Who Sets the Hours?

When I was growing up, I would hear with clockwork regularity my Dad complain about the local lawnmower parts store. It wasn’t that they were under-stocked on the parts he needed. His biggest issue with the store was its hours; it was open Monday through Friday, nine to five.

As my Dad loved to argue, people don’t mow their lawns during banker’s hours. They tend to perform that chore in the evenings or on weekends. For a store that deals in lawnmower parts to be closed during those prime hours, when people would be most likely to need their services, was ludicrous in his opinion. The store eventually went out of business, although not soon enough for my Dad, and a chain hardware store opened in its place where he now obtains the parts he needs for his mower.

I was relating this story to my wife right after I noticed the brand new Wing Joint that had opened near our house was closed on Sunday. Apparently, the new restaurant was only open for lunch during the week, and dinner on Saturday. I used past tense in the previous sentence because the place had already gone under after little more than a month. It’s not located in the business district, but rather near dozens of residential communities; which means they chose their hours poorly. To be successful in that location, they needed to cater to the suburbanites which encircled them and be open for dinner and weekend lunches.

One of the primary reasons employees cite for wanting to be their own boss is the ability to set their own hours. But, does the small business owner really set his or her own hours, or does the business set it for them?

Before you start your first small business or purchase a franchise, you need to carefully consider the hours your business will be running you – because it will, especially if you will be the person staffing it. If your budget doesn’t allow you to hire enough employees to run your business, then you’ll be the owner/operator. If you want to be successful, you’ll have to work your schedule around the business’s needs, not those of your private or family life.

If your primary concern about becoming your own boss is to spend more time with the kids, then be sure the business you are starting will allow you to do that and still run smoothly. It’s the first thing you should consider when deciding which business to own.

By the way, if there are any bankers reading this blog, I suggest you reconsider the whole notion of Banker’s Hours, at least for your tellers. Like the lawn mower store, I’m more available to do banking at nights and on weekends and am typically met with a locked door. There’s no pressure, I’m just throwing that out there.

Franchise "Creature Feature" Writer