By Viktor Andrukhiv, Co-founder of Fibermix, Savex Minerals and PACK FOR BUSINESS
Taking a proper vacation, or even just a weekend away, without constantly monitoring the company is a challenge for many entrepreneurs.
As a result, you see fellow business owners at the beach spending all day on their laptops and constantly taking calls. That is neither rest nor a genuine reset.
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SubscribeThe bad news for a business owner is that there are no real days off. The good news is that processes can be designed so you can step back from day-to-day operations and catch your breath.
In my case, this remote management model took years to build. For around eight years now, my partners have managed most of the companies’ day-to-day operations. My responsibilities are focused on strategy, financing, protecting the businesses, liaising with government authorities, and overseeing key financial decisions.
I believe a founder’s vacation should not change the way the company operates. If you have to delegate authority at the last minute, explain the limits of each manager’s responsibility, and assemble a separate reporting system before leaving, the problem began long before the vacation.
I have prepared a short checklist to help business owners finally step back from work and give themselves permission to rest.
Some of these rules were established from the outset; others were developed over the years.
- Define the Limits of Authority
Delegation begins with a clear division of decision-making authority.
A manager must understand which decisions they can make independently, which ones must be reported to the partners, and which actions require prior approval.
This is especially important for large payments, new counterparties, credit obligations, changes to material contract terms, and non-standard arrangements with key clients.
A general rule such as “all important matters must be approved by the owner” does not work. Everyone has a different idea of what is important. It is better to define the limits of responsibility through specific monetary thresholds, transaction types, and levels of potential loss.
At the same time, managers need enough freedom to do their jobs. If every deviation from the standard scenario requires a call to the owner, the management team is not actually managing.
The right balance is essential: employees should be able to make decisions within their areas of responsibility, while the company retains visibility into those decisions and the reasoning behind them.
- Replace Constant Involvement with Key Control Points
An owner does not need to read every work chat or attend every meeting. What they need is a small set of indicators that provides a quick view of the company’s position.
In our companies, one of the main control points is the payment register.
Every morning, the accounting team prepares a batch of transactions. Each payment is numbered; I review them, ask questions about unusual transactions, and approve processing. The accounting team then has a clear financial plan for the day. This approach does not require deep involvement in operations, but it allows me to see the most significant changes.
Cash movements can reveal an increase in accounts receivable, new payees, unusual purchases, or a shift in the cost structure. If an indicator moves outside its normal range, that is a signal to examine the situation more closely.
The set of control data depends on the business model. For a manufacturing company, it may include production output, raw-material inventories, order fulfillment, accounts receivable, and cash balances.
These figures must be provided regularly and in a consistent, comparable format. If several departments have to compile information manually every time the owner asks for it, the company does not yet have a proper management reporting system.
- Set a Cap on the Cost of a Mistake
Set a maximum contract value that a director or manager may approve. Transactions with a high potential loss should be subject to an additional level of control.
It is therefore important to define in advance not only the threshold above which a second approval is required, but also the rules for working with new counterparties and the circumstances in which a payment may be put on hold.
- Vet Counterparties Before Starting Work
Vetting a new business partner should be a standard company procedure. It cannot depend on whether the owner is available.
We review the company’s legal status, owners, director, share capital, court proceedings, and operating history. We also compare official records with the information provided during negotiations.
This analysis helps us assess the scale, financial capacity, track record, and reputation of a prospective partner. Based on these findings, we determine the size of the initial transaction, the payment terms, and the acceptable level of risk.
It is also important to verify, rather than simply take someone’s word for it, that the person conducting the negotiations has the authority they claim to have.
Due diligence does not eliminate risk entirely. It does, however, provide enough information to make a considered decision.
The team should know who conducts the review, what information must be collected, and who approves the start of the relationship. If the entire procedure exists only in the owner’s head, it stops working as soon as the owner is away.
- Assess the Team’s Actual Capability
A management system is only as effective as the people it relies on.
We spent years building the core of our teams, investing in working conditions, and gradually expanding our managers’ responsibilities.
However, long tenure, a high salary, and a broad remit do not necessarily indicate effectiveness. One of our companies had a head of procurement who spoke English well, earned one of the highest salaries, and for a time partially performed the duties of a director.
Over time, he began avoiding difficult negotiations with suppliers, stopped pushing for better prices, failed to explore logistics alternatives, and repeatedly ignored assigned tasks.
We spent a long time trying to keep him on the team because we considered him almost irreplaceable. The decision was difficult. Yet in the three months after his departure, the company’s efficiency increased by 40%.
That experience changed the way I think about irreplaceability. A person often appears indispensable because they have concentrated contacts, access rights, and process knowledge in their own hands. That does not always mean they deliver the best results.
Before going on vacation, an owner should verify who can take over critical functions, where documents are stored, and who has access to contracts, payment information, and supplier contacts.
- Create Multiple Levels of Client Communication
Communication with major clients works best at several levels. Day-to-day matters are handled by the delivery team. More complex issues are escalated to managers. Strategic agreements are discussed at owner level.
This allows clients to understand whom to contact in a given situation and prevents the founder from becoming the sole point of contact for every request.
Before going on vacation, confirm who is responsible for each key client, which decisions that person may make independently, and when they must involve a director or owner. Formally appointing someone is not enough. They need access to the relevant information and genuine decision-making authority.
- Define When to Raise the Alarm
The team should understand when to act independently and when the owner must be informed immediately.
Such situations may include a risk of production shutdown, a significantly overdue payment, a dispute with a key client, an equipment failure, an unusual financial transaction, or concerns about a new counterparty.
Management decisions should be recorded. A company can use a CRM system, corporate messaging channels, email, or dedicated registers. The right tool depends on the company’s size.
The key is to ensure that decisions are not confined to verbal agreements or private correspondence that other participants in the process cannot access.
When establishing delegation processes, it is important to recognize that the human factor cannot be eliminated entirely. Employees will make mistakes even within their areas of competence.
What matters more to me is how a person responds after making a mistake. Do they report the problem? Do they try to mitigate the consequences? Do they learn from it? Does the same situation recur?
I do not believe an owner should switch off their phone and disappear while on vacation. But the company should be prepared well enough that there are very few reasons to disturb them while they are away.
To sum up, a company’s readiness for its founder’s vacation can be assessed in practical terms:
- The team understands the limits of its authority.
- Financial risks are capped.
- New counterparties are vetted under an established procedure.
- Critical functions do not depend on a single person.
- Clients have access to the responsible managers.
- The owner can see the state of the business through a small set of key indicators.
When these elements work throughout the year, a vacation does not require a separate reorganization of the company.
