If you didn’t already know branding is a process to help you mould the perception of your business.We do this through multiple touch-points including messaging like purpose and mission statements and the visual look including logo, fonts etc.
All this together creates a type of personality. Professional branding will help you know exactly how to attract your ideal people online and even support you in the process of building trust and authority. But there is a question specially when first starting out, is branding straight right away a sensible investment?
DIY for some reason always had been given a bad rep!But not here, nope it doesn’t have to be a dirty word, and don’t feel like you are behind if you go down he DIY route. It’s sometime just the better options for certain people and businesses.
Today I want to take some time weight out the pros and cons of branding on a budget. Leave here knowing if it’s DIY is the right choice for you! Let’s get the pretty obviously pro to building a brand on a budget. It of course money, you will save a great deal of money right now if you don’t go the professional route. Because, let’s face it professional branding is not cheap, and I’m not just talking about paying someone to create you a logo design. A full brand strategy and design is usually know a couple thousand pound investment. So if money is tight and you believe investing into a professional brand identity will just stress you out even further, then maybe it’s not the right time to invest.
Putting extra pressure on yourself at the beginning of starting your business adventure can be horrible overwhelming. However, ever some other people can thrive on when they have extra pressure on to succeed so you might have to look at your budget and what environment you work best in.
The second pro is it’s just too soon. Sometime are the start of a business adventure you have everything mapped out. You know who you want to work with what values you want your business to be aligned by…but after a couple of months go past and a few client you’re have a realisation that maybe these aren’t the your ideal people.
Sometime we have to actual do and experience something before we know for sure. If you rush into branding professional before dipping your toe into the industry your want to serve. You might not of known certain key things that may have helped in the branding processes. However, if your a person that waves a little too much and find it’s difficult to make there mind up then maybe getting the brand boundaries.
In place first makes more sense to give you some more stability to start and concur. Again look in wards and think about type of person you are.
The third pro is expanding your skills When DIY your brand on a budget you’ll have to learn new skills to do it. The reason why so many DIY brand get a bad rep is because the creator didn’t put the energy in to learn how to do it properly! So this is a great opportunity for you to not only learn some new creatives skills and software like adobe or canva. It also put you 100% in the driving seat of your brand. You will have full control. This can be daunting to some people and they may keep questioning and tweaking there brand because they don’t have faith that it works.
Other people listening might love the sound of being able to build and mould their brand, I mean let’s face it who knows your business better than you!
Let now flip the mirror and look at the cons to building a brand on a budget. Firstly it take time out of your already jam packed schedule! And let face it building a brand isn’t and slap dash pick a logo and write a catchy tagline and you’re done sort of process. It’s time consuming, and can’t be done in a couple days or not without pro experience. So if you know it take you a long time to pick you new programs etc and designing brand elements give you a touch of fear then investing now might the right option, it will save you time so you can get on with other things that your business need you full attention on.
The dreaded con is that there is more room for mistakes to arise.
As you’ve never branded anything before and no real knowledge in the area you may have to put up with more room for trail and error.
DIY brand can be great and give you the surface level things you need, consistency and an identity for you brand. But it may not be as effective as you would like it to be if built in the hands and eyes of professional.
This leads me into my next con Which maybe the tipping for some of you and this because your brand build on a budget may not be really attract the right clients. When you invest into your brand identity you are paying for some with the right expertise and skill set, that knows how to mould and build a brand that will attract your ideal people and resonate with them through messaging and visuals.
If you take on your own branding, just be more mindful to the fact you might be allow more mistakes and the possibility of not really attracting the right client and customer. For some of you this might be a small price to pay if your not having to invest
For other it might be a hard pill to swallow and want to invest because you just can’t take that chances! I hope this quick pro’s and con’s list helps you to reach a decision about whether to invest or not. No one can tell you which way is the right way because both have pro’s and cons.
That way remember check in and think about the kind of person you are to sway your decision as well. If putting lots of money into an investment is only going to make you more panicked, nervous and anxious and not in a “i’m little scared but excited kind of way” more of the “ I feel like i’m drowning with all this pressure” then maybe waiting is the right option for you.
Nobody wants to start a business when they already feel the weight of the world on their shoulders, it should feel expansive and exciting. But if you know yourself to be the person that wastes too much no intentional, but your a bit of perfectionist therefore over procrastinates about every little decision building your whole brand might become overly, challenging stressful and never really gets compliment because your retaking everything over and over again!
Then in this case scenario investing could be the better choices. Either way make sure your brand is fully formed, don’t let your business identity just drift and be completely determined by others. >>If you missed last weeks episode click here<<