A pre-opening launch plan with a date on every line

What the plan covers

The plan covers every task that decides whether people can find and contact you in your first month. In practice that is around 25 to 40 lines, grouped into five phases:

1. Day −120 to −90: decisions. Final business name, as it will appear on the sign. Phone number that will stay with the business. Which domain you'll use. Whether you are a storefront, a service-area business or both.
2. Day −90 to −60: foundations. Website build starts. Google Business Profile drafted. Basic photos planned. A city business licence application on the list, as the City of Coquitlam or City of Burnaby requires depending on which side of North Road you are.
3. Day −60 to −30: go-live. Site published and submitted for indexing. Profile verification attempted. Directory listings created with identical name, address and phone.
4. Day −30 to 0: warm-up. Opening announcement copy. A short ad test, if the numbers support one. Review request process set up and rehearsed with staff.
5. Day 0 to +90: first season. Weekly check of calls, texts and emails. First reviews requested. Profile photos updated with the finished interior. Ads trimmed or stopped based on cost per enquiry.

We name dependencies plainly. Verification may need visible signage. Photos need a finished space. Ads need a working site. Seeing these on one sheet is what stops the common pile-up in the final fortnight.

Who it's for

The plan suits owners who are opening something physical or establishing a local base, and who have more than one moving part. That includes:

• A shop or studio taking a commercial unit at the base of a new tower.
• A trade or home-service firm renting a small yard, workshop or office near Lougheed to serve both cities.
• A clinic, tutoring centre or fitness studio whose opening depends on approvals outside its control.
• An established business adding a second location in the area.

It's less useful for an online-only business with no local customers, or for a business already open and trading. Those usually need the Google Business Profile work or ongoing marketing instead.

How we build it

We build the plan in two short conversations and one document.

First, we ask for the facts: target date, address or service area, what you sell, your average sale or job value, and what already exists online. Second, we draft the sheet and walk you through it, line by line, and adjust it to what you can realistically do yourself. From then on we update it each week until about 90 days after opening.

How results are measured

The plan itself is judged on whether tasks land on time. The launch is judged on four numbers we track weekly from opening day:

• Calls, texts and emails received, split by where they came from.
• Profile views and direction requests, from Google's own reporting.
• Reviews received against reviews requested.
• Cost per enquiry for any paid channel.

We set a baseline at day zero, because a new business starts from nothing. Comparing week six with week one tells you more than any industry average would.

Mistakes the plan is designed to prevent

These are the launch errors we see most often:

• Changing the name late. A name that differs between sign, profile and website confuses customers and search engines alike, and fixing it after verification is slow.
• Publishing the site on opening day. Search engines need time to find and trust a new site; weeks of lead time help.
• Using a temporary phone number. Every listing then has to be changed later, and early customers keep the wrong number.
• Spending on ads before the profile and site are ready. You pay for clicks that land on nothing useful.
• Forgetting reviews until month three. The first customers are often the warmest; ask them while the visit is fresh.

Next steps

If you want to see a full sample sequence first, the 120-day launch countdown guide walks through it. Plan work runs inside a Trades.Agency plan, shown on our pricing page. When you have a target date, get in touch by call, text or email.

We are marketing planners, not a contractor or a permit service. We don't install, repair or build anything, and licensing questions belong with the city.