During construction, your community has likely become curious and has heightened support for your business’ success. Community members will want to see what will happen in your building once you’re open for business.
Planning a grand opening ceremony or ribbon cutting ceremony is one way to capture the buzz and introduce your services or product to your neighbors, clients, suppliers and staff’s family. Really, it’s the perfect time to get your prospective clients in the door and show them your brand new, fresh and clean facility.
Some industries, such as the restaurant segment, have found great success by holding grand reopenings every ten to twenty years to promote their business. Many restaurant patrons want to try the most new and exciting thing in town, so almost as if it’s part of their promotion budget, some restaurant owners update their look and/or menu on a regular schedule (every ten to twenty years) to gain clientele quite successfully.
Over the past seven years working for a commercial contractor, I’ve attended many Grand Openings and they have done well at drawing in people and helping the business to put their best foot forward. Grand Openings can be tricky to plan because guests are typically arriving at all different times. Therefore, you need to have an activity planned, like a tour that can happen in cycles or display posters and photos that are self explanatory.
For the party planners, here are some tips for organizing your own Grand Opening Event:
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Decide if you want a private or public event and publicize it to those you’d like to attend well in advance (a minimum of 2 weeks notice).
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Build a social media presence (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) and advertise your event there, while also promoting your pages during the Grand Opening to increase your online network.
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Organize a ribbon cutting with formal speech by the owner and/or a building dedication.
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Give tours of the building lead by staff members who explain what will be happening throughout the building and highlight specialized areas that will benefit clients.
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Demonstrate your product or the operations of producing the product.
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Provide informational handouts and logoed trinkets.
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Host a reception with food, drink, and/or music for guests to stay longer and provide more opportunity for you to meet with them.
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Photograph the event to use in a newsletter, on social media, or for historical purposes.
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Consider your parking because you will likely have more guests than what your parking lot is typically meant to hold. Perhaps a shuttle or valet parking could help get everyone safely to your event.
A few unique elements that I’ve seen at Grand Openings include a harpist playing throughout the reception, moonwalk structures to make the event more kid friendly, and a red carpet rented to make guests feel special.
Have you ever hosted your own Grand Opening or attended one that had a unique element to it?
Wolgast is a comprehensive general contractor located in Saginaw, Michigan. We are specialized in Design/Build, Construction Management, General Construction, and Insurance Restoration in the markets of Restaurants, Schools, Medical, Dental, and Manufacturing. For more than 65 years, we have provided our professional construction services throughout Michigan and beyond. We are happy to discuss The Wolgast Way for your next project at 800-WOLGAST!