A free method

How to run Monday in 20 minutes

For owner-run shops of one to ten people, including you if the shop is still on paper. You do not need a warehouse system. You need a meeting that ends.

Most owner-operated shops do not have a Monday meeting. They have a Monday pile. Late purchase orders, a return with no reason code, and a listing that still says in stock when the bin is empty. The pile lives in the inbox and in people’s heads.

Here is a 20-minute version that fits before noon.

Set a timer

Twenty minutes. One owner. Camera off is fine. If you go long, you are arguing about numbers you have not written down yet.

Bring six numbers

Write them before you talk.

• Units received in the last 7 days
• Units shipped in the last 7 days
• Open orders older than the promise date
• Items at or below reorder point
• Open returns and claims
• Vendor purchase orders that are late

If a number is missing, write NA and keep going. Do not cancel Monday because the store website was slow. If you have not shipped yet, NA on every line is still a Monday.

Score five lines, 0 to 2

Promise hit rate. Late purchase orders. Stockouts on items you still sell. Returns with no reason code. Problems still open after 14 days.

Example: you promised 100 orders by Friday and 92 went out on time. That is 92 percent, so that line scores 1. The most you can score is 10. Below 6 means Friday is for writing better steps, not for chatting.

Pick one problem

Not five. If late vendors showed up three times in two weeks, that is the job. Write three short lines: what to keep, what to stop, what to try. Then stand up. The chase itself is a separate page.

If you are starting the shop

This is the critical part of a new business start that nobody writes down. Write how a carton comes in, how an order goes out, and what you do when a buyer sends something back before the first rush. Monday still happens. The numbers can wait.

That will not form an LLC or get you a loan. It will give the shop a way to run when you hire the first helper, so the work does not live only in your head.

Why this works

The same fire cannot hide if it has a row and a score. You do not need software that logs into Shopify. You need a sheet and a habit.