,” and suddenly half an hour has disappeared and your brain is back at work.
I’m not asking you to fix anything today - that’s what the next episode is for.
All I want you to do right now is notice.
Notice where you tend to break your own rules.
Notice what makes you feel responsible or guilty or overly available.
Notice the patterns that pull you back into your business when you’re supposed to be on break.
Just that awareness will make next week’s boundaries episode land even deeper.
Your CEO Check-In
Before you switch off completely, make sure you take 15 minutes to check in with yourself - not as the service provider, not as the doer, but as the CEO.
This isn’t planning. Planning happens in January.
This is simply capturing what the year has taught you while it’s still fresh.
Ask yourself:
What worked?
What didn’t?
What created momentum?
What felt heavy?
What do you already know needs to shift next year?
You can write it down, record a voice memo, or even talk it out with someone. The format doesn’t matter - the clarity does.
These reflections become the foundations of your January strategy session. They stop you recapping the same year on repeat simply because the patterns are familiar.
Give yourself this moment.
The January Re-Entry - A Gentle Runway
One last thing. Think about how you’re going to come back.
A lot of business owners walk into January and immediately get hit with inboxes, updates, and demands. And all that lovely holiday calm evaporates.
Instead, give yourself a gentle re-entry.
Maybe the first day back isn’t emails or client work at all - it’s CEO time. Space to reconnect with your goals, your reflections, and where you want to place your energy.
Then maybe the next day becomes your admin or inbox day.
And day three is when you start touching delivery again.
It doesn’t need to be a rigid plan - it’s just a way of protecting your energy and easing into the year with intention, not urgency.
To Wrap Up…
So before you switch off for the year, just take a moment to check in with these five areas:
Your cashflow - so you can relax.
Your clients - so expectations are clear.
Your team - so everything ends smoothly.
Your systems - so nothing strange happens while you’re away.
And a gentle awareness of your boundaries - so next week’s episode lands exactly where you need it to.
None of this is about doing more.
It’s about setting yourself up to rest.
Setting yourself up to breathe.
Setting yourself up to start next year grounded, not scrambling.
And next week we’re diving into boundaries - the ones that protect your time, your energy, and your ability to actually take a break without feeling pulled back into your business.
Until then, keep thriving - but do it by design, not by default.
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