Before the Doors Opened: How One Entrepreneur Captured the Hearts of a Community and the Attention of Facebook

Jonah Sandler, CEO of Scene75 Entertainment Center, sat down with his partners one evening to explain his predicament. He and his team were three months away from opening the largest indoor entertainment center in the country. Scene75, a 124,000-square-foot facility, had been his brainchild and his life's labor for more than three years. However, numerous city-imposed plan revisions, all in the late stages of construction, had led to significant cost overruns, ultimately consuming the entire project's budget and handcuffing any proposed marketing expenditure. While free local media coverage, including front-page articles in the Dayton Daily News and exposure on prime time television news broadcasts, had previously highlighted the facility's progress, his brand remained practically unrecognizable. His partners were terrified! But Jonah had a plan-a plan for which even he underestimated the results. He bet his entire relative pittance of a marketing budget on Facebook ad campaigns. His gamble paid off, in a very big way. Over a three-month timeframe, Jonah grew his fan base to 23,000 local and engaged fans-all prior to opening the business. The page has more than 69,000 fans today.

This book explains the creation of Scene75 and how Facebook marketing helped Scene75 grow from an empty warehouse into a regional destination, as well as a Facebook company favorite-all before the business actually opened. But Before the Doors Opened is far more than a story about business and one entrepreneur's successful use of social media. This book traces the heartfelt journey of a young entrepreneur who risked everything he had to create a values-led business, improve a community, help his family through financial hardship and give a task his utmost dedication through the sharing of his heart. Jonah provides great insights that would benefit any entrepreneur, particularly those in the pre-formative stages of a business's development. However, his words ring true for all individuals in need of some additional inspiration in life, regardless of their career path.

The book includes a foreword written by Dan Levy, director of small business at Facebook.

A sampling of praise for the story behind Before the Doors Opened:

"On behalf of everyone at Facebook I want to say THANK YOU for sharing your story with us. You are an inspiration and the reason we come to work every day." -Dan Levy, director of small business at Facebook

"Thank you for sharing your story at our annual Facebook conference last week. Your personal story, in addition to the success you've seen with Scene75, is inspiring and humbling. Though you told the story with a great deal of modesty and humor, you exemplify the personal and professional leadership that was the central theme of our two-day meeting. You really stole the show. I wish you the best of luck, and while we don't have an office in Dayton, you did gain 1,300+ fans rooting for your success." -David Fischer, vice president of business and marketing partnerships at Facebook

"Thank you for sharing your story with us and inspiring us all to lead." -Joanna Bursch, global business manager at Facebook

"You are an inspiration to us who want to own our own business someday." -Jarrod Shell, Scene75 Facebook fan

"Nowhere else have I ever witnessed an owner so engaged with his customers and operations of his company." -Ryan Hochwalt, Scene75 Facebook fan

"My role model." -Karen Doggett, Scene75 Facebook fan and franchise owner at Pinot's Palette

"An incredible story and an amazing presentation. Thanks for sharing your story with us, and for teaching us about what the Facebook platform can (and should) do." -Galyn Burke, product marketing manager at Facebook