Erratic or limited hours are a frequent complaint about small town businesses. But how can you convince small business owners to expand their hours?
My friend Charles French sent me this very neat tool: “while you were out” notes for businesses. Here’s how it works. Customers use them to let businesses know when and how often they would likely drop in, if only the businesses were open then.
I can see a really brave local chamber of commerce handing these out. Or a smart downtown business district. You have to be brave, because some businesses won’t want to hear from customers!
Thanks to Visualingual for the idea, and the photo I have borrowed here. You can also find a ready-to-use PDF of the cards at Visualingual’s post, “While You Were Out.”
New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.
- About the Author
- Latest by this Author
Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
Becky, thank you so much for the link back to my little DIY resource. What started as a complaint to friends grew into a tongue-in-cheek template and then into an actual tool, which I hope to develop into a series of similar tools that neighbors can use to better communicate with each other, whether in customer-type situations or not.
This is a wonderful idea/tool! I have preached for years: pick your hours; post your hours; be open for the hours posted. At last, a way for the customers to offer feedback.
I went to VisuaLingual’s site and printed the pdf file. I will be copying, cutting & using these delightful notes.
A simple, elegant solution to an irritation of life. I love it when a plan comes together.
VisuaLingual, thank you again for sharing an excellent tool, and thank you for stopping by. I’ll be watching for more of your communication tools.
Maesz, I know! That’s what I thought when Chaz sent me the link. Share them around!
If anyone actually ends up using this tool, I would really appreciate photos and/or anecdotes about whether or not it proves effective. I can be reached at mayadrozdz [at] gmail [dot] com. Thanks, all!