Run every store to the same written standard, every day
A complete operations manual kit for shops, franchisees and multi-site managers: the SOPs, the daily routines, the audit, the fixes and the scorecard, ready to print and use this week.
- An operations manual template and 24 one-page SOPs, from opening and cash-up to suspected theft and fire
- Fillable opening, closing and cash-up forms, plus a 7-page print pack of posters and till cards for the shop floor
- A weighted store audit (42 standards, four critical) with corrective action tracking and a store comparison scorecard
- A visit planner, franchise discussion sheet, KPI card with formulas and a dated rules sheet by country
The Retail Store and Franchise Operations Manual · Bodhih Pro Kits · 229 by Bodhih Training, trainers to 2,000+ companies since 2008.
What is a retail store operations manual?
A retail store operations manual is the written standard for running a store: what customers should see, and one-page procedures for opening, closing, cash, refunds, service, deliveries, security and safety, checked by audits. The Retail Store and Franchise Operations Manual kit by Bodhih Training gives you the template, SOPs, forms, audit and scorecard.
Want the full free guide first? Read How to Audit a Retail Store: Checklist, Scoring and Corrective Actions.
You already feel the problem. Here is what it is costing you.
The standard lives in one person's head
When your best manager is off, the store runs differently. New starters learn from whoever is on shift, and shortcuts become 'how we do it here'.
Cash differences with no pattern you can see
Small shorts, refunds without receipts and cash-ups done alone add up. Without a log, you cannot tell a process gap from a problem.
Audits that feel like inspections
A score arrives, the team feels judged, a long action list goes in a drawer, and the next audit finds the same things.
Several stores, several standards
Each store does it its own way. Visits are spent in the back office, and comparing stores turns into a league table nobody trusts.
Picture the next few weeks with the kit open beside you.
Picture next Monday at 08:30. You open the dashboard as you sip your coffee, and before you call your managers you already know which store had cash flags, which actions are overdue and which faults have been open too long.
As you walk into a store that afternoon, the opening poster is by the staff door, the till card is at every till, and the queue lead knows the trigger. You notice how calm it feels when everyone follows the same routine.
When the next audit comes, there are no surprises, because your managers ran the same audit themselves last month. Critical items are fixed before the auditor leaves, five actions go on the tracker, and someone checks them.
Whether you start with the posters this afternoon or the workbook tomorrow morning, you can begin running your stores to a written standard this week, at your own pace.
20 files that do the work for you
The e-book shows you how. The tools make it happen. Here is exactly what you download.
The Retail Store and Franchise Operations Manual (e-book, PDF)
The guide: methods, worked examples, scripts and exercises
Start here: store operations map
The whole job in ten steps with the file for each, your first hour, 'brand it in five minutes', your first week and a 30/60/90 day plan.
Store Operations Workbook
19-sheet workbook: settings, store list, SOP register, daily checklist log, daily trading with conversion and ATV, cash-up and banking with over or short flags, refunds and voids with flags, incidents, maintenance, weighted store audit scoring, audit log, corrective actions, mystery shops, a store comparison scorecard and two dashboards.
Store audit and visit planner
7-sheet planner for area managers and franchisees: store grades from audit scores, visit frequency by grade, a visit schedule with follow-up dates, score trend per store by quarter and a quarterly chart.
Daily opening, closing and cash-up forms
Five-page fillable pack for every trading day: the opening checklist (24 checks), the closing checklist (22 checks), a till cash-up sheet with denomination count, and a banking and handover page.
Store audit form and corrective action plan
Fillable store audit: a cover page, seven weighted sections with 42 standards scored 0 to 2 (four marked critical), an audit summary and a signed corrective action plan.
Area manager visit report
Four-page fillable visit report for area managers, franchisees and field consultants: the numbers, a floor walk, people and coaching, last visit's actions and the new plan.
Incident and accident report
Three-page fillable report for accidents, near misses, suspected theft, aggression, security, payment fraud and data requests: facts, people, evidence, follow-up and sign-off.
