Chapter 11 - Kick off Your Business with a Bang!
- Sonya Grattan
- May 24
- 5 min read
Your new business is ready to go, you're ready to go, but are your new customers? In this chapter we look at how you can get your new business off the ground with a bang by looking at some options for a Grand Opening. It will set the stage for your business, and it can make a big impression on the community.
Once you have your grand opening idea in mind, it’s important to have a plan in place to ensure your events go smoothly.
Putting the pieces together before the big day helps ensure the grand opening event makes a positive impression and launches your business toward success. Discover some unique grand opening ideas and learn how to plan your event step by step.
Benefits of having a grand opening
A grand opening event can kick off your business in a very positive way. You create awareness as it grabs attention and lets people know about a new business in the area. It allows you to let people know your values and what is important to you, such as sustainability. Even if you don’t make many sales during the opening, you can meet people and start building relationships, help you develop partnerships with other businesses and start earning customer loyalty.
Hosting an Grand Opening Event
If your business runs from a shop, this option is no doubt the best way to enter the market with a bang. But it should be treated like any other event, which means planning it out effectively. This event may be the first exposure to your brand for many people, so you want to make a good first impression.
Start by creating a budget for your grand opening. Some things you might need to budget for include:
Decorations for the grand opening event
Gift bags and giveaways for guests
Extra samples for products
Advertising costs to promote the event
Signage for outside your building to direct people
Entertainment, such as a DJ
The focus of the event should be to allow your guests to experience your products or services. But other options for consideration at a grand opening include:
Invite well-known guests or local VIPs or speakers
Partner with an established business
Provide food and music
Support a worthy cause or charity
Offer a demo or workshop
You may want your grand opening event to happen as soon as possible, but if you’re not ready, wait until you are. Remember it doesn’t have to take place on the first day you open your doors. Many hotels and restaurants use an initial period of trading to iron out any issues that arise BEFORE the grand opening event. The advantage of doing this is that the issues do not arise on the worst possible day for them to arise.
Consider what is also happening in your locality which might adversely impact your grand opening, conversely, some things happening at the same time might bring in extra foot fall. Consider it in depth which date you choose.
Have your key employees in place well in advance of the grand opening, so you have plenty of time to train and prepare them. They need to learn about your products or services, understand your expectations and know how to use your till and any other equipment you have. It might be a good idea to have a soft opening with your family and friends for your staff. A soft opening can allow you to gather feedback from the attendees.
Your shop space might need some slight changes for your open house and the walkways might need to be adjusted to accommodate a large number of people. Think about where the best place in your shop is to set up special displays, demonstrations and activities, one with plenty of space for your new customers to watch or participate. Is there enough space to accommodate a queue at the till? Consider setting up extra tills for the grand opening to get people through faster.
Imagine the scenario where your grand opening is buzzing with customers and you run out of ingredients or products. To prevent such a scenario, anticipate how many people might attend your grand opening and stock products, ingredients and supplies accordingly. Then organise your supplies and inventory for quick restocks.
Don’t forget essentials, such as shopping bags, receipt rolls, napkins and silverware, depending on the type of business you’re opening.
It’s common for things to go wrong or not as planned during an open house. Try to anticipate what issues might happen, and then what you can do to either avoid it or mitigate it, such as developing backup plans if you’re planning outdoor activities as part of your grand opening,
Promote the grand opening early on your social media platforms and website and create a sense of anticipation for the event. Give readers a taste of what they might expect.
Track the countdown to your rand opening.
Other Ideas to Promote your New Business where you have no shop or are online:
You could offer a introductory gift with any purchase or give a free product to the first customers.
Host a live online event or a class/how-to tutorial
Run a giveaway or contest
Create a social media event
Distribute samples of your product to people who share your posts
Offer extra discounts to certain groups of people such as OAPs or children
Introducing a pop-up shop has become increasingly popular.
Promotion of Event
Try not to use just one method to promote your grand opening, a mix of promotional methods can help you reach more people. Remember to include the important details, such as the date, time and location, for the grand opening in all your promotional materials. Some options include:
Press releases to local media outlets
Ribbon-cutting ceremony with the local chamber of commerce or mayor
Paid online ads
Traditional paid print ads
Flyers and brochures
Guest posts on local blogs
Social Media promotion
Also consider giving personal invitations directly to people who have a strong local following, such as online traders, radio personalities or bloggers. Anyone who can influence others. Inviting local influencers to the grand opening is one easy way to spread the word. Influencers may also post while at the event or promote your business later. Ask them to create a hashtag for your event.
If you’ve already started an email list where people can sign up to receive updates, invite those people directly. A personal invitation makes recipients feel special and might increase attendance.
Create a giveaway to people attending your event if they check-in whilst there checking in results in an extra entry in your competition free draw.
Whichever options you like or can afford, I hope it helps get your business off the ground.
Other Chapters in this series so far:-
Chapter 1 - A Business Idea - Lets Make it Happen
Chapter 2 - Target Your Market
Chapter 3 - Land Your Brand
Chapter 4 - The Price is Right
Chapter 5 - Lets Get Down to Business
Chapter 6 - Its All in the Name
Chapter 7 - Location Location Location
Chapter 8 - Financing your New Business
Chapter 9 - Recruitment
Chapter 10 - Law and Taxes: Play it Smart, Stay Smart
Chapter 11 - Kick off Your Business with a Bang
Chapter 12 - Financial Review for your Small Business
Look out for the next chapter.
The Lead Coach is always available should you need any further help with your new business. Just fill in the contact form on my website www.theleadcoach.biz
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