There’s a new upscale diner in town that generated a lot of buzz when it first opened a few months ago. The problem is that half the time I drive by (which is not very often), it seems like they are closed. Monday night, my wife and I drove by the place around 6:00pm and it was completely dark (the building has huge panes of glass, so it’s painfully obvious when the diner is closed). “Closed again,” I thought. “So which nights are they open for dinner?”
In a related story, there’s a nice coffee shop near downtown that I used to go to fairly often. I had a meeting scheduled there one afternoon, and the place was dark, with a sign on the door that read, “Closed Mondays.” (I guess the owner needed some “personal time.”) I have rarely gone back since, because in my mind, I can’t trust that they are open.
The point is that if you are a business owner, especially in the retail or service industry, you don’t close. I know you’re tired. I know you’re stressed. I know you don’t have time for anything else. Too bad. If you want your business to succeed, you have to be open when customers expect you to be open. Want a day off? Need a vacation? Hire someone to run the store for you. If you’re not making enough money or if you don’t have the systems in place to have someone else run your business for a few days, your business won’t succeed anyway.
Photo by ebaycoach via Flickr.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I totally agree with you. My favorite pizza place is closed Sundays… why? Who knows.
The other thing that drives me nuts is when the local Ace Hardware store closes at 1pm on Sunday. It’s almost as if Home Depot has infiltrated their management and devised a plan to drive all weekend business to HD.
Absolutely, Phil. I am willing to bet that your favorite pizza place has lost potential customers who tried to go on a Sunday, saw it was closed, and just never went back.
I totally agree with you Drew. Great post! I’ve always thought you’d run one hell of restaurant or cafe, etc. You know your stuff.
Thanks for your confidence, Ryan! When I do eventually open a restaurant (probably in another life!), I’ll do it with the understanding that for the first six months or so, I will personally be there every single day from open to close. I believe that’s the commitment it takes to get your systems in place.