Opening-Day Checklist for a Small Shop

Opening day goes smoothly when most of the work was done before it. The shop owners who feel calm on the day are usually the ones who had a list. This guide gives a simple structure you can adapt to any small shop: what to do in the weeks before, the day before, and the first hours of opening day. Use it as a starting point and add what is specific to your trade.

Start with a date and a list

Pick your opening date, then work backwards. Write every task you can think of, however small, on one page. Group them into three buckets: things to decide, things to buy or book, and things to do. Then give each task a date and a person. A list with dates is a plan; a list without dates is a wish.

About eight to four weeks before

This is the paperwork and big-decisions stage.

• Confirm your lease or space arrangement in writing.
• Check which licences, permits or registrations your area requires for a shop like yours, and apply early. Check your local rules, since they differ by place and trade.
• Arrange insurance and a way to take payments.
• Choose your suppliers and place first orders, remembering delivery times.
• Decide opening hours and write them down.
• Plan your layout on paper, including where customers enter, where the till goes and where stock is stored.

About three to one weeks before

Now the shop starts to look like a shop.

• Set up shelves, counters and signs.
• Receive stock and check it against the order.
• Price everything and make sure prices are visible.
• Set up the till and test a few practice sales, including a refund.
• Train anyone helping you: how to greet, how to use the till, what to do if something goes wrong.
• Announce the opening: a sign in the window, social posts, a note to neighbours and a message to people who asked to be told.

The day before

• Clean everything, front and back.
• Do a full walk-through as a customer: door, lighting, signs, prices, fitting rooms or counters, and the way out.
• Charge devices and make sure you have change for the till.
• Print the day's plan, including who is where and when breaks happen.
• Put your phone number and key contacts, such as your supplier and a repair person, on one sheet.
• Go home on time and sleep. It matters.

Opening day, hour by hour

1. Before opening: arrive early, unlock, lights on, till counted, music or quiet as you prefer, door sign flipped.
2. First hour: greet every person, stay near the entrance, and keep a notepad for questions you cannot answer.
3. Midday: eat something. Restock shelves that look thin.
4. Closing: count the till, note anything that went wrong, and write three things to fix tomorrow.

Common mistakes

• Leaving permits and registrations until the last week.
• Ordering too much stock for a first order.
• Not testing the till and card machine before customers arrive.
• Forgetting small supplies such as bags, tape, pens and change.
• Planning the opening but not the first week.

After opening day

Plan the first week as carefully as the first day. Write down what customers asked for that you did not have, what sold, and what sat. After a month, review your hours, prices and layout. Ask the people who visited what they noticed. A short lessons log, kept from day one, becomes your best guide for the next change or the next shop.

A short list to keep

• Date set and tasks dated.
• Permits and insurance checked.
• Stock received and priced.
• Till and payments tested.
• Helpers trained.
• Opening announced.
• Walk-through done.
• First-week plan written.

The pack below expands this into full lists from eight weeks out to the day before, an hour-by-hour run sheet, roles and supplies tables and announcement templates, so you can edit rather than invent. This is general information, not legal advice, so check your local rules for what a shop in your area must have in place.

General information to help you plan, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules differ by place and trade, so check your local rules before you rely on any template or wording.