Something that doesn’t occur to many business owners is availability. When it comes to retail businesses, there are very few physical establishments that offer a 24/7 service. This could be due to the service itself not needing to be open 24 hours a day, or a lack of capable staff members who are willing to work night shifts. But when it comes to online businesses, being open all hours is an advantage that is very rarely utilised.

Your content is always available

For an online business that focuses on creativity and original content, the product that you “sell” (i.e your content and videos) is always made available. This is because your website doesn’t suddenly just close or go down when you stop managing it—it’s always available. This means that it’s possible to have a website make money all hours of the day whether you are asleep or awake.

If you sell products, then your customers can browse your store no matter what time it is, no matter where they are in the world, and they can place orders that will be shipped in the morning when you return to the office. This makes it convenient, easy to manage and your business is truly open all hours.

Your support is always available

Operating a 24/7 business doesn’t mean that you have to provide your content or products every hour of the day. It could also refer to the fact you provide customer support for 24 hours a day. For example, if you are running a medical practice at a physical location, then you could remain available to your patients at all times with an answering service

This gives you an edge over the competition that doesn’t offer a 24/7 service, and it also means that your patients have someone to turn to should they feel ill or need to book an appointment while your business’s physical location is closed.

Offering support at all hours is somewhat of a staple for online businesses that sell services or outsource work. This is because an online business can provide their services to people all around the world regardless of their time zone and location. This calls for a vigilant team of workers that rotate shifts so that they are available at all times, or the use of an outsourced service to cover for your employees when they aren’t at work.

Is it worth it?

It really depends on the type of business you operate. If your business has no need for a 24/7 service, then you’ll be making huge savings because it will cost a lot to maintain and hire an all-hours service. Even if your business does require 24/7 support, such as an online retailer or website design service, there’s no guarantee that you will see an immediate growth in your profits.

What it does accomplish, however, is customer loyalty. Offering 24/7 support is a safety net that many customers prefer over a service that doesn’t offer if. This is because many problems, such as a website going down or an order not processing properly, can happen at any time during the night or day and it requires immediate attention to fix. If it’s not fixed swiftly, it could become problematic for the business and the customer, so it’s important to sort these issues as soon as they appear.