Opening Hours: How to Decide and Change Them
Your opening hours quietly shape everything: how many customers find you open, how much you spend on staff and how tired you feel by Friday. This guide shows you how to set opening hours using your own numbers, how to test a change without upsetting regulars, and how to announce new hours so nobody turns up to a locked door.
Key takeaways
- Base your opening hours on when customers buy, not on habit or on what the shop next door does.
- Compare sales per open hour with staff and running costs per hour to find slots that lose money.
- Test changes for a set period, such as six to eight weeks, and decide in advance how you will judge them.
- Announce new hours at least two to three weeks ahead, everywhere customers look.
- Check your lease, licenses and staff contracts before you change hours.
Many small businesses inherit their opening hours. The previous owner opened at nine, so you open at nine. A neighbor closes on Mondays, so you do too. Over time, those hours may stop matching how your customers live. Maybe more people now come after work, or the morning rush has moved online. Meanwhile, you are paying someone to stand behind the counter during a dead hour every afternoon.
Mid-April is a natural moment for a review. Lighter evenings are arriving, the Easter rush is behind you, and summer patterns are about to begin. A few hours with your sales data now can make the next six months more profitable and less tiring.
What your opening hours need to balance
There is no perfect set of hours, only a balance that works for your business. Before looking at any numbers, write down what matters to you. Most owners juggle five things.
- Customer demand. When do people actually want to visit, call or book?
- Cost per hour. Staff wages, energy, and any costs that rise when the doors are open.
- Staff availability. Who can work which hours, and what their contracts say.
- Your own energy. Long hours that leave you exhausted will cost you more than a quiet hour saves.
- Rules and agreements. Your lease, local licensing, trading rules and any shared building rules.
Rank these for your situation. A solo hairdresser may put personal energy first, while a convenience shop may put customer demand first. Knowing your priority makes later decisions easier.
Common mistake
Copying the hours of competitors without checking your own data. A café near an office and a café near a school have very different peak times, even if they are on the same street. Use competitors as a reference, not as your plan.
Gather the data you already have
You probably have more information than you think. Spend an hour pulling it together before making any decision.
Sales by hour and by day
Most point of sale and card reader systems can export sales with a timestamp. Pull at least eight to twelve weeks of data, and if your business is seasonal, compare the same period last year too. Group the sales into one-hour blocks for each day of the week.
Footfall, calls and bookings
Not every visit ends in a sale. If you have a door counter, booking system or phone log, note when people visit, call or book. A booking made at 9 pm online tells you something too: customers may want to book outside your open hours, even if they visit during them.
What customers and staff say
Ask a few regulars when they would most like to visit. Ask staff which hours feel quiet or rushed. Both groups notice patterns that numbers miss, such as people peering through the window at 8:45 every morning.
Pro tip
Keep a simple tally sheet by the door for two weeks. Each time someone tries the handle, phones, or asks "are you open?" outside your hours, add a mark next to the time. It costs nothing and shows hidden demand your sales data cannot.
Work out which hours pay for themselves
Now turn the raw data into a simple picture of each hour. The goal is to see which time slots earn more than they cost, which ones roughly break even and which ones lose money.
For each hour block, estimate two numbers: the average gross profit earned in that hour (sales minus the direct cost of what you sold), and the cost of being open in that hour (mainly staff wages plus a share of energy and other costs that only exist when you are open). Rent and insurance usually stay the same whether you open or not, so leave them out of this comparison.
An opening hours review template
Copy this table into a spreadsheet and fill in one row per hour block for each day. The figures below are made-up examples for illustration only.
| Day and hour | Average sales (example) | Average gross profit (example) | Cost of being open (example) | Difference (example) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 9 to 10 am | $60 | $36 | $45 | Minus $9 | Few walk-ins, mostly regulars |
| Thursday 5 to 6 pm | $310 | $186 | $55 | Plus $131 | After-work rush, queue at the till |
| Saturday 4 to 5 pm | $95 | $57 | $50 | Plus $7 | Busy in summer, quiet in winter |
Look for three things: hours that regularly lose money, hours that are packed and might justify extra cover or longer opening, and hours that break even but serve loyal customers. Do not cut every losing hour automatically. A quiet hour that brings in regulars who also spend at busy times may be worth keeping.
Check the rules before you change anything
Opening hours are not always yours alone to set. Before you commit to new hours, check a few agreements and rules.
- Your lease. Some leases, especially in shopping centers and retail parks, require tenants to open during set trading hours. Others limit late opening.
- Licenses and planning conditions. Alcohol, late-night food, entertainment and some premises have conditions that limit hours. These vary by location.
