While running a business, in general, can be a real challenge, running a business that’s open 24 hours a day, seven days a week opens you up to a whole new world of challenges. For most business owners, there are a least a few hours a day where they don’t have to be ready to go. But for those who chose to own and operate a business where at least someone is supposed to be on-call at all times of the day or night, you have even more potential for problems or issues. So to help you navigate your way through this venture, here are three tips for running a business that’s open 24 hours a day.

Consider Outsourcing:

For some businesses, you’re going to be so specialized that you won’t really have the option of outsourcing some of your tasks. However, even if you’re one of the businesses who does what you do, there likely are some parts of your business that you can outsource during certain hours of the day. For example, Founder’s Guide shares that one thing most businesses can outsource during non-traditional business hours is phone calls or customer service. So although the reason for your customer’s calls might be complicated, you might want to consider outsourcing the answering of the phone call so you can have at least some time where you’re “off the clock”.

Try Automation:

If you don’t think the outsourcing things is a good option for your business, another alternative you might want to consider is automation. While customers might like knowing that your company is available for communication at all hours of the day, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to have a live person ready to speak to them. According to Jill Schiefelbein, a contributor to Entrepreneur.com, even having an automated response that says when someone will be able to return a phone call or give assistance can work. This might allow you to work with a very small skeleton crew during non-traditional work hours, which could prove to be very beneficial

Know How Night Shifts Might Affect Your Staff:

For businesses that function with a full staff working around the clock, you’ve got to make yourself aware of how night shifts can affect your employees. According to Jack Bedell-Pearce, a contributor to The Guardian, working during the night hours can start to take a psychological toll on many people. For this reason, you may want to consider offering options for shift switches occasionally. This could drastically help to reduce burnout as well as improve the overall well-being of a staff that’s running all day, every day. Keep in mind, however, that switching between night and day shifts too often could result in some major harm done to a person’s circadian rhythm. So while allowing for some flexibility can be good, too much might actually be more damaging.

If you have a company that’s open for business 24/7, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you keep up with this pace.

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