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One of the most important things for business owner to consider when starting a new business is the setting of business hours. A lot depends on the type of business that is being started. If someone is opening a retail business, they will probably want to be open for at least 12 hours in order to attract customers after the normal workday is over. It is also a good idea to be open on weekends.

If the business being started is a professional business such as a law office, where appointments are usually required, then the owners have the option of setting much shorter hours such as from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It is also not necessary to be open on weekends although a lawyer may make special arrangements to meet with a client outside of the normal business hours.

The key is to do the necessary market re4search to find out when the best business hours are for customers and clients. In the case of businesses like restaurants or fast food operations it may be necessary to stay open late at night if that is when the highest volume of customers will be likely to come in. The same is true for some businesses like pharmacies or grocery stores that are sometimes open 24 hours a day.

Of course, all of this can be avoided with a business that operates exclusively on the Internet, which is one reason why many entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the opportunities to do business online. There is no reason to be concerned with regular business hours because business online can be done anytime.


This Business article was written by Ty Wu on 11/28/2007

Business consultant Ty Wu shares his thoughts.