Open Softly…Then Make a Big Noise

This is the eighteenth installment in a series on Starting a BAM Business

It’s time! You’ve done the hard preparation—much like ploughing the field before planting—and you’re ready to open. So open…twice. Have a “soft opening” first and then, shortly after, the big Grand Opening.

Why Have a Soft Opening

There’s a popular American Christmas movie,  Christmas Vacation, in which the main character (Clark Griswold) makes plan after plan for a great holiday with his family. Yet, nothing works out. Even his Christmas decorations fail him. After spending hours to install hundreds of lights on his house, Clark gathers the family to witness the unveiling of his masterpiece. Everyone is excited. Children make drumroll noises. And…nothing! No lights. No spectacle. Only disappointment and embarrassment. Sadly, this story repeats itself with new companies who jump excitedly to a Grand Opening, only to have the oven break or the website crash. 

To avoid this, we recommend a “soft opening” or “quiet launch.” Much like your MVP, a soft launch is a way of opening your business to real customers but in a way that allows you to make sure everything works, to test your systems with a small and very friendly crowd. Then, when you’ve made sure everything works as you desire you can hold the highly publicized Grand Opening.

The story of Clark Griswold clearly illustrates why a soft opening is a good idea. Here are several reasons we believe in it.

1. Fail big in a quiet way. If things aren’t going to work or things are going to break down or supplies don’t arrive on time, only a few people know about it.
2. Work the bugs out. Even the best designed processes have bugs and problems. Sometimes you don’t know where they are until you actually turn things on. In Clark’s case, the problem was a simple electrical outlet that had been turn off.
3. Sympathetic audiences give the best feedback. Even when problems occur, if you’ve told the participants that they are part of a soft opening or quiet launch, they will take mistakes in stride and actually tell you things you didn’t know about. This will only make your Grand Opening better.
4. You don’t know what you don’t know. What if you didn’t think of something? Or you forgot something? It’s OK. It’s expected and the friendly crowd takes your side to help

When you do a soft opening you are testing your systems and managing customer expectations at the same time.

How to Hold a Soft Opening

The name implies that you are doing this without fanfare, so don’t tell anyone. I don’t mean that literally but don’t advertise. You’ve been building the buzz (see the previous installment) and anticipation is building. Don’t turn the machine on yet. Wait. It’s a “secret.”

1. Pick a date (or a weekend). In your planning, block off a few days or even a week to essentially operate quietly.
2. Invite people you trust. It’s OK to invite people but only a few people you are confident will be sympathetic, helpful, and honest.
3. Reward those who come during your trial launch with a token of your appreciation—a free dessert, a giveaway product, a discount on purchases made.
4. Open. Go ahead and simply open. Depending on your type of business, enough people will hear about it or walk by or notice the light on and just come in or call you. That’s fine. Don’t turn them away but make sure they know that this is your “shakedown cruise.”
5. Don’t try everything at once. You can turn your business on in stages if you’d like. For example, if you are a coffee shop you might offer only a few types of coffee or pastries rather than everything that you intend to offer in the future.
6. Ask for direct feedback. Explain to people that they are part of a special group and that their input is truly valued. Ask for it or they may be afraid to hurt your feelings.
7. Train your staff. Many opening failures are staff failures. Perhaps you didn’t teach them something that they needed to know. Perhaps you didn’t anticipate certain things happening and neither you nor they were prepared to handle the situation.
8. Train your staff again. With all that you learned in the soft opening go back and retrain your team. They now know what they didn’t know and you are clear on topics or procedures you didn’t think of.
9. Keep a record of what you learn. What worked? What didn’t? What worked OK but not great? What did people like? Not like? There’s no point in learning the same lesson twice.
10. Let your early customers know about the Grand Opening and ask them to come back and bring friends with them.
11. Improve your processes, products, and procedures based on this experience.

How to Hold Your Grand Opening

Your Grand Opening will differ based on your industry (pharmaceutical equipment vs a cafe) and your setting (urban vs rural). Nevertheless, it is a big deal. You are opening in a grand, big, spectacular, big splash way with lots of noise, fanfare, publicity, and excitement. So, how do you do this?

1. Set your date (actually a range of days). You are ready. It’s not all perfect yet but it’s as good as you can make it so, set a date. Having a date will give you the sense of urgency that will help you get things done and the sense of definition that will keep you accountable to actually do it.
2. Trust God and fear not. It’s scary. What if no one comes? What if things still go wrong? What if the weather is bad? “What if” is the language of worry and worry is simply fear. Our loving Father says over and over to not be afraid. “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 NASB1995 Turn your fears over to God and press on!
3. Shout it on the mountain tops. It’s time to let everyone know. Your “buzz” building message now shifts from “It’s coming” to “It’s here!” Your count down is over and it’s blast off. Use social media, signs, word of mouth, radio, church announcements and any other means available to get the word out. We are opening on October 1 at 9am. Be there!
4. Add exciting events. Some people will give something away to the first 50 customers. Some will offer a purchase discount on each day of the Grand Opening. Some will have free food, music, ice cream, and other fun things. If you have a local business council or Chamber of Commerce, arrange for them to come and cut the ribbon (figuratively or literally) signifying that you are open for business. Have the mayor give a speech—politicians love to give speeches! Have your pastor come and pray over your business—what a great chance to open doors for future evangelism.
5. Invite media coverage. Maybe your local radio station or newspaper is looking for a story (most are) and will show up for a bit to get photos, interviews, and information. There’s no such thing as bad press is a saying that’s not absolutely true but mostly true. Get all you can.
6. A quick note on budget limitations. Maybe you don’t have much money to invest in a Grand Opening. That’s OK. Do what you can, what makes sense in your circumstance, and leave the rest to the Lord. Many years ago, in Central Asia one of our graduates opened an egg business. His Grand Opening consisted of putting a hand-painted sign over his door that said, “We Have Eggs.” A visiting teacher from the West challenged the new business owner saying, “This is not enough.” The graduate replied, “Sure it is. I’m the only one in my village who has eggs!”

A Grand Opening is fun. It’s exciting. And it works. Make it as big as you can and watch God work!

Conclusion 

Congratulations! From the first moment of your soft opening you’ve been in business. Your BAM company is up and running. Now it’s public. The word is out and customers are coming. It’s real and it’s been worth all the work. What now? In our next and final installment, we’ll explore your customer experience. How do you keep them coming back.

For more information on starting a BAM company, we recommend the course, Business as Mission: The How To Guide on the Third Path Initiative website. Visit https://thirdpathinitiative.com/all-courses.