8 Simple Steps for Hosting a Successful Business Launch

There’s no better way to launch a business or a product than holding a public event to help people become familiar with you brand. Here’s how to get yourself up and running so that people will flock to your location. Just follow these 8 simple steps for hosting a successful business launch:

1. Decide on the Objectives of the Launch

Before you can have a launch, you need to know what you want from the event. Is this event going to sell something? Is it going to pre-sell something? Are you trying to entice people with free food, games, or is this a brand awareness campaign? Have a vision and know what the end-game is.

2. Set Goals and Measurable Objectives

Set measurable goals based on your vision. If this is a business and product launch, the measurable end goal is product sales. The more, the better. Be mindful of the need to keep things realistic and have plenty of planning time. If you’re putting your event together at the last minute, the launch won’t be successful.

Give yourself at least 6 months to prepare for everything. This includes training your sales team, setting up production, and pre-selling to distributors.

3. Complete A Final Product Review

If you are launching a new product, make sure your final product is ready for the launch. Pay attention to other details like packaging, containers, etc and make sure that everything will be shipped and arrive on time for the event. Ideally, you want everything at least a week prior to the event.

4. Train Your Employees For The Event

Training your sales associates and non-sales employees for the event is really important, but it sometimes gets overlooked. If employees have never been part of a launch event, prepare them for the commotion. Your sales representatives should have a firm idea of how to sell your products on launch day.

5. Get Your Support Infrastructure In Place

There will be customer support enquiries. Be ready for them. The last thing you want is for prospects to have questions that you don’t have answers to. Also, if people are buying during the launch, you’ll want the staff to handle it, and any problems that might arise.

Finally, try to anticipate what types of problems you might run into. If you don’t have any idea what might go wrong, you’re not ready for the launch yet.

Every business runs into problems. Being prepared for them means that those problems don’t become catastrophic.

6. PreSell To Distributors

If you won’t be selling directly at your event, then pre-sell to distributors so that potential customers can at least place orders at the event or know where to place orders. Distributors also need to be ready to handle orders.

7. Prepare Your Press Releases and PR Campaign

If no one knows about your event, no one will show up. Prepare your PR and press releases 3 months out, and “drip” announcements every month leading up to the event. When you’re 3 weeks away from the event, start sending out announcements every week. Send out an announcement every day 3 days prior to the event.

8. Launch and Follow up

When your business or product does launch, you can’t rest on your laurels. You need to have follow up processes clearly defined. That means sales fulfillment. If you mess this last step up, you’ll kill your business before it’s off the ground.

I hope these tips for a business or product launch have been helpful. If you have everything in place then the launch should go smoothly, or at least you’ll be able to deal with anything that arises.