Operations manual template and SOP library
Brand-ready Word template: a 17-section operations manual skeleton with [PLACEHOLDERS] and a library of 24 one-page SOPs (opening, closing, cash, refunds, receiving, click-and-collect, security, suspected theft, cleaning, safety and more).
Staff and customer notice library
Brand-ready Word library: 36 staff messages, briefings, reminders, audit feedback notes and franchise communications, plus 13 customer-facing notices (returns policy, opening hours, CCTV notice outline, price-display notices, payments, accessibility).
Franchisee operations and brand standards discussion sheet
Brand-ready plain-words discussion sheet: the manual versus local procedures, mandatory and recommended standards, audits and visits, reporting in general terms, support, data and fair treatment, and six questions for a franchise lawyer.
Worked example pack: a three-store franchisee's quarter
The kit's main forms and sheets completed for one composite case: Kavya Rao's three franchised Fernleaf Home stores in Pune, from a July audit with a critical fail to September scores of 85% and above, with the corrective actions, cash fixes and scorecard in between.
AI prompt pack for store operations
28 tool-agnostic prompts in 6 groups (manual and SOPs, checklists and posters, audits and visits, numbers, communications, translation and training), each with what to paste in and what to check before you use the output.
Suspected theft decision card
Eight 'if you see this, do this, never that' rows, the fair-and-lawful rule, six steps after any incident and calm words to use.
Store operations mistakes to avoid
Twenty common mistakes in running stores to a standard, each with what to do instead.
Numbers that matter: KPI card
Twelve store numbers with plain-words definitions, exact formulas, where each lives in the workbook and what to do if it moves.
Retail and franchise rules by country (October 2026)
Dated orientation on franchise disclosure, opening hours, refund rights, price display, payments, CCTV and data protection for named countries.
90-day store standards calendar
34 events: set-up in the first week, weekly Monday reviews, monthly closes, a self-audit, visits by grade, a mystery shop round, a formal audit round and a quarter retrospective. Import into Google, Outlook or Apple Calendar.
Store operations task board
40 set-up and operating tasks with list, owner, due day, priority and the kit file to use. Import into Trello, Asana, Notion, Planner or Jira.
Store floor print pack
7 wall-ready pages: opening and closing checklist posters, a till card sheet, a store standards poster, a 'who to call' card, a suspected theft staff poster and a delivery receiving station card.
Chapter by chapter
Each chapter opens with a real situation, gives you a method and ends with something to do today, using the tools in your kit.
- Format
- PDF e-book + XLSX + fillable PDF + DOCX + printable PDF + ICS + CSV
- Files
- 20 files plus a one-click ZIP
- E-book
- 60 pages
- Works with
- Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice, Word, Google Docs, Acrobat Reader, Google Calendar, Outlook, Apple Calendar, Trello, Asana, Notion
- Best for
- Independent shops, store managers, franchisees with 1 to 10 units, area managers and small franchisors
- Currency and units
- Any currency; square metres or feet
The Store That Runs on One Person
Why stores drift without a written standard, what drift costs, and the six-step loop: write it, train it, run it, check it, fix it, share it.
The Operations Manual and Standards People Follow
A manual people use: one-page SOPs that are short, visual and checkable, marked mandatory, recommended or local, with owners and review dates.
The Daily Rhythm: Opening, Floor and Closing
The daily rhythm: a 24-check opening, the ten-minute huddle, floor walks, the midday check, written handovers and a 22-check close.
Cash, Cards and the Cash-Up
Floats, card, wallet and QR payments, refunds and voids rules, the two-person cash-up, and what to do with a difference without blaming people.
Visual Merchandising, Pricing and Store Standards
Windows, focal points, facings and planograms on a calendar; prices that match the till; price-display rules; clean, bright, calm store standards.
