How do you work through a family emergency?

I had a family emergency last week (my grandmother died) and I'm also a solo business owner. Family definitely comes first over my business and I was able to cancel my appointments, clear my schedule and get in the car to make the nine hour drive home to southern Missouri. But not before I had a rush embroidery job that I needed to complete to arrive at a client's trade show via Next Day Air shipping. This made it a super rush job, taking away the three full days that I had allotted for production.

I worked for 13-1/2 hours straight to get the job completed before I could head out of town. I was left with two choices in this case.

1. Call my client, explain the situation and bail on the job (leaving her up a creek)

2. Work quickly to complete the job, delay my trip by one day and make it home in time for the funeral and to be with my family

I went with choice number two. That felt the best for me. I would still be able to uphold my commitment to my client, yet be able to attend the funeral and valuable time with my family.

Had I called this particular client to tell her I couldn't complete the job, she would have been disappointed but I hope she would have understood my situation. Communication is of utmost importance. Make the call before you can't complete a job and explain your circumstance. Stay away from the whole sob story and just stick to the facts. If you wait until the deadline has already passed without making that phone call, you are jeopardizing future business.

Be sure to change your voice mail if you will be away for a few days and put an auto-reply on your email to briefly explain the situation. Being proactive is important and keeping your clients in the loop will help you build relationships with them after you return.

You will also need to schedule some time to grieve, instead of getting back to work immediately. Maybe even an out-of-town retreat to a place where you feel comfortable.

Times like this are definitely part of the downside to being a small business owner. There is no one else to fill in while I'm gone. If appropriate steps are taken and you start planning for your emergency situations ahead of time (because they will happen), it will make the time away from your business a little easier. Make a list of things that you can do within 15 minutes of getting an emergency call so you can quickly get away if you need.