As an entrepreneur, you’ve checked off almost every item on your list, from securing the perfect location to hiring top-notch workers. You may even have an opening date circled on your calendar.
However, you may have a lingering question: Should you host a soft opening?
Determining whether to hold a soft opening vs a grand opening is crucial for new businesses. It’s the difference between easing into new waters slowly and diving head-first.
While you may be wondering whether hosting a soft opening is worth your time and effort, consider it a chance to work out any lingering kinks (and reduce your anxiety to boot). Here’s why you should plan on a soft opening and how to make your new launch a success from the start.
What is a soft opening, and why should you host one?
A soft opening is when a new business opens to a select group of customers. It allows new owners to do a trial run before officially opening to the general public.
Soft openings are generally limited in scope. For example, a restaurant may offer a limited menu, or a retail store may only display certain items for purchase. You can stick to a one-night-only event or run your soft opening for a set test period that caters to different clientele.
With over 20% of businesses closing after the first year, soft openings are essential to starting your new venture on the right foot. They give you a distinct advantage since you can test processes, obtain feedback, and make any necessary adjustments.
How does a soft opening differ from a grand opening?
Soft openings are distinct from grand openings.
Soft openings allow businesses to practice on a select group of customers. Grand openings, on the other hand, are essentially your business’s announcement that it’s open for business to the general public.
Soft openings are also quieter since invitations are limited.
Grand openings often live up to their name, as they’re special celebrations designed to introduce your business to the community. Since they’re intended for anyone who’s interested, it’s important that you plan for the maximum number your business can accommodate.
Soft openings are scheduled with your grand opening date in mind. Plan for a few days but no more than a week or two. If you wait too long, you risk losing the buzz, customer interest, and momentum the soft opening generates.
What are the benefits of having a soft opening for your business?
Businesses that invest time and energy into soft openings are able to do the following:
Gather feedback
With a soft opening, you can determine your business’s operational strengths and weaknesses through early feedback. Your staff can report on the efficiency of your processes from start to finish.
For example, what was the average time it took for a customer’s order to be ready? Did the kitchen quickly run out of a certain food item? Was any of the inventory insufficient to meet demand?
When you consider your employees’ input, you also establish a positive, team-based culture from the beginning and can address minor issues before they become larger ones. Strong communication systems, including Chat Apps, help streamline this process, too.
Honest customer feedback also lets you see your operations from the customer’s perspective. As consumers are becoming increasingly value-conscious and taking a wait-and-see approach before spending, soft openings give them a chance to see the value of your establishment early on.
Adjust and improve operations
Soft openings allow you to make data-driven decisions based on feedback.
For example, which dishes were the most popular? Which retail items sold out quickly, and which ones seemed to linger on the shelves?
Organization is essential to running a successful business, whether you’re launching a restaurant or a retail store.
Use the data from your soft opening to identify which operational areas need adjustment to ensure your processes are streamlined and efficient. For example, did you have sufficient supplies to create the in-demand menu items? Did customers wait too long between placing their order and receiving their meal? Did your payment systems run effectively?
Know how your retail or restaurant operations work from the start so that you can adjust where needed.
Prepare and train staff members
Sixty-seven percent of hotel and restaurant workers don’t feel they’ve received adequate training to be successful in their current roles. This is unfortunate since preparedness is essential to staff success.
Luckily, with soft openings, you provide a low-key opportunity for employees to have a trial run or practice period. The stakes are lower, so all staff can test their roles and responsibilities and establish themselves as members of the team.
Form community relationships
Use a soft opening to start establishing trust and credibility within the community. Successful business relationships often increase recommendations and referrals through word-of-mouth recommendations or in-house postings.
For example, one restaurant shared 12% of its customers with a nearby spa. By working together to cross-promote their businesses, both establishments grew their shared customer base to 15%.
These relationships also matter to your customers, with 85% more likely to engage in a business that’s involved in its community than one that’s not.
Create initial hype
Build on your initial marketing efforts by generating word-of-mouth recommendations with your soft opening. Strong e-word-of-mouth recommendations also have a positive effect on customers and their purchase intentions.
Tie your soft opening into your marketing efforts, including the timeline for the grand opening and what consumers can expect from it.
