A good opening checklist has 8–10 items and gets ticked every morning.

A great opening checklist has these four non-negotiable items at the very top:

1. Fridge/freezer temperatures all green (with auto-alert if not). 2. Probe wiped and accuracy-checked. 3. No pest signs overnight (quick photo if yes). 4. Previous night’s closing checks were fully completed.

Everything else (ovens on, milk out, tills counted) is important, but those four decide whether the entire day is safe or not. Make them impossible to skip and you’ve removed 90 % of serious risks before the first customer walks in.