Service at the Counter: Greeting, Queues, Returns and Click-and-Collect
Greeting and needs, queues with a trigger and a queue lead, returns with legal rights first, click-and-collect and ship-from-store routines.
Deliveries, Security and Suspected Theft
Counting deliveries before signing, key, alarm, cash and payment security, and responding to suspected theft calmly, fairly and lawfully.
Safety, Incidents, Maintenance and the Store Calendar
Safety basics, incident and accident logging, the maintenance log with days open, and a store calendar for seasons, counts, audits and drills.
Store Audits and Corrective Action
A weighted store audit with critical standards, how to run one, and corrective actions with one owner, a real date and a verifier.
Franchise Operations and Multi-Site Management
Franchise operations in plain words, the manual versus local procedures, field visits by grade and store comparison without micromanagement.
Mystery Shopping, the Numbers and AI in Store Operations
Mystery shopping, twelve numbers grouped as control, customer and productivity, a worked September reading, and AI with a human review rule.
The Monday Morning Walk
What a predictable store looks like, and how to start this week.
The Store Audit Standard, Section by Section
The full sample audit standard: seven sections, weights, critical standards and the scoring rules.
Plain-Words Glossary
Plain-words definitions of the retail operations terms used in the kit.
Not just reading. Tools you will actually open again.
E-book
- The Retail Store and Franchise Operations Manual e-book: about 9,600 words, ten chapters, six diagrams, the full audit standard and a glossary
Start here
- 00-Start-Here-Store-Operations-Map: the job in ten steps with the file for each, your first hour, brand it in five minutes, your first week and a 30/60/90 day plan
Workbooks
- Store Operations Workbook (19 sheets): settings, stores, SOP register, daily checklists, daily trading, cash-up and banking, refunds and voids, incidents, maintenance, audit sections, item-by-item audit scoring, audit result, audit log, corrective actions, mystery shop, store comparison scorecard and two dashboards
- Store Audit and Visit Planner (7 sheets): store grades from audit scores, visit frequency by grade, visit schedule, score trend by quarter and a quarterly chart
Forms (fillable PDF)
- Daily opening, closing and cash-up forms (5 pages: 24-check opening, 22-check closing, till cash-up sheet, banking and handover)
- Store audit form and corrective action plan (10 pages: 42 standards scored 0 to 2 in seven weighted sections, four critical)
- Area manager visit report (4 pages)
- Incident and accident report (3 pages)
Word templates (brand-ready)
- Operations manual template and SOP library (17-section manual skeleton and 24 one-page SOPs)
- Staff and customer notice library (36 staff messages, briefings, audit feedback notes and franchise communications, plus 13 customer-facing notices)
- Franchisee operations and brand standards discussion sheet (plain words, with questions for a franchise lawyer)
- Worked example pack: a three-store franchisee's quarter
- AI prompt pack for store operations (28 prompts)
Cheat sheets
- Suspected theft decision card (8 situations, the fair-and-lawful rule and calm words)
- Store operations mistakes to avoid (20 mistakes and what to do instead)
- Numbers that matter: KPI card (12 numbers with exact formulas)
- Retail and franchise rules by country (dated October 2026)
Print pack
- Store floor print pack (7 pages): opening and closing checklist posters, till cards, store standards poster, 'who to call' card, suspected theft staff poster and delivery receiving card
Calendar and import
- 90-day store standards calendar (34 events, ICS)
- Store operations task board (40 tasks, CSV for Trello, Asana, Notion, Planner or Jira)
When you have worked through it, you will be able to…
Every outcome is practised with a worked example and a tool, not just described.
- Write a short operations manual and one-page SOPs your team can follow from day two
- Run opening, huddle, floor walks, handover and closing to a checklist, and track completion
- Cash up with two people, find the cause of differences and log refunds and voids with clear rules
- Score a store audit with weighted sections and critical standards, and track corrective actions to closed
- Respond to suspected theft and aggression safely, fairly and lawfully
- Plan area visits by store grade and compare stores on one scorecard without micromanaging
- Use AI to draft, summarise and translate, with a person approving every output
Know your starting point. Prove your progress.