How can you plan a successful soft opening that could lead to a grand opening?
Planning a successful soft opening means going beyond the basics.
Ensure that your staff members understand their roles and are on the same page. Establish a clear budget so you don’t spend more time and money than you intend before your business gets off the ground. Prepare for contingencies by putting a backup plan in place.
Let’s go through this step by step:
Establish your budget
Start with a budget — considering that you also have a grand opening to plan for.
Consider the number of attendees you want to invite, the space needed to accommodate them, and the inventory or offerings you want to include. Decide whether you’re planning to decorate or provide entertainment.
Look at your staffing needs, too. For example, if you’re hosting a retail event, will you need additional staff to support a coffee bar or circulate with champagne trays?
If you own a restaurant, ensure you have adequate staff on hand to greet, serve, and check out customers. You’ll also need enough people in the kitchen to prep and deliver the menu items. Be sure to also factor in your food costs to give you a sense of your pricing strategy.
Outline the event scope
With your budget decided, you’re now ready to determine your event scope and scale.
Soft openings can be a single event or a scheduled period. Determine how much time you need before your business’s full or grand opening.
Decide what you want to offer during the soft opening, whether a limited number of items or access to your entire menu or inventory.
Check with your employees for their availability, and slot them into the schedule. Decide how many attendees you want to plan for, too.
Take any seasonal or community-based implications into consideration. For example, you might time your soft opening before the holiday season swings into high gear.
Get detailed
Now, it’s time to get into the details. What exactly is your business offering?
For a restaurant, are you rolling out a full menu, or a limited one? Are you showcasing specialty items that customers can’t find anywhere else? How many courses will be available?
For a retail store, decide whether to provide coupons, promo codes, or other discounts. You can also consider enticing your invitees with giveaways or door prizes.
Establish the intent of your soft opening, too. For example, see how efficient your checkout system is, how successful your employees are at upselling, or whether customers are signing up for your loyalty program.
With a restaurant, approximate the time frame from the time a customer orders to the time the food gets to the table. Outline the course selection, including whether you plan to offer a wine list or signature cocktails. These details help you estimate the hours needed for planning, preparing, and hosting.
Determine your pricing strategy
You have several options when it comes to pricing strategies.
With a restaurant, since the soft opening has a limited number of guests, think about offering menu items for free. While you may not be able to provide your entire menu free of charge, you could pair a free appetizer or dessert with an entree purchase.
Discounts on all or some of the menu items will encourage customers to try them. Be sure to clearly indicate the rules when it comes to discounts so that customers aren’t unpleasantly surprised upon a return visit.
With retail, you can distribute coupons or come up with limited-time offers. For example, offer buy-one-get-one free deals, provide a gift with purchase, or enter attendees into draws for door prizes.
Settle on your timeline
Your timeline is based on your budget, with smaller budgets typically suggesting a shorter time frame before your grand opening.
Don’t make your timeline decisions lightly. Set reasonable timelines for a single event — no more than a few weeks before the grand opening — to help maintain the initial buzz and excitement.
If you’re planning on a soft opening period, stagger the events a few days apart, with the final one leading your business smoothly into your official opening day.
Use Lark’s free Timeline template to help you organize events seamlessly.
Craft your guest list
While you’ve narrowed down the number of attendees you want, it’s time to decide who the attendees will be.
You’ll feel decidedly less pressure if you opt only for friends and family to attend. However, remember that they may provide less-than-honest feedback to spare your feelings.
Include a mix of local business owners, other community members, and leaders to get the actionable feedback you need and establish trust in your business.
Consider inviting local influencers, too, to generate positive reviews and excitement through their platforms’ reach.
Gather feedback
Collecting feedback is one of the most powerful ways to adjust following your soft opening.
Here are a few options:
Talk to your staff and customers in person during and after the event.
Ask customers to fill out surveys regarding their experience.
Leave comment cards at the table for those honest first impressions.
Engage in follow-up emails or phone calls a day or two after the event.
Provide an anonymous suggestion box, either in-person or online.
While 9 in 10 adults enjoy going to restaurants, they are becoming increasingly selective about where they spend their dollars. Use the insights you gain here to make yours a must-visit.
