You’ve organized your business thoroughly. The funding is already guaranteed and the space fixed. You’ve nailed down the concept and hired the best staff for your newly established business. The only thing you must do is to open your doors to the public. However, before introducing your business to the community, you may want to strategize to ensure that your opening day is a grand success.
Getting professionals and essential guests to attend your business opening is not an easy thing to do. It will surely help if you get it right and win over their endorsements and get them to attend. Aside from that, welcoming them to your event is a perfect moment to network, widen, and advance your business. Thus, getting the right people to your event is the key. So, how can you invite the right people to your business opening?
Cheerful business owners standing with open blackboard
Invite the Right People
Instead of inviting the most powerful and famous people, try asking the appropriate people to come to your business opening. This means the ones who are on-brand to your business. If you’re endorsing a high-end luxury fashion brand, send out requests to celebrities instead of inviting politicians.
You may also invite people you know to your opening because they can provide constructive criticism and make genuine observations. Asking people you know allows you to evaluate your weaknesses and strengths for the betterment of your business. They also provide free endorsement and help build expectancy.
Design invitations and send them to your neighboring businesses, business partners, employees and their families, and to your friends and family. You may also invite other people with whom you have personal relationships. If you prefer online requests, you can check out greenvelope.com to create your own online invitations. This will help save trees, money, and time.
Advertise in Social Media and Alert the Press
Use social media as a platform for advertising to showcase your business. You can share press coverage of your business opening on social media sites. The coverage can be highlighted in magazines, newspapers, blogs, newsletters, radio shows, and social media posts. Digital marketing creates a buzz. It makes people curious and excited about your business before you even open your doors to the community.
Another way to let people know about your business is to invite well-known influencers, such as beauty vloggers. However, don’t forget about what you may need to provide in exchange for their services. Although some may ask for money, they can also talk about your products in exchange for something else. For example, developing relationships with them, inspiring them to make content with your brand or product, compensating them with free products or money, or promoting their content can be alternatives to financial compensation.
Offer Sales, Discounts, and Giveaways
Ensure that you make the opening special for the attendees by offering them discounts, giving some samples of your product, or holding a sale for a particular product. For example, you can offer giveaways by including discounts if your guests are following your business on social media.
You can also give souvenirs as a sort of memento. For example, you can create stylish shirts featuring your business name and product. In that way, the token will remind them of you and your business. They can also wear your personalized shirt even after the event. Thus, you can market your business products through these souvenirs.
Also, you can consider partnering with local businesses. If you’re opening a brewery, have a partnership with a bakery nearby and feature their cupcakes. If you’re opening a clothing company, partner with a beauty salon and give them service coupons. That way, your customers can have discounts and free stuff, and other businesses can advertise themselves. That means you can invite more people because of what’s on offer on the opening day.
Partner with a Charity
Another way to introduce your business and catch the attention of several people is to show that you care for your community. Because you don’t have a significant email list, you can partner with a charity you prefer. This way you can have access to their email list for invitations.
Furthermore, people like to spend their money to support good causes. Making your opening about charity will inspire them to attend. The guests will believe that the money they will spend can help other people in need. This type of grand opening can benefit the charity and position your business brand in a positive way to build reputation.
Hold Multiple Events
Hosting multiple events before the grand opening of your business is essential because it gathers the attention of many people and generates excitement and buzz. Host a family and friends night to express your gratitude towards your staff for all their hard work. You can also ask them to bring some people and treat them for lunch or dinner.
You can also host a private reception for business owners, influencers, and journalists, take them on a tour of your facility and give them a menu card as they leave. Having small events means you don’t have to be bothered about covering it all in one event. You can convert the small gatherings to bigger ones and make the invitees feel extra special.
Consider a Soft Opening
Hosting a soft opening gives you the chance to work out any kinks before the grand opening. It gives you essential feedback on the service and products. It gives you time to make adjustments if there are things that didn’t satisfy the guests. Satisfied guests will come back for the grand opening and encourage other people by sharing their experience. Thus, more curious and excited people will attend the main opening event.
Additionally, you can evaluate the seating capacity as well as the flow of the space during a soft opening. The staff will also have the opportunity to practice their services. However, the grand opening’s date should be decided before the soft launch to avoid losing customer interest.
Prevent the Reverse Curse
Lastly, don’t invite too many customers. Although this sounds contradictory because your main goal is to invite many guests, having excessive customers can be more damaging than having none. This is because you might not be able to serve many people on that day. You may end up annoying some customers. Get a sense of what your stock looks like and how long it may take for you to reorder. Always plan for the best-case scenarios to avoid unhappiness.
Conclusion
The grand opening of your business is a critical part of your overall marketing plan. It builds your business reputation and fosters excitement around your business. By choosing the right guests, you’ll have a perfect and successful grand opening to kick-start your new business.
