photo credit: zappowbang
Some small businesses in rather small “mom and pop” type of towns have for a long time set hour’s of operation at the low end of the spectrum, having open times equalling a mere 10 or 12 hour’s per week. However, these businesses do state that if you call them they will come up and open the business, which is a nice gesture and thought, but think of how many customers they are loosing because people don’t want to waste their time waiting for someone to come open the door for them.
When your first setting your hour’s of operation take a few surveys, ask your target audience when they would most prefer that you be open, what would be the most convenient for them to come in and on what day’s of the week or weekend.
Once you have your schedule all worked out, make sure that it is set up in an extremely easy to understand manner and put out in the front of your business and in your ads in plain view site. Now we all know that emergencies happen from time to time, but do your very best to be open on time when you say you will and try your very best not to close early. If need be in case of emergencies, maybe have some sort of back up system worked out ahead of time where someone can come in for a few hour’s to open or close for you!
Based on a post form Small Biz Survival.