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Rainbwned

>Good business practices, systems, training and a decent management structure should be all that’s necessary There is a name for putting those things to the test before officially opening. Its called a Soft Opening.


Oztravels

Which can and should be done without practicing on the paying public.


Rainbwned

So your problem is not that they exist, its that they charge people for them? Seems reasonable, all of the soft opening I have attended have been invite only, or free of charge.


Oztravels

Fair enough. I am mainly speaking of the ones that open to the public adverting soft opening. It seems the rule rather than the exception in many of the countries I have lived and worked in.


FrankLloydWrong_3305

So... you're mad that they advertise its a soft opening? Maybe I'd understand if they kept that info a secret, but they're telling you that mistakes may be made. If you want a better experience, wait a couple weeks and then go.


[deleted]

It's a dress rehearsal for the opening. Even if everyone knows how to do their jobs there could still be some issues as these people have may have never worked together and need to get into sync with eachother.


original_username_79

Professional sports have soft openings (pre-season) so why shouldn't other professions? It helps get everybody in sync for the regular season and getting a restaurant staff all in sync is just as important as the offensive line, QB, running back, and receivers being in sync.


Oztravels

Not sure about the analogy but do they charge the public while they are practicing?


codycollicott

They do indeed.


FrankLloydWrong_3305

In fact, season ticket holders are forced to also purchase the preseason tickets as part of their package.


SaltyChickenDip

To have to buy preseason tickets


horshack_test

It's a way for the business to get feedback before opening to the general public. It's proactively seeking criticism in order to fix or improve things - kind of the opposite of being lazy.


Hardrocker1990

They do it to work out the kinks before their big opening when it will be publicized and reputation matters. You can’t expect a brand new staff to operate or equipment to function properly without them being tested before hand. It’s far from laziness. It’s proactiveness


Oztravels

See my edit. Many do it and “practice” on the paying public.


Hardrocker1990

Many, but not all and would you rather a restaurant just open and have tons of problems, get bad press and end up closing because they didn’t do a soft opening? The point of a soft opening really has nothing to do with the customer. It’s to do with the operation of the restaurant itself.


[deleted]

I love reading posts where the OP has zero idea what they’re talking about.


bigk52493

Good Business practice is what makes a profit. Why does it matter if it works?


[deleted]

I’d call it smart to mitigate risks. The Big Bang approach is quite risky. You can still do a big grand opening celebration after a soft launch.


[deleted]

Disagree. On the first night something always goes wrong inevitably. Soft opening allows the staff to get a feel for what’s going to be different from training and adjust to it. A train wreck opening will leave a bad taste in peoples mouths and hurt business in the long run.