I thought about this on vacation. So can I deduct my
vacation?
My wife, my 15 year old son, Ryan, and I were fortunate
enough to vacation a few weeks ago in the Turks Caicos Islands. We stayed at Beaches
all inclusive family resort. As I walked around the resort I could not notice
how efficiently it was run. The systems
they had in place were amazing.
I often think about systems and how systems are so important
for the operation of a business. All you have to do is take a look at the fast
food franchises to see how good systems equal success. My oldest son happens to
have an Arby’s restaurant and all the systems are created for them. From their marketing system; to their menu;
to how they cook the food; to what the workers wear. It’s all down orchestrated
for them. It’s all about systems. These systems are what allow Arby’s, Runza, and
McDonald’s to operate efficiently.
At the resort, these systems were definitely in place. They
had systems for everything. I was amazed
as I watched a worker shining the chrome on the pool deck. There was an
afternoon rain and there was a work on each floor mopping up the water on the
balconies between the buildings. With
629 rooms there were a lot of guests that ate a lot of food. Most of the food comes from Florida. You can’t just run to the store and pick up
milk. There is at least a week lead time
for an order to get shipped from the dock.
Systems systems systems.
I was fortunate enough to talk with the food service
manager. Sixteen restaurants, what a job he has. I asked him how many managers
he had under him. I was surprised by his answer. He has thirty managers
underneath him. I could just visualize the organization chart that they must
have.
Take a look at your business. What kind of systems do you
have in place? What are your systems for new clients? What are your systems for
how clients are greeted? What are your systems for the telephone system? What
are your systems for how hair is washed? If you look at successful businesses,
they have systems. If you don’t have systems in place, let us know. We can
help.
Now to answer my
question: Since I thought about all
of this while I was on vacation, can I deduct my vacation?
Unfortunately no. The primary purpose of travel has to be business and I did not spend a majority of my time on business while I was lying in the sun.
