The business hours template is a document that contains the opening and closing times for the business. This information is helpful for the clients so that they understand well the best time to visit the business. However, business hours start from 8 am to 5 pm in most countries other than the USA, UK, Canada, and Australia as in these countries business hours start from 9 am and closes at 5 pm. This document also provides instructions to the employees on the time to report to work and the time to depart.
What is business hours?
The hours during the day in which business is commonly conducted is referred as business hours. Typical business hours vary from country to country. Workers may communicate with each other more easily and find a convenient distribution between work life and home life by analyzing common informal standards for business hours.
In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia, the business hours are typically between 9 am and 5 pm. Furthermore, US governmental agencies generally operate between 7 am and 3 pm.
What identifies business hours?
Below are the common factors that identify business hours including;
Competition:
The business world is a competitive field. Every company scrambles for whatever business opportunity avails itself. For increase profitability, businesses extend their business hours to capitalize on available opportunities. They usually extend from the traditional 5 pm closing time to between 8 pm and 10 pm.
Change of shopping styles:
Some people change their shopping hours due to different dynamics of life such as employment, higher education, etc. More people refer to t stores in the evening or night within the last decade. The individuals whom off timing from work is 8 pm, they typically find it easier to visit the supermarket or local store on their way home. The behavior of shoppers is also affected by the working in shifts. This is because they will prefer shopping after their shift.
Moreover, the change in shopping styles also affects the market businesses. The shopkeeper who closes his shop at 6 pm will miss the client who shops at 8 pm. Therefore, the retailer has to change his business hours for the sake of such type of shoppers.
Technological development:
Technology has changed the way people communicate. Business transactions like order requests, payments, online shopping, deliveries, and other service-related issues now do in different ways due to technology. Now, you can do shopping online and place an order and make payment at any time. As a result, businesses are making modifications in their business hours to accommodate online traffic.
Seasonal businesses:
Seasonal businesses like the naturally seasonal tourism industry adjust their business hours and may even operate for 24 hours during the high seasons. Additionally, during Halloween, Christmas season, and black Friday businesses adjust their hours to avail more clients both physically and online.
So, businesses have to adjust themselves according to client demands and extend their business hours when clients modify their shopping style and shopping hours. To have all happy customers around, all businesses must have the necessary software and gadgets, add more staff, and adjust on stocking hours and service delivery. You may also like Professional Meeting Minutes Templates.
How to create a business hours template?
You can use free printable or downloadable business hour templates to prepare your business hours. You can also tailor-make your own and edit it as per your needs. Here are the steps that will help you in preparing a custom business hours template for your business within a few minutes;
Insert the name of your business/company at the top part. You can also include your logo and the branch name or your street address including your telephone contact. This way, without having to physically request for your telephone contact, a client can write it down or save it on their phone.
You can also mention your time zone. This information is important so that an online client can calculate the difference between your time and their time in order to know exactly when to make a call.
According to the days of the week, draw a table and divide its rows. There is two columns, the one shows the opening time and the other your closing time. Specify which day of the weekend you remain closed in case you remain closed over the weekends.
On a brass plate or Perspex, you may engrave your template. After that, mount it on your main entrance so that any person entering your premises can read it with ease. In addition to this, in case, you are closed, any individual passing by must be able to read the engraving with ease.
There must be another soft copy within your website or social media pages. It is for the clients who visits online can tell which hours they can contact you. For your hours of operation template, your clients or online visitors should never get trouble while looking them. But, at the top corner of your page, in the middle, and at the bottom, it should be easily noticeable and strategically displayed.
In case, your business is young then you may have to adjust your business hours template. This is because when your business grows and due to times and seasons change the way your clients shop in your physical store/office and the online market may affect.
What to include on business hours template?
You may think that business hours template just contain the opening and closing times of your business. But, you can also include so much more useful information such as;
- Business name: it is good to add your business name to make sure that the visitor is at the correct premises.
- Telephone number: when you are closed, this will help your visitors to contact you.
- Website address: this information assist your visitors or customers in getting more information.
- Social media profiles: mention your main social profiles address.
- Additional information: you can also add any useful or essential information.
The importance of business hours template:
Business hours play an important role in communicating to your customers and improving your relationship with your clients. Below is the importance of the business hours template;
- By providing information to clients on what hours your business opens and the closing time, business you can improve customer service. When clients know that what hours they can call or visit your business then they will stay in your timeframes. A client will feel discourage when they call you and keeps ringing without being answered or gets no response.
- When you have to change business hours because of pick seasons or due to a modification in shopping trends, this template informs your clients about these changes.
- By learning your opening and closing time, clients will adjust or visit your business during the operational hours and this helps in increasing sales volumes.
Different types of business hours template:
There are different types of business hours templates on the basis of type of business and the number of employees you manage. Usually, a single business has two or three templates for clients, employees, and seasons. Some different types of business hours template are;
Office hour’s template:
This type of template is made for clients. It gives them knowledge on what time your business opens and what time it closes. Then, they visit or call you accordingly.
Employee business hours template:
As its name implies, this template is made for employees and for the company that works in shifts. This is an internal document that indicates employees when each shift starts and when it ends. May be the shifts in your company are divided into six hours each and have names such as the first shift, second shift, third shift, and so on.
For instance, if an employer ask a certain employee to report on the third shift then by having this document the employee will surely know the timing of that shift let’s say, 3 pm to 9 pm. On the duty rooster, the employee should sign on the business hours shift they were allocated, the reporting time, and their departure time. This must correspond with the business hours for a certain shift.
Holiday hours template:
During the high seasons such as the Christmas season, Halloween, and black Friday, this template is used. This type of template is also prepared when the number of tourist increase during hot summers. The main purpose of this template is to inform clients on extended opening and closing times. When the holiday season is over, the business comes back to its traditional business operation templates.
Special case business hours template:
This template is used during the following seasonal games;
- The world cup
- Athletics
- Global conferences
- Population census season
Reasons for using business hours sign template:
The business hours template is important to inform your clients regarding your opening hours. This document keeps your customers or visitors informed. It is a good business practice as well as can ease unnecessary inquiries. Your visitors can easily see the hours your business operates by displaying open-closed signs.
These signs are free to use. Moreover, they are also a great time saver. You can customize quickly within minutes the store hours sign or office hours sign, if you don’t have these. In addition to this, if you plan to buy them professionally made, then when you’re waiting to receive and install your permanent opening times sign, these make perfect temporary signs that you can use in the meantime.
You can customize them easily. You can also select your favorite design. Also, it is easy to modify your hours of operation and include any other useful information too. These templates are also amazing for modifying your opening times at any time. Since many stores and offices operate at different times during the festive months, so if your times change throughout the year, or for the holiday season, this makes them great for updating your signs regularly.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, a business hours template should be changed as your business grows and seasons change. This document assists you in improving your relationship with your clients. It is a valuable source that plays an important role in communicating to your clients. You can download your business hours template online or make your own and then customize it to fit your needs.
Faqs (Frequently Asked Questions)
The hours between 9 am and 5 pm are usually considered to be standard business hours in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
After business hours means time between 6:00 pm and 8:00 am.
Business hours are basically office working hours when we typically conduct the business. The standard business hours are generally from 9 am to 5 pm.
During business hours refer to the part of the day when a business is usually open.
