Whether you’re just starting your first job or leading a team, working on a Monday through Friday schedule is something that most people are familiar with. However, not everyone works the same amount of weekdays. Some people have days they work more often than others. As a result, many business owners schedule their company by the number of days they work each week rather than the actual hours and days they operate. While this may seem like an efficiency issue at first glance, it also has ramifications on how to run your company effectively. Being aware of when your staff will be available to work is important in many different contexts. From employee retention rates to meeting client expectations and even avoiding conflicts between coworkers, being aware of when your employees will be available is key to running an effective company. In this blog post, we’ll explain what we mean by that, as well as some key consequences if you choose to operate your business outside of the standard weekday schedule.
Is Saturday Considered A Business Day?
No, Saturday is not a business day as it’s not a work day. As Saturday is a day off for most people, it doesn’t fall under any business category and is considered a Day Off. Therefore, it’s not considered a Business Day.
What Is A Business Day?
- To understand the differences between operating a company on weekdays versus weekends, it’s important to understand what a business day consists of. A business day is the time a business is open. This could be from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M., or even 8:00 A.M. to midnight. At first, glance, operating your company by the number of business days sounds like a huge efficiency win.
- By simply changing the time you open for business, you reduce the number of hours you have to work. And since there are fewer hours available per day, you can schedule your employees to work fewer hours. Sounds like a win right? Unfortunately, there are key consequences to operating your business by the number of business days rather than the hours you operate on those days. When we say key consequences, we mean they can significantly impact how you run your company.
- The first consequence has to do with employee retention rates. Essentially, if you choose to schedule your company by the number of business days, rather than the hours you operate on those days, your employees will be more likely to want to come to work every day.
- Even if you work the same amount of hours each week. The reason for this is simple. There’s no set closing time for a business. Even if you’re open from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., you have to close. If someone needs you to open, they can come to work for you. Likewise, if they need you to close, they can come to work for you. To avoid confusion and conflicts, most business owners choose to close at a specific time. Operating your business by the number of business days also impacts your ability to meet expectations with clients.
- If your business is open on a specific day, you can’t schedule a meeting that day. Therefore, if you choose to operate your business by the number of days, rather than the hours you operate, you’ll be more likely to miss out on some client meetings.
Saturday Is A Business Day
- To understand the differences between operating a company on weekdays versus weekends, it’s important to understand what a business day consists of. A business day is the time a business is open. This could be from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M., or even 8:00 A.M. to midnight. At first, glance, operating your company by the number of business days sounds like a huge efficiency win.
- By simply changing the time you open for business, you reduce the number of hours you have to work. And since there are fewer hours available per day, you can schedule your employees to work fewer hours. Sounds like a win right? Unfortunately, there are key consequences to operating your business by the number of business days rather than the hours you operate on those days. When we say key consequences, we mean they can significantly impact how you run your company.
- The first consequence has to do with employee retention rates. Essentially, if you choose to schedule your company by the number of business days, rather than the hours you operate on those days, your employees will be more likely to want to come to work every day.
- Even if you work the same amount of hours each week. The reason for this is simple. There’s no set closing time for a business. Even if you’re open from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., you have to close. If someone needs you to open, they can come to work for you. Likewise, if they need you to close, they can come to work for you. To avoid confusion and conflicts, most business owners choose to close at a specific time. Operating your business by the number of business days also impacts your ability to meet expectations with clients.
- If your business is open on a specific day, you can’t schedule a meeting that day. Therefore, if you choose to operate your business by the number of days, rather than the hours you operate, you’ll be more likely to miss out on some client meetings.
- Another consequence of operating your business by the number of business days is that it can impact your bottom line. If you choose to open your doors at 8:00 A.M. and close at 5:00 P.M., but you have a meeting scheduled for 10:00 A.M., you won’t be able to attend that meeting. If you open at 9:00 A.M., and close at 4:00 P.M., but have a meeting scheduled for 11:00 A.M., you can attend that meeting.
How To Work Weekdays
- As we discussed previously, operating your company by the number of business days isn’t the most efficient way to run your company. To avoid some of the key consequences associated with operating by the number of days, it’s important to understand how scheduling your business by the number of hours each day impacts your company.
- Schedule your days off. If you’re open from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., schedule your days off so that they’re not scheduled to overlap with your open hours. For example, if you’re open from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., schedule your days off to end at 4:00 P.M. This will avoid conflicts between your open hours and your days off. Schedule your work hours. If you’re open from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., schedule your work hours to end at 5:00 P.M. This will avoid conflicts between your open hours and your work hours.
- Avoid scheduling meetings during your open hours. If you have a meeting scheduled for 10:00 A.M., don’t schedule it during your open hours. You’ll be unavailable to clients during those hours. Instead, schedule it for later in the day, after your open hours have ended.
- Plan for overtime. If you’re open from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., and you have a meeting scheduled for 10:00 A.M., you may need to work an extra hour to make that meeting. Always plan for overtime when scheduling your business by the number of hours each day. This will help avoid conflicts between your work hours and your meeting times.
- Schedule your days off and your work hours so that you’re available to your clients the majority of the time. If you open at 9:00 A.M. and close at 4:00 P.M., you’ll be unavailable to most of your clients for the majority of the day. Instead, schedule your days off so that they’re scheduled during peak hours when you’re available to most of your clients.
- Avoid scheduling meetings during peak hours when you’re available to most of your clients. This will help avoid conflicts between your meeting times and your open hours.
- Plan for overtime. If you’re open from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., and you have a meeting scheduled for 10:00 A.M., you may need to work an extra hour to make that meeting. Always plan for overtime when scheduling your business by the number of hours each day. This will help avoid conflicts between your work hours and your meeting times.
Conclusion
Running a company during weekdays only has implications for your employees’ availability. However, one way to run a business is to schedule the hours you operate and the number of business days. Weekends are different, but you can operate them like weekdays. This will allow your employees to schedule their days off and still have breaks from work. On weekends, some parts of the world operate on a Saturday-Sunday schedule, while others operate on a Sunday-Saturday schedule. This can confuse business owners and lead to miscommunication between employees and clients. Operating your business by the number of hours you operate on the days you are open, and the number of business days, is the most efficient way to run your company.
