How to set your opening hours

Decide when your doors will be open

Your first step is to decide on your bakery's opening and closing times. The right hours will maximise your sales by matching when customers are nearby, while the wrong hours can lead to high staffing and energy costs with very few sales. To get this right, you need to research local footfall, check your competitors, and make sure the hours work with your unique baking schedule.

Research your local area

Before you decide, spend some time in your location to understand its daily rhythm. Watch to see when the streets are busiest and what kind of people are around. This is often called checking the 'footfall'.

• Morning Rush: Are there commuters heading to a nearby train station or offices between 7am and 9am?
• School Run: Is there a surge of parents and children passing by before and after school?
• Lunchtime: Do local workers look for a sandwich or a sweet treat during their lunch break?
• Weekends: How does the pattern change on a Saturday or Sunday? Is it busy all day or just in the morning?

Look at your competitors

Check the opening times of other local bakeries and cafes. This isn't about copying them, but about understanding the local market. If every other cafe opens at 8am, opening at 7am might capture the early bird customers. If everyone closes at 4pm, there might be a gap in the market for staying open a little later.

Take note of when they seem busiest. This provides valuable clues about customer habits in your specific location and can help you avoid opening when the area is typically quiet.

Factor in your production schedule

Your opening hours must work with your baking reality. The smell of freshly baked bread is a huge selling point, so you want to open when your products are at their absolute best.

Think about how long it takes to get your first batches out of the oven and displayed beautifully on the counter. Make sure you give yourself enough time to prepare before your first customer arrives, so the morning isn't a stressful rush.

A final tip

It's much easier to extend your hours than it is to reduce them. When you first open, consider starting with slightly more conservative hours. You can track your sales, ask customers what they think, and then confidently add extra hours or days once you know it will be profitable. This stops you from over-committing and spending money on quiet periods right at the start.