Open your new store on the date you planned, with the numbers and the team ready
A complete opening system for shops and franchise units: a 17-sheet workbook, a site and break-even calculator, four fillable forms, Word templates, a 5-page print pack and an e-book that walks you from a signed site to a settled first 90 days.
- Store Opening Workbook with 17 sheets: site scorecard, opening budget, cash to break-even, critical-path plan, permits, snags, stock, training, readiness and dashboard
- Site and Break-even Calculator that shows rent-to-sales, break-even sales per day and the footfall a site needs before you sign
- 43 brand-ready messages for landlords, contractors, suppliers, hiring, neighbours, invitations and launch announcements
- A floor-ready print pack: launch day run-sheet poster, readiness checklist, who-to-call cards, soft-opening poster and a daily numbers board
The Store Opening Launch Kit · Bodhih Pro Kits · 232 by Bodhih Training, trainers to 2,000+ companies since 2008.
How do you open a retail store step by step?
Choose the site on footfall, catchment and break-even; fund the opening budget plus cash until break-even; plan backwards from the date with a critical path; start permits early; manage the fit-out and snags; test systems; plan stock; train on the floor; soft open; then track daily numbers for 90 days. The Store Opening Launch Kit from Bodhih Training gives you a file for every step.
Want the full free guide first? Read How to Open a Retail Store: A Step-by-Step Checklist and Timeline.
You already feel the problem. Here is what it is costing you.
The date slips and nobody saw it coming
One late electrician, counter or sign consent quietly moves everything behind it. Without a critical path you find out when it is too late to recover.
The site looked great, the numbers did not
A busy street is not the same as your customer, and a rent that feels affordable can take too much of your sales. Most site mistakes are visible on a spreadsheet before you sign.
The money runs short after opening, not before
Fit-out budgets get attention. The months between opening and break-even often do not, and that is where cash runs out.
Launch day exposes everything
Untested tills, half-trained staff and no plan for a queue turn the first customers into the first complaints.
Picture the next few weeks with the kit open beside you.
Imagine the Monday sixteen weeks before you open. You open the workbook, type your settings, and within the hour you know your break-even sales per day and the cash you need until the store pays its way. When you walk the next site, you count footfall on a clipboard and score nine criteria on one form, and the decision to sign or walk stops being a feeling.
As you work through the weeks, the project plan shows which tasks decide the date. When the electrician calls to say the second fix will be late, you send the recovery-plan message that afternoon and resequence the work before the date moves. The weekly opening meeting takes thirty minutes because the Readiness sheet already shows what is late, what is due and what is blocking.
Picture the week before launch. Your team has trained on the real tills and rehearsed with helpers who made it difficult. Two soft-opening evenings have given you forty honest feedback forms and three fixes. The run-sheet poster is on the back-office wall and the who-to-call card is by the till.
Whether you start with the site calculator tonight or the opening budget tomorrow morning, the files work together, and every one arrives with worked sample rows so you can see what good looks like before you type your own.
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 Store Opening Launch Kit (e-book, PDF)
The guide: methods, worked examples, scripts and exercises
Start here: store opening map
The whole opening on one page with the file to open at each phase, your first hour, brand it in five minutes, your first week and the countdown and 30/60/90 use plan.
Store Opening Workbook
The master tool: 17 sheets covering settings, site scorecard, opening budget, cash to break-even, project plan with critical path, permits, fit-out and snags, systems, opening stock, team training, launch marketing, launch day run sheet, first 90 days, readiness, dashboard and lessons log.
Site and Break-even Calculator
Compare site options before you sign: rent-to-sales, break-even sales, transactions and customers per day, safety margin and a verdict, plus a footfall count log.
Site Evaluation and Lease Questions Form
Take it on every site visit: footfall and visibility checks, catchment and competition, the unit itself, the landlord and lease questions for your lawyer, and a sign-or-walk decision.
Readiness Walk-through and Snagging Form
Walk the store zone by zone before handover, before soft opening and on launch morning: readiness checks, a snag list with A, B and C severity, and sign-off.
Soft Opening Feedback Form
A two-minute guest form for friends-and-family and soft-opening days, plus a team observation sheet that turns comments into fixes before launch.
Day-30 and Day-90 Review Form
Structured reviews against plan at day 30 and day 90: the numbers, what customers say, staffing changes, fixes, cash, and the handover from project mode to business as usual.
