THE PRACTICE

In a company, when someone has a family emergency or needs surgery, their work gets handed to a colleague. It isn’t always smooth, but there’s someone. When you run the business alone, there’s nobody. If you’re suddenly out for two weeks, the client emails pile up, deadlines slide, and the stress of what’s waiting follows you into whatever you’re dealing with.

Many solo owners know this and quietly accept it as the cost of working for themselves. Some never take real time away because of it. Others work through situations where anyone else would have stopped.

Why it works

Knowing someone could step in changes how you carry the business. It’s the difference between “if something happens to me, everything falls apart” and “if something happens to me, it’s handled.” That background worry is heavier than most owners realize until it’s gone.

It also makes stepping away possible when you need to. A family emergency, an illness, a new baby, a parent who needs help. Life doesn’t check your project calendar first. With a backup in place, you can be fully present for what matters without the business suffering for it.

And clients see it as professional. Knowing that their project won’t simply stop if you’re unavailable gives them more confidence in hiring a one-person business.

How to run it

Choose one person. Look for someone in your field whose work you respect, ideally at a similar level and serving similar clients. A peer from a professional group, a former colleague, or someone you’ve subcontracted with before.

Make it mutual. Offer to be their backup too. It turns a favor into a fair arrangement.

We both run things solo, and I’ve been thinking about what would happen if either of us got sick or had an emergency. Would you be open to being each other’s backup for urgent client work? We’d agree on terms ahead of time so it’s easy if we ever need it.

Agree on the basics. What counts as urgent, how you’d hand work over, and how you’d handle payment, such as the backup billing for their time. Write it down in a short email you both keep.

Keep a handoff file. One document with your current projects, client contacts, deadlines and where files and logins are stored. Keep it updated once a month, and make sure someone you trust knows how to give it to your backup if you can’t.

Mention it to clients. A line in your welcome guide or contract that says you have a trusted colleague who covers urgent needs in an emergency.

The mistake most people make

Waiting until there’s an emergency to figure it out. In the middle of a crisis, nobody has the energy to find a backup, explain the projects and work out payment. The whole value of this practice comes from doing it while things are calm.

The other mistake is letting the handoff file go stale. A list of last spring’s projects won’t help anyone. Put a monthly reminder on your calendar to update it.