It might sound surprising to you but there’s a specific time frame within the day when people become more productive. Our friends over at www.findmyworkspace.com share valuable data on the best time you should work and why it would be best to schedule your business operations during these hours.
One of the first things that you need to determine when you start a business is the hours of operation. What time should you start working? How many people are required to complete a job? How many people should be working within a certain period of time?
The answer to these questions lies on several factors. First of all, it would depend on the type of service or product that you offer and your target market. The time when you would open your doors would be different if you are a café that specializes in breakfast than if you operate a restaurant that offers a dinner buffet. The time when you would need to start preparing for your products would differ as well as the time during which these products are available. Similarly, your working hours would be different if you are a contact center servicing clients located in another part of the world than if you were a company that caters to local clients. In both cases, you would arrange your company operating hours to match the office hours of the country that you are serving.
The next factor that would affect your hours of operation would be the work volume. This involves scheduling and meeting staffing needs. If you are into the production of items that undergo several processes, you would need to determine the sequence of jobs, the time required to complete each job and the number of people involved in every step. There are several techniques that would help you in addressing your staffing needs. One of the things that you should be thinking about during this step is to balance workflow and operations cost.
Author and entrepreneur Matthew Hudson gave these bits of advice in determining the best hours of operation for your company:
1. Gather data from your point-of-sale system. Look at the sales report and find out how many customers come in within a certain time period. Don’t merely look at the total amount of sales because it could lead you into thinking that you need to start operating earlier and closing later. Look at specific timeframes and craft your company’s schedules around the busiest times.
2. Instead of just looking at your payroll expenses as a guide in adjusting your hours of operation and your staffing needs, you might want to look at the nitty gritty of things and consider your operating cost per hour. Look for data specifically outlining the staffing needs per hour. It would also be good if you pay attention to the changing of the seasons and the associated shopping trends during this month.
Those who work freelance and who are not bound to any schedule would have a different criterion in choosing their hours of operation. The most reasonable thing to do is to determine the hours during which they can be most productive. According to Timothy Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek, “By working only when you are most effective, life is more productive and more enjoyable.” It makes a lot of sense. You get a lot of work done when you are most alert and at your peak. This would heavily rely on how your body clock works. A demographic released by Podio.com suggests that you should take breaks every 90 minutes of work. Your brain can only focus on a task for 90 to 120 minutes before you start to get distracted and tired. This means that you would have to personally determine the time during which you are most alert and most awake. Also, do not forget to take 15- or 20-minute breaks to allow yourself to recharge.
Do your research, gather data and follow the steps mentioned above in order to effectively determine your business’ operating hours.
Author Bio
Gemma Reeves is a seasoned writer who enjoys creating helpful articles and interesting stories. She has worked with several clients across different industries such as advertising, online marketing, technology, healthcare, family matters, and more. She is also an aspiring entrepreneur who is engaged in assisting other aspiring entrepreneurs in finding the best office space for their business.
Check out her company here: FindMyWorkspace
