For many entrepreneurs, running a company and taking a vacation is a contradiction in terms.

Sure, you might take a day off once in a blue moon. But a real, honest-to-goodness holiday—when you're out of the office and out of commission for, say, an entire week?

That's something you said goodbye to the moment you decided to start a business.

As it turns out, that attitude is not only mistaken but counterproductive. Going on a vacation is not only doable but also a requirement for growth. In fact, with appropriate planning, you'll probably find that your company will perform better upon your return.

"Taking a break is essential to the success of the business," says Brent Dees, a principal with Focus Four, an executive coaching firm in Charlotte, North Carolina.

How so? Basically, the typical small-business owner, who works virtually all the time, tends to lose the ability to see the big picture if he or she never gets away. The separation allows you to come up with ideas you probably wouldn't have thought of otherwise.

"By not taking a vacation, you're hurting your creative spark," says Richard Rabins, co-chairman of Alpha Software in Burlington, Massachusetts, who takes about three one-week vacations a year. "You risk killing the golden goose."

Peter Madden is a case in point. Last October, Madden, president of AgileCat, a nine-employee branding and design firm in Philadelphia, took a one-week trip to the Bahamas with his wife.

While away, he thought of a way to rejigger the roles of several employees, decided to create an events-planning division, and got the idea to throw a party to celebrate both the launch of the new unit and a recent move to bigger, fancier office space.

"I do my best thinking on vacation," Madden says.

Still, you'll probably want to take it slow. It's unlikely that you'll be able to go on a vacation for the first year or two after starting a business, at least until you've hired an employee who is able to really run the business while you're gone. At first, you'll want to test the waters with a long weekend before going on a longer trip.

When you're ready for a real vacation, start planning at least two months before you leave, says Tara Miles of BizLaunch, an Arlington, Virginia, program that coaches small businesses. That includes informing clients whom to call while you're away and making sure that your employees understand which types of situations you need to hear about and which ones they should handle on their own.

You'll feel the most refreshed if you can make a complete break. That means going cold turkey—no cell phone or email communication. Achieving that feat requires having at least one or two high-level people on your staff who are able to make decisions while you're away.

For his first five years in business, Madden said that he didn't have anyone he felt was up to that task, so he frequently checked in with his office. "I was really just working remotely," he says. "It wasn't what I would consider a vacation."

About four years ago, he hired a creative director and an executive assistant, among others, whom he trusted to make decisions in his absence. Since then, he's taken two weeklong vacations every year and stayed completely out of touch.

In many ways, the ability to go on a real vacation often is an indication that you've hired the right people.

Two-and-a-half years ago, for example, Honey Rand, founder of Environmental PR Group in Lutz, Florida, realized she'd been following the wrong hiring strategy—bringing on board midlevel employees who were communications experts and teaching them the technicalities of her specialty.

As a result, "I was everybody's backup," she says. "If something went wrong, I had to fix it. And the clients all wanted to work with only me."

The solution, she decided, was to look for a different type of individual—a professional with a technical background who could be taught communications skills. She also introduced a new benefits package to attract them.

The upshot: Rand was able to create a 10-employee staff that functioned more independently than before. Recently, she took her first vacation in a decade, a 10-day trip to Yellowstone National Park. In May, she's planning a three-week holiday to the Galápagos Islands and the Amazon River basin.

If you don't have the staff in place—or you just can't let go—then use email to stay in touch. But confine your work-related communication to one particular time during the day—such as first thing in the morning, before you're off to your next activity.

Rabins takes his laptop with him whenever he goes on vacation, spending two hours or so every morning or "after everyone has gone to sleep," he says, emailing back and forth. In fact, thanks to email, he finds vacations much less stressful than he did before easy access to the internet came on the scene.

If your business is seasonal, of course, it's best to go away during your slower time. A toy retailer, for example, would be foolish to jet off between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Jason Andelman, who runs Artisan Confections, a three-year-old retail store and chocolate wholesaler in Arlington, Virginia, decided to go on a five-day holiday to his in-laws' Cape Cod home last July. That's because he makes most of his money from September to May.

With no regular employees at the time—he recently hired his first full-time worker—Andelman checked with his wholesale customers, making sure he had supplied all their stores before he left, and simply closed down his retail outlet for the week.

For best results, lounging at the beach might not do the trick. To ensure that you don't spend too much time thinking about business, experienced vacationers suggest that you plan activities likely to take your mind off your work.

Alicia Rockmore, C.E.O. of Buttoned Up, a nine-employee company in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that makes organizational products for women, recently took a five-day trip to Walt Disney World with her husband and six-year-old daughter.

She says, "It's hard to think about work under those circumstances."