People who measure before and after improve faster and can show it. AssessAll, our sister assessment platform, has AI-graded assessments that pair with this kit. Take one now, work through the kit, then re-take it.
Retail Store Operations & Service Judgment
Take the assessment →AssessAll assessmentArea and Multi-Site Manager Judgment Assessment for Retail, Food Service and Branch Networks
Take the assessment →AssessAll assessmentCustomer Aggression and De-escalation Assessment for Frontline Staff
Take the assessment →JobularyHow a Jobulary development plan works
Make it a growth plan →A taste of Chapter 1
An operations manual is the written standard for how your stores run. In a franchise it is also part of what the franchisee pays for: the brand's way of doing things, captured so it can be repeated by people who never met the founder. In an independent shop it is your insurance against the day your best person leaves. A useful manual has two layers. The top layer is short: what a customer should see, hear and feel in your store, and the handful of non-negotiables. The second layer is the SOP library: one page per procedure, each with a purpose, who does it, when, numbered steps, one line on what never to do, and where it is recorded. Everything else (forms, posters, checklists) is built from those pages.
The honest comparison
| Free templates and typical advice | This kit | |
|---|---|---|
| Checklists | A generic list that does not fit your store | 24-check opening and 22-check closing, logged daily with completion % and exceptions |
| Cash | A blank cash-up sheet | Two-person cash-up with expected cash, over or short, card and digital variance and flags |
| Audits | A tick-box inspection | 42 standards in weighted sections, critical standards, item-level scoring and a corrective action tracker |
| Multi-site | A league table | Store grades that set visit frequency, a visit report and a scorecard against the standard |
| Law and rules | US-only assumptions or none | A dated country sheet: franchise disclosure, opening hours, refunds, price display, payments, CCTV |
| Floor use | Files that stay on a laptop | A 7-page print pack: posters, till cards, who to call, theft and receiving cards |
Made for you if…
- Independent shop owners in fashion, grocery and convenience, pharmacy front-of-store, electronics, homeware, books, gifts and speciality food
- Store managers and assistant managers who want the store to run the same way on their day off
- Franchisees running one to ten units who want to self-audit before field visits
- Area and multi-site managers who need a visit routine and a fair store comparison
- Small franchisors setting brand standards and audits for a network
- Operations leads writing or refreshing SOPs with AI and a human review rule
Probably not for you if…
- Anyone looking for a franchise agreement or legal disclosure document: you need a franchise lawyer
- Warehouse and distribution centre operations (see The Inventory and Warehouse Control Kit)
- Opening a brand-new store from scratch (see The Store Opening Launch Kit)
Built by trainers, tested in real rooms.
Bodhih Training has designed and delivered corporate programmes since 2008. Bodhih Pro Kits package what works in those workshops into a guide plus the exact tools we use, so you can apply it the same day without a facilitator in the room.
From here to using it in three steps
- STEP 1
Tap Get the kit
Name, email and country. UPI, card or netbanking in India; international cards everywhere else. No account to create.
- STEP 2
Download instantly
Your download page opens at once, with every file and a one-click ZIP. A permanent link lands in your inbox too.
- STEP 3
Open the first tool
Start with the quick-start chapter, then the main spreadsheet or planner. Most buyers use something from the kit the same day.
Put the standard on the wall this week
Print the posters, run tonight's cash-up with two people and walk your store with the audit form. Whether you begin with one store or all of them, you can start running to a written standard today.
Personal licence for the buyer's own use (and use with your own team or clients where the kit says so). Please don't share or resell the files. Team and company licences: solutions@bodhih.com.
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The Bodhih family, when you are ready for more
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AssessAll
250+ AI-graded assessments to measure skills and earn verified credentials.
Jobulary
Individual development plans that start from evidence and stay yours.
