If you are reading this, you’ve probably spent a lot of time and hard work on starting your business, and now it’s time to celebrate your opening day. First of all, congrats! Secondly, take a deep breath and relax. Today, we are here to help guide you into having an unforgettable grand opening. We say unforgettable because this will be your company’s first impression on the world. This is huge, and this must go well because you deserve it.
Why should you have a grand opening?
It’s simple…
- Awareness: It will allow people to learn about the existence of your business.
- Branding: This will allow you to convey what your company represents.
- Build relationships: Even if there isn’t a huge turnout or you don’t get the sales you hoped for, this is your chance to meet locals and start building relationships.
The People You Know
Start with the people you know. Asking them personally, whether by mouth, a card, or by text is a great way to start. It makes it all the more special and inclusive, increasing the chances of them coming to support your business. It’s also nice to have people you know there to cheer you on.
HYPE. IT. UP.
Don’t downplay it! This is a huge event, and it deserves to be known. Use social platforms to share snippets of what’s to come. Breaking it down into teasers is a great way to hype up your grand opening while giving you more content to post.
Things you can post:
- Show them who’ll be there—ex: Entertainers, celebrities, local businesses, etc.
- Giveaways will be offered if they attend
- Special sales & discounts for the ones who come
- The behind-the-scenes of your business/prepping for the event
- Food/snacks/treats that will be offered
Level Up
So, you’ve hyped it up, and people are there. It’s important to make this day memorable for them, so try your best to make this opening stand out. If your budget allows, here are some things to consider to help level up the experience:
- Cool gifts
- Entertainers
- Special Guests
- On brand décor
- Demonstrations
- Partnering with other businesses
- A photo area (we’ll dive deeper into this next)
Pictures On Pictures
Since we’ve hyped this event up, people are there and having fun; now it’s time for pictures! A photographer is always a great idea, but nowadays, phone cameras are the way to go. This is a great way to get your business out there! Listen closely; as much as people love taking photos of things, they also love getting photos of themselves. Making sure you have a photogenic area people can take pictures in front of is a great start, but dedicating an area to photos will encourage people to take and post them!
Steal our ideas:
- If your event is during the day and your space allows, have your photo area face a big open window. This is a big way to save money on lighting!
- Get a ring light! Having one is always great, but you can borrow or rent one if you don’t want to keep one. Having it out will encourage photos to be taken and will make them turn out better. This will up your chances of someone posting it to their social media accounts.
- Backdrops are trending, and it’s time to get on board. A ring light will encourage photos, but backdrops will surely get the people coming! Because it is, you want to make people feel like they are at a special event. This can be as easy as getting a backdrop or a few props. You can even jazz it up by putting your logo or event name somewhere.
Follow our tips and watch your grand opening thrive! This is a very special day as a business owner, so remember to sit back and enjoy it when you can. This is a day you don’t want to miss! With that said, we hope you could take something from this, and good luck on your journey.
