So, after everything you’ve learned in school, your hard work, and your endless ideas and creativity, you have finally reached the point where your entrepreneurial goals are about to realise. Gearing up to launch your very own start-up straight out of school is possibly one of the most exciting and scary moments in any person’s career. With that said, you want to be sure you take a moment to really celebrate and kick things off to a great start.
This is exactly why so many start-ups go the route of a launch party. It doesn’t just signal the official start of the business, it’s also a great time for networking and sharing your vision with potential customers/clients, partners, and vendors. Think of it as a marketing/advertising tool for your new venture.
If you want to be sure that your launch party goes off without a hitch and is a huge success, then these five tips will prove to be very useful.
1. Create a Strategic Guest List
Arguably, the most important factor to be aware of at your launch party is the guest list. You don’t want to just invite schoolmates and professors to help you celebrate your achievements. Rather, you need to build a strategic guest list. A strategic guest list is one that contains people that can help you advance your business goals. This can mean potential vendors that could work with you in the future, existing or potential partners, industry experts, and customers/clients.
2. Hire Help So You Can be Free to Mingle
Your launch party acts as an important marketing tool for your start-up, but at the same time, you can view it as a networking opportunity. Now that you’ve got that strategic guest list, you need to be sure you’re able to chat with everyone. What this means is, hiring help such as wait staff and servers will allow you to mingle and not worry about the party specifics.
3. Try to Pick a Unique Location
While there is nothing wrong with hosting your event at typical locations such as conference venues, hotels, bars, and restaurants, if you want it to be memorable, try to think of something a bit more unique.
4. Make Sure That the Purpose of the Event is Hammered Home
You also want to make it clear why everyone is there. If possible, provide product demonstrations or demo services, as this is the best way to show people what you are all about.
5. Provide a Parting Gift or Swag
As guests leave the party, you will want to be sure you take the opportunity to mix marketing/advertising with swag or a parting gift. This is your opportunity to thank guests for coming out and give them something that really drives home your company’s name and contact information.
You can make the gift something simple like bottling your own wine or beer. You can then have bottle labels for brewery’s custom made to your liking with your details on the label. It is a unique item, you can include the information you want on the label, and it’s going to be an item the guest remembers you by.
Each of these tips will help you throw a successful launch party that is the kick off to your career as an entrepreneur.
For more articles, visit OD Blog.