Bodhih Training
Run this topic as a live workshop for your team, in person or online.
Pewple
Book a vetted coach for career, leadership or communication. Pay per session.
Bodhih.org pathways
Certification pathways in Applied AI, Workplace English and management.
The Retail Store and Franchise Operations Manual: FAQs
Read the free guideAlready bought? Resend my linkCan I use this with my staff and managers?
Yes. Within your own business you can print the posters and forms, share the SOPs and notices with your team, and use the workbooks across your stores under the personal licence. For a franchisor rolling the kit out to franchisees, or a multi-site company licence, contact solutions@bodhih.com.
Does it work in my country?
The method works anywhere a store opens, trades and closes. The workbooks take any currency, a tax placeholder and square metres or feet. Laws on opening hours, price display, refunds, CCTV, payments and franchising differ, so they sit in a dated country sheet covering named countries; check your local rules and adviser.
What should a retail store operations manual include?
A one-page statement of your standard, the critical non-negotiables, and one-page SOPs for opening, closing, cash, refunds, payments, visual merchandising, pricing, service, returns, click-and-collect, deliveries, security, suspected theft, safety, incidents and maintenance, each with an owner and review date. The kit's template has all of these sections and the SOPs to start from.
How do I audit a retail store?
Walk in as a customer first, then audit with the manager against observable standards grouped in weighted sections. Score each standard met, partly met or not met, fail any audit with a critical standard not met, fix critical items the same day and agree no more than five corrective actions with owners and dates.
I'm a franchisee. Does this replace my franchisor's manual?
No. Your franchisor's manual comes first. Use the kit to run your local procedures, self-audit before field visits, track corrective actions and talk to your franchisor in a structured way. The discussion sheet ends with questions for a franchise lawyer; disclosure and agreements always need legal advice.
How should staff handle suspected shoplifting?
Safely, fairly and lawfully: act only on behaviour seen, use service (offer help, stay visible), never chase, touch, search or detain, tell the manager, and record facts the same day. Never act on how someone looks. The decision card and poster put this on one page.
Is this legal or financial advice?
No. It is practical operating guidance and templates. Laws and rules change and differ by place, so the kit keeps specifics in a dated sheet and points you to your local rules, your accountant, a franchise lawyer and your safety regulator.
Does it promise higher sales or better audit scores?
No kit can promise results. It gives you the written standard, routines, checks and records to run stores consistently; what changes depends on your stores, team and market.
How can I measure my starting point?
AssessAll offers separate assessments that fit this work: the Retail Store Operations and Service Judgment assessment, the Area and Multi-Site Manager Judgment Assessment for Retail, Food Service and Branch Networks, and the Customer Aggression and De-escalation Assessment for Frontline Staff. They are not included in the kit.
How do I turn this into a development plan for a manager?
Use the audit results and visit reports to pick two or three skills, then build a plan. Jobulary shows how a development plan works step by step at jobulary.com/how-it-works.
How much does The Retail Store and Franchise Operations Manual cost?
₹1,299 including 18% GST for buyers in India, or $34 for buyers outside India. One-time payment, no subscription, with an automatic invoice.
How do I get the files after paying?
Instantly. Your download page opens the moment payment succeeds, and a permanent download link is emailed to you. Download each file separately or everything in one ZIP.
What software do I need?
Any of the usual tools: Excel or Google Sheets for spreadsheets, Word or Google Docs for templates, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Preview, Xodo or GoodNotes for the fillable PDFs, and Google, Outlook or Apple Calendar for the calendar plan.
Can I get a refund?
Because it is a digital download, kits are not refundable once downloaded. We always refund a duplicate charge or a failed delivery, and if a file is corrupted and we cannot fix it within 3 working days. Full terms: bodhih.org/refunds.
Can my company buy this for a team?
Yes. Team and company licences, and workshops on this topic run by Bodhih Training, are available. Write to solutions@bodhih.com or call +91 99000 11601.
