Multi-million dollar company, Boston Duck Tours was conceived by investment manager, Andy Wilson during a vacation to Memphis where he observed a tour bus traveling over land and water.

On vacation in New York, Mary Anderson, noticed streetcar drivers looking out opened windows to see when it rained. This simple observation on her travels lead to the invention of the windshield wiper.

By focusing on the positive impact of vacation time, it is always much easier to leave the office behind.

Incorporate these 3 tips to ensure that your business runs like clockwork while you are away:

• Let go of Control: A difficult aspect of business ownership is the ability to concede control. Taking a vacation is the perfect opportunity to test the abilities of your trusted staff members to handle the ship. Have your staff make a list of top priorities to have them buy into the accountabilities of running the office before you leave.  To have greater success in delegation, you must relinquish some control.

• To Call or Not to Call: Should you call the office while you're on vacation? According to a recent Hudson survey over 40% of entrepreneurs stay in touch with the office on most vacation days and 29% contact their business every day.

Prior to your departure, determine whether you'll take the approach of no contact (unless there is an emergency) or call in occasionally. If you really can't get your business out of your mind while at the cottage, a 10-minute debriefing with your staff can help calm your fears.

Have an Emergency Plan: The best way to retain your   peace of mind while on vacation is to have a contingency plan ready in case of emergency. If you are a  small business owner with employees, provide staff with the when and why to contact you.  For the self-employed professional, such as a solo computer consultant, make arrangements with other trusted peers to deal with any of your customer emergencies.

You probably started your own business for the freedom that comes along with it.  Remember that if you've laid the proper groundwork, it can operate without your daily presence.  We aren't saying that you need to be away for 42 days like in Italy, but if  you feel that in a single week your business will fall apart, perhaps it is the time to re-examine the operations of the business itself and the processes that have been set up. Remind yourself that the vacation you are taking  is not only for rejuvenation of yourself, but in the long run, a more energized business owner better serves your customers, employees and the continued growth of your business.