Most start up business owners quickly become engulfed by the amount and variety of tasks which need to be taken care of – on a continual basis. This leaves little time for important conceptual work – such as defining your brand and then building it.
Here are some clear-cut steps to take in order to stay on point with branding and building your business start up.
1. Define the Identity of your Business
Who are you? What do you want to achieve with your business? How will you express this linguistically, visually or in practical ways? In order to build a brand you need to have a foundation to build upon. Determine your business identity first – and take it from there. Tip: you should be able to define your business in one or two sentences at most – anything more complex and consumers will never get it. Simplicity and brevity count!
2. Be Brief, Clear and Consistent
These are the three pivotal elements of building a successful brand. Get this message right and then replicate it and apply it throughout your business operations. Stay on point and avoid the temptation to tell people how awesome your business is – and focus on informing people what you can do for them and how your product or service is better than that offered by another business. That’s what customers are interested in. Differentiation is key to establishing your brand and getting people to pay attention.
3. Don’t become a Helicopter Mom
In order to maintain your focus on the larger picture – brand building – you cannot afford to be micro managing and constantly hovering over your employees to make sure everything gets done right. If you’ve recruited the right people for the job, let them get on with doing it and focus your attention on high value areas of your business such as quality control, sharing knowledge, developing your business culture, and branding. As a start up, you have no tradition or history to trade on – the people working in your business are effectively your brand; they are what will differentiate your business and allow it to grow.
4. Make it Visual
Once you’ve defined your brand, you have to make it visual so that customers and others will be able to identify it with your business. This will include careful consideration of many different elements such as your business logo, colours and fonts, as well as brochure printing, business cards, leaflet and flyer printing. Make sure to use professional design and printing services such as those by http://www.rollerbannersuk.com.
5. Put it to the Test
Before you make any final decisions, test out your thoughts on people you consider are representative of your customer base. What is their first impression of your logo? Your message? And you’re proposed brand identity? Don’t be afraid to adapt, change or even scrap it and start again until you get the right reaction. Building a brand is tough work – but it’s even tougher if your brand identity is not solid and resonating with other people.
Finally, brand building is not something you can just talk about doing – you have to actually do it, and do it consistently. Only then will it reap the results you are looking for.