You also want to ensure those positive reviews get online since 67% of potential diners will check reviews before trying out a new restaurant.
Adjust or revise as needed
You’ve gathered your feedback. Now what?
Look for common trends, themes, and patterns.
For retail stores, keep in mind that 64% of shoppers want reliable product availability and a tidy store. Does yours meet the mark?
For restaurants, start with minor adjustments and build on your successes. For example, consider a menu item that customers felt was too expensive. Can you reduce the price, or should it be removed entirely? Review your processes and whether a Daily Restaurant Opening Checklist would help.
Provide each of your guests with incentives to return. For example, send an exclusive promo code for a complimentary appetizer or tote bag on their next visit.
How Lark can help you with your soft opening, daily operations, grand opening, and expansion
With so much to track in a store or restaurant, why not turn to a comprehensive platform for help?
Here’s how Lark assists busy entrepreneurs with their daily operations:
Super app nature
With a super app like Lark, you don’t waste time clicking in and out of different programs or tracking down information from multiple places. Instead, you have every app you need in one handy platform.
Use the Messenger app to connect with your team for quick questions, comments, and follow-ups. It even connects to email for easy reference and review.
Plan virtual meetings and use Lark Minutes to take notes so that you can stay focused on the topic.
Lark Forms makes it easy to create surveys and gather customer feedback.
The Calendar app allows staff to create, manage, and share schedules for easy reference.
Attendance tracker
One way to streamline operations is through a robust attendance tracker. With Lark’s Attendance app, you can schedule shifts, manage leave requests, and approve overtime. Your team members can also clock in and out for their shifts through WiFi or GPS from their devices, as well as quickly request and track leave.
Streamlining your attendance system for your deskless workforce leads to higher employee satisfaction. It’s also easier for you to review and plan schedules and avoid issues with under- or overstaffing.
Free templates
Running both your soft and grand openings is like planning any other project. You need to coordinate with vendors, schedule marketing activity, and map out which team members are responsible for which activity.
Thankfully, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Take advantage of the 100+ free templates Lark offers for restaurants and retail to manage both your openings and your ongoing business operations.
Address customer service requests and concerns with the Customer Service Management & Tracking Base template.
Use the Order & Inventory Management template to keep track of every order and current stock levels.
Use the templates for retail managers and chefs to monitor your long- and short-term goals.
Create an Event Planning Mind Map to plot your soft opening objectives and implementation plan, and then easily share it with your team members for input.
Soft opening vs grand opening FAQs
Do you charge at a soft opening?
Whether you decide to charge customers at a soft opening depends on your offerings and intent.
If you limit attendees to family, you probably won’t want to charge them. If your guest list involves community members, business leaders, and influencers, plan a limited charge with cash and card transactions to give your team a chance to practice all parts of their job.
What is an example of a soft opening?
A restaurant could plan two soft openings a few weeks from the grand opening, with limited menu and beverage selections. The first event could be held during lunch hour and offer a mix of full and discount items. The second event could be held during happy hour and focus on the select items that are available.
What are some of the negatives of a soft opening?
Soft openings expose your concept early and introduce your unique ideas to competitors. These events need to be timed carefully with the grand opening to capitalize on the initial buzz. Expect minimal revenue, and if your guest list is limited to friends and family, you may receive less-than-honest feedback.
Is a soft opening the same thing as a pop-up?
No. A soft opening is a trial run for a new business before it formally opens to the general public. A pop-up is a temporary establishment used to take advantage of a seasonal event or other situation.
For example, an established restaurant might set up a pop-up at a new farmer’s market for the season.
Launch your soft opening with Lark
The benefits of a soft opening, which include a chance to work out the kinks and make adjustments, may compel you to schedule one of your own. To get started, establish a budget and outline the event scope.
Why not invest in a tool that will make things even easier?
Lark streamlines operations, boosts collaboration, and allows for real-time adjustments to be made. Plus, all the apps you need are on Lark’s accessible platform, so there’s no more shuffling around to get the information you need. You can also instantly download one of their free, handy templates.
Head over to Lark to see our pricing plans and find the best option for your business today.
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