Store Opening Message Library
43 brand-ready emails, letters, notes and posts: landlords, contractors, suppliers, hiring, neighbours, invitations, launch announcements, first-customer thank-yous and franchisor messages.
Opening Project Plan
The opening plan document: summary, definition of 'open', ten phases with gates, critical path, roles, budget summary, risk register, weekly meeting agenda, change control and handover.
Pre-opening Training Plan and Launch Day Briefing
A four-day in-store training plan with six modules and sign-off evidence, the readiness rehearsal, and the launch day briefing script, roles, 'if this happens' table, who-to-call list and debrief.
Franchise Unit Opening Checklist
Plain-words checklist for both sides of a franchise unit opening: franchisee steps from disclosure to opening support, and the franchisor's site criteria, approvals, fit-out standards and support plan.
Worked Example Pack: a Franchise Kiosk and an Independent Bookshop
Two composite openings shown with the kit's tools filled in: site comparison, franchise steps, budget and cash, a fit-out delay recovered, the snag list, soft-opening feedback and the day-30 review.
AI Prompt Pack for Store Openings
29 tool-agnostic prompts grouped by opening phase, each with what to paste in and what to check before you use the output, plus the human review rule.
Sign-or-Walk Decision Card and Mistakes to Avoid
If-this-then-that rules for site, lease, budget, opening-date and launch decisions, plus the store-opening mistakes that cost the most time and money.
Numbers That Matter: store opening KPI card
The 13 numbers a store opening runs on: definition, exact formula, where each lives in the workbook and what to do if it moves.
Store opening rules by country (October 2026)
What to check before opening a store, and verified country notes for the UK, US, Australia, India, Canada, the GCC, Singapore, the Philippines, Africa and Europe. Dated October 2026.
Store opening print pack
Five floor-ready pages: launch day run-sheet poster, laminate-ready store readiness checklist, opening-week who-to-call cards, soft-opening 'what we are testing' poster and a write-on daily numbers board.
16-week store opening countdown calendar
47 calendar events from week 16 to launch day and the day-7, day-30, day-60 and day-90 reviews. Import, then move the series to your own opening date.
Store opening task board (CSV)
61 opening tasks by phase with timing and critical-path labels, ready to import into Trello, Asana, Notion, Planner or Jira.
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
- 59 pages
- Works with
- Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice, Word, Google Docs, Acrobat Reader, Google Calendar, Outlook, Apple Calendar, Trello, Asana, Notion
- Best for
- Independent retailers, store managers, franchisees, area managers and small franchisors
The Opening Project: Phases, Critical Path and a Date You Can Keep
Plan backwards from the opening date, write the dependencies, mark the critical path and run a weekly opening meeting.
Choosing the Site: Footfall, Catchment and the Sign-or-Walk Decision
Count footfall, score nine criteria, run rent-to-sales and break-even, ask the lease questions and decide to sign or walk.
The Money: Opening Budget and Cash Until Break-even
Build the opening budget with committed costs and a contingency, then model expected and cautious ramps to find the cash you need.
Opening a Franchise Unit: Working With the Franchisor
Split responsibilities with the franchisor, get site approval before the lease, and take disclosure and the agreement to a franchise lawyer.
Permits, Fit-out and the Snag List
Own approvals from week one, design the layout around customer flow and access, manage contractors and grade every snag.
Systems, Suppliers and the Opening Stock
Test every system in the store, plan opening stock by category and weeks of cover, and load product data before stock arrives.
The Opening Team: Hiring, Training and the Rehearsal
Hire your number two early, train on the shop floor across six modules and rehearse with helpers before the readiness gate.
Soft Opening, the Launch Plan and Launch Day
Run soft openings that find the problems, build local awareness before the doors open and run launch day from a run sheet.
The First 90 Days and the Handover
Read sales through footfall, conversion and average transaction value, review at day 30 and 90, then hand over cleanly.
Using AI on the Opening Project, With a Person in Charge
Use AI to draft, summarise and find gaps, with a person checking every fact and making every decision.
The Second Store Opens Faster
Turn the lessons of the first opening into a template so the next store opens faster.
The Numbers in Plain Words
Every opening number explained in plain words.
The 16-Week Countdown at a Glance
The 16-week countdown on one page.
Not just reading. Tools you will actually open again.
