How to Plan an Exciting and Memorable Business Launch Party

Whatever you’ve been slaving away over for the past weeks and months, the conclusion of your work – and the celebration of your investment up to now – call for a launch party. This is the case for those who’ve spent time writing a book, drawing up a business plan, or making a start-up tech product that they’re excited to launch on the app store.

In this short article, you’ll learn how to plan and execute a successful launch party – one that sits you in good stead for a successful future, whatever your venture may be.

Guest List

This is one of the more important elements to your launch party: who will you invite? There are a few shoe-ins that you’ll not deliberate over for long, like your friends, family, colleagues, ex-colleagues, mentors, funders and advisors. But what of the rest of the business world – how can you make your launch party the talk of the town?

A great way to make your launch party buzz with a little more razzmatazz is to invite both local and national journalists to your launch party on a complimentary ticket. If they come, you may receive favorable coverage in newspapers and online, and you’ll give your venture a boost in marketing as a result. Meanwhile, inviting the managers and CEOs of your competitors can be a friendly way to introduce your venture to the market, and to build important links to other customers at a point at which you may well need their help.

Location

The venue of your launch event is likewise a key consideration. If you’re a start-up venture, your office space may suit your launch party’s needs – but for most fledgling ventures of all kinds, it may be more practical to hire a hall or local venue at which there’s a bar and other services that you’ll not have to arrange yourself.

Your key criteria are to ensure that the room will not feel too full nor too empty, and that the location of the launch party is within reach for the majority of your guests. Enter talks with locations and venues with time to spare in order to find the best deal without stressing over availability.

Catering and Drinks

Most launch parties are colorful celebrations of your tireless work, and exhibitions of the kind of products, services or fruits of your labor to date. Guests understand that you may not have the largest budget to invest in your party, but by offering some form of refreshment and food, you’ll be able to nurture the kind of buzz that makes launch parties fun, successful and memorable.

One of the key cornerstones to any launch party is the champagne: make sure you have enough for every guest, and that you hire flutes to give to everyone who’d like one. This is where everyone gathered will raise a toast to your future success – a deeply nourishing moment after all your hard work. A little wine and some nibbles won’t go amiss too; if you have the cash for it, hiring a small catering company to cover and serve the food can help make your event sparkle with something like opulence.

Announcements and Speeches

A launch party is incomplete without a short speech from the organizers – who, in this case, may well be yourself. While you may be uncomfortable speaking in the limelight for a long period of time, it’s best to make some general comment about the work you’ve put in, your road map for the future, and your appreciation of the support of those present in your venture up until this moment.

For guests, this is also an important moment. This is no regular party – it’s to celebrate the launch of something they’re all in some way invested in. As such, use the launch party to make an exciting announcement, or a speech about your intentions for the future, to get people thinking and talking, and to add an air of exclusivity to the event as a whole.

Count Down and Marketing

Now, it’s time to create that biggest buzz around your event that is possible to manufacture in the days before you kick it off. Set up an hours calculator in order to count down until the big day, and share it with attendees and other interested parties. Send out emailed reminders to attendees, too, in order to build a sense of occasion, and don’t be afraid to share across all of your social media too – you may attract even more attendees this way.

Launching through a party is exciting, but it can also be a stressful experience to manage. Here, you’ll have discovered the key tips that’ll help you make a success of your venture’s launch party.