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How to let customers know when changing your business hours

By Becky McCray

Post extensively on social channels, and pin your hours post to the top of your page

Your small business has times when you need to change your hours either for holidays, staff issues or (my favorite) extending into evening hours. How do you retrain your customers so they notice the change?

Let’s look at a real-world example from our friend in Boise, Idaho, (I know, kind of a big town) Kathleen Minogue.

“My local coffee shop just extended their Monday hours, and I will get heading there this afternoon,” Kathleen said. “They did a whole video about it on the socials to tell us and have pinned their hours to the top of their page.”

Screenshot of an instagram post with Christmas week business hours. One comment asks, "How late are you open new year's eve?"

Post your temporary hours on your favored social channels, and pin them for as long as they are current. Image from Common Ground Coffee and Market, Boise, Idaho, Instagram.

If your website is hard to update

If your website is not easy to change, use it to let people know what social channel is your main tool for quick updates.

Post your most usual hours on your hard-to-change site, then say, “For current hours, follow us on…” and then give the social link.

Kathleen said her colleague Scott Madsen was the one who suggested pinning the posts for visibility.

“It’s a quick and responsive way that keeps their customers in the know and can be pinned so easily for all followers to see when they visit their profile,” Scott said.

Crowdfunding? Crowdfund Better

Kathleen and Scott are part of the team at Crowdfund Better. I recommend them to everyone who tells me they are considering crowdfunding for their small business.

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  • About the Author
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Becky McCray

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.

www.beckymccray.com
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  • How to let customers know when changing your business hours

March 12, 2025 Filed Under: customer service, entrepreneurship, marketing, rural, Small Biz 100, social media Tagged With: effective marketing, entrepreneurship, marketing, retail, rural, service businesses, small business

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