Start here
- 00-Start-Here-Store-Opening-Map.pdf: the whole opening on one page, your first hour, brand it in five minutes, your first week, the countdown and 30/60/90 use plan
- The Store Opening Launch Kit e-book (PDF): ten chapters, two appendices and six illustrations
Workbooks
- Store-Opening-Workbook.xlsx: 17 sheets including Settings, Site Scorecard, Opening Budget, Cash to Break-even, Project Plan with critical path, Permits, Fit-out and Snags, Systems and Suppliers, Opening Stock, Team Training, Launch Marketing, Launch Day Run Sheet, First 90 Days, Readiness, Dashboard and Lessons Log
- Site-and-Break-Even-Calculator.xlsx: 5 sheets comparing sites on rent-to-sales, break-even sales, customers needed per day and safety margin, plus a footfall count log
Forms
- Site-Evaluation-and-Lease-Questions-Form.pdf: site visit, landlord and lease questions, sign-or-walk decision
- Readiness-Walk-Through-and-Snagging-Form.pdf: zone-by-zone readiness checks, A, B and C snag list, sign-off
- Soft-Opening-Feedback-Form.pdf: two-minute guest form and team observation sheet
- Day-30-and-Day-90-Review-Form.pdf: reviews against plan and the handover to business as usual
Word templates
- Store-Opening-Message-Library.docx: 43 brand-ready messages
- Opening-Project-Plan-Template.docx: summary, definition of open, phases and gates, critical path, roles, risks, weekly meeting, change control, handover
- Pre-Opening-Training-Plan-and-Launch-Day-Briefing.docx: four-day training plan, six modules, rehearsal, briefing script, roles and 'if this happens' table
- Franchise-Unit-Opening-Checklist.docx: franchisee and franchisor sides in plain words
- Worked-Example-Pack-Kiosk-and-Bookshop-Openings.docx: a franchised kiosk and an independent bookshop, forms filled in
- AI-Prompt-Pack-for-Store-Openings.docx: 29 prompts by phase with the human review rule
Cheat sheets
- Sign-or-Walk-Decision-Card-and-Mistakes-to-Avoid.pdf: if-this-then-that rules and 13 costly mistakes
- Numbers-That-Matter-Store-Opening-KPI-Card.pdf: 13 opening numbers with exact formulas
- Store-Opening-Rules-by-Country-Oct-2026.pdf: what to check and verified notes for named countries, dated October 2026
Print pack
- Store-Opening-Print-Pack.pdf: 5 pages: launch day run-sheet poster, store readiness checklist, opening-week who-to-call cards, soft-opening poster, daily numbers board
Calendar and import
- 16-Week-Store-Opening-Countdown.ics: 47 calendar events from week 16 to day 90
- Store-Opening-Task-Board.csv: 61 tasks 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.
- You will be able to compare sites on footfall, nine weighted criteria, rent-to-sales and break-even before you sign
- You will be able to build an opening budget with committed costs and a contingency, and know the cash you need until break-even
- You will be able to plan backwards from an opening date and see which tasks decide it
- You will be able to run permits, fit-out and snagging with dates, owners and severity
- You will be able to plan opening stock by category and weeks of cover
- You will be able to train and rehearse a new team to a clear readiness standard
- You will be able to run a soft opening, a launch day and a debrief from ready-made run sheets
- You will be able to track the first 90 days and hand the store over to its normal routine
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.
Task Prioritisation & Planning
Take the assessment →AssessAll assessmentSmall Business Operating Decision Assessment for Shop, Service and Studio Owners
Take the assessment →AssessAll assessmentProject & Delivery Leadership
Take the assessment →JobularyHow a Jobulary development plan works
Make it a growth plan →A taste of Chapter 3
An opening has two money questions. The first is the opening budget: everything you spend to open the doors. The second is the cash you need until break-even: the opening budget plus the losses of the early months, while sales build towards their settled level. Stores that run out of money rarely do so because the fit-out cost too much. They run out because nobody planned for months two to six. Break-even here means the monthly sales at which gross margin covers rent and fixed costs. The workbook works it out from Settings: rent plus other fixed costs, divided by your gross margin, grossed up for any sales tax inside your prices, divided by trading days. The answer is break-even sales per day, a number you can hold in your head on the shop floor.