- Trading rules. Some places have rules on Sunday or holiday trading for larger shops. Check your local rules rather than assuming.
- Staff contracts. Changing shift patterns may affect contracted hours, notice periods or pay. Employment law varies by country and state.
- Insurance. If you add very early or late hours, ask your insurer whether anything changes, for example lone working.
This article is general information, not legal or employment advice. If you are unsure, speak to your landlord, your local licensing authority or a qualified employment adviser before changing hours.
How to change your opening hours step by step
Once you have a proposal, treat it as a test rather than a permanent change. That lowers the risk and makes it easier to reverse if it does not work.
- Write the proposal in one line. For example: "Open at 10 instead of 9 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and stay open until 7 on Thursdays."
- Set a test period and a measure. Six to eight weeks is often long enough to see a pattern. Decide what success looks like, such as weekly gross profit staying the same or rising while staff hours fall.
- Talk to your team early. Explain the reason, listen to their concerns and agree new rotas with proper notice. Some staff may welcome later starts, others may struggle with childcare.
- Tell customers two to three weeks ahead. Use every channel they see, from the door sign to your website and booking page.
- Run the test and keep notes. Track sales, comments and any customers who say they came by and found you closed.
- Review and decide. At the end of the test, compare results with the same weeks before. Keep, adjust or reverse the change, and tell staff and customers what you decided.
Hypothetical example
Tom runs a small bike repair shop that opened 9 to 5, Monday to Saturday. His card data showed almost no sales before 10 am, while customers often called at 5:30 asking if they could still drop a bike off. He moved to 10 to 6 for an eight-week test, with a key drop box for early drop-offs. Staff hours stayed the same, weekly repairs rose slightly, and the 5 pm phone calls stopped. He kept the new hours.
Tell customers about new hours clearly
Even the best new hours fail if customers do not know about them. People rarely read announcements carefully, so repeat the message in many places and keep it simple.
- Door and window. Put a clear sign up at least two weeks before the change, saying "From Monday 3 May, our new hours are..." Keep it in place for a few weeks afterward.
- Online listings. Update your Google Business Profile hours, map listings, social profiles, website footer and booking pages on the day the change starts.
- Receipts and counter. A small card at the till or a line on receipts reaches regulars.
- Email or text. If you have customer contact lists with permission, send one short message with the new hours and the reason.
- Phone message. Update your voicemail or call answering message so callers outside hours hear the new times.
Lead with what customers gain where you can, such as "now open until 7 on Thursdays". If you are cutting hours, be honest and brief, and point to alternatives such as online ordering or a drop box.
Pro tip
Remember holiday and special hours too. Many listing sites let you set temporary hours for bank holidays or seasonal closures without changing your regular hours. Put the next few dates in your calendar with a reminder to update them a week ahead.
Your opening hours checklist
- Rank your priorities: demand, cost, staff, energy and rules
- Export 8 to 12 weeks of sales by hour and day
- Note calls, bookings and "are you open?" moments outside hours
- Fill in the hour-by-hour review table
- Check your lease, licenses, trading rules and staff contracts
- Write a one-line proposal and a success measure
- Agree rota changes with staff and give proper notice
- Announce new hours two to three weeks ahead in every channel
- Run a six to eight week test and keep notes
- Review, decide and update everyone on the result
Frequently asked questions
How often should I review my opening hours?
A quick review once or twice a year works for most small businesses, plus a check whenever something big changes, such as new neighbors, roadworks or a shift in the season. Seasonal businesses often run separate summer and winter hours.
Is it bad to close one day a week?
Not if your data supports it. Many small shops and studios close on their quietest day to give the owner a rest and cut costs. The key is to choose the day based on your own sales and to make the closed day very clear on signs and listings.
Should I open by appointment only during quiet hours?
It can work well for service businesses such as salons, repair shops and studios. You keep the slot available to customers who plan ahead without paying for walk-in cover. Make the booking link easy to find and say clearly on the door that the hour is by appointment.
Will cutting hours lose me customers?
Some customers may be inconvenienced, but cutting truly quiet hours rarely loses many. Give plenty of notice, offer alternatives such as online orders or a drop box, and watch the numbers during your test period so you can reverse the change if needed.
Related reading
The bottom line
Good opening hours come from your own data, not from habit. Look at when customers really buy, compare what each hour earns with what it costs, check your lease and staff contracts, and test any change for a few weeks before you make it permanent.
Pull your sales by hour this week and fill in the review table. You may find one quiet slot to trim and one busy evening to extend, and both your customers and your team will notice the difference.