The honest comparison
| Free templates and typical advice | This kit | |
|---|---|---|
| Site choice | A gut feeling and a busy street | Footfall counts, nine weighted criteria, rent-to-sales and a break-even test |
| Money | A fit-out budget | Opening budget with committed costs, plus cash needed until break-even on two ramps |
| Plan | A long task list | Ten phases, owners, dependencies, a marked critical path and days-behind-plan |
| Readiness | Open when the date arrives | A readiness % gate and no A snags open |
| Launch | Hope and a ribbon | Soft openings, a run sheet, a briefing script and a debrief |
| After opening | Watch the till total | Footfall, conversion, ATV and sales per labour hour daily; reviews at day 30 and 90; handover |
Made for you if…
- Independent shop owners opening a first, second or third store
- Store and assistant managers asked to open a new branch
- Franchisees opening one to ten units
- Area and multi-site managers who open several stores a year
- Small franchisors who set opening standards for their network
- Specialty retailers: fashion, grocery and convenience, pharmacy front-of-store, electronics, homeware, books, gifts, specialty food
Probably not for you if…
- Restaurants and cloud kitchens needing kitchen and food-safety set-up (a separate Bodhih kit covers that opening)
- Large retailers with their own store-development department and project systems
- Anyone looking for legal, tax or licensing advice: the kit organises the questions for your advisers
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.
Your next store deserves a plan as good as the idea behind it
Open the Start-here map, type your settings and see your break-even sales per day within the hour. Whether you begin with the site calculator or the opening budget, every file is waiting with worked examples to guide you.
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.
What buyers say
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The Bodhih family, when you are ready for more
The Customer Loyalty Programme Kit
Design, launch and run a loyalty programme for a shop, chain or franchise.
The Retail Store and Franchise Operations Manual
Run one shop or a franchise network to a standard.
The Stock, Shrinkage and Reorder System
Run your shop's stock with a system.
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 Store Opening Launch Kit: FAQs
Read the free guideAlready bought? Resend my linkHow long does it take to open a retail store?
It depends on the unit and the works. A franchise kiosk with a standard fit-out can open in a few weeks; a unit needing new electrics, signage consent and a full fit-out often needs around four months or more. The kit uses a 16-week countdown as a default and shows you how to build your real timeline from quoted lead times and a critical path.
How much money do I need to open a shop?
You need the opening budget (fit-out, fixtures, stock, systems, deposits, fees, wages before opening, launch) plus the cash to cover losses until monthly sales reach break-even. The workbook models both with an expected and a cautious ramp and shows the low point of your cash. The figures are planning numbers for you and your accountant, not a forecast.
Is it suitable for franchisees?
Yes. Chapter 4 and the Franchise Unit Opening Checklist cover site approval, fit-out standards, opening support and the split of responsibilities with the franchisor. Franchise disclosure and agreements differ by country, so the kit tells you what to ask and to take the documents to a franchise lawyer.
Can I use this with my staff?
Yes. Within your own business you can share the forms, training plan, print pack and checklists with your team under the personal licence. For use across several sites, a franchise network or a whole company, ask about company and multi-site licences at solutions@bodhih.com.
Does it work in my country?
The method is universal and the workbooks work in any currency and in square feet or metres. The dated country sheet gives verified notes for the UK, US, Australia, India, Canada, the GCC, Singapore, the Philippines, parts of Africa and Europe, as at October 2026. Permits, leases, employment and trading rules still need checking with your local authority and advisers.
Is this legal, tax or financial advice?
No. It is an educational toolkit that organises an opening and the questions to ask. Lease, franchise, tax, employment and safety decisions belong with your lawyer, accountant, franchisor, local authority and safety regulator. Templates are starting points, not legally valid documents.
What is a soft opening and do I need one?
A soft opening is one or more sessions of trading with invited guests before the public launch, so you can find problems your team no longer sees. The kit includes a guest feedback form, a team observation sheet and a poster, and shows how to turn the results into three fixes before launch.
How can I measure my starting point?
If you want to see where your planning and decision skills stand before a big opening, AssessAll offers the Task Prioritisation and Planning assessment, the Small Business Operating Decision Assessment for Shop, Service and Studio Owners, and the Project and Delivery Leadership assessment. They are optional and separate from the kit.
Can I turn this into a development plan for my store manager?
Yes. Use the training modules and the day-30 and day-90 reviews to note what your manager does well and what they need next, then turn it into a development plan with Jobulary, which explains how its plans work at jobulary.com.
Which apps do I need?
A spreadsheet app (Excel, Google Sheets or LibreOffice), a word processor (Word or Google Docs), a PDF reader that fills forms, and optionally a calendar and a task board. No special software or subscriptions are needed.
How much does The Store Opening Launch Kit cost?
₹999 including 18% GST for buyers in India, or $29 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.
