If you’re listening to this episode you are probably currently got a small business. Whether you’re a Maker and Seller, Photographer, Virtual Assistant or a Pinterest Manager this episode can help. If you’ve been in business longer than a couple months you’re probably sick and tired of the term branding or brand identity. You might have set you’re set up with a done it yourself, Makeshift brand that has got you off the ground. Or you currently in the mits of building it. But now a couple months have past either you’re booked full or you’re hearing crickets? Either way you’re unsure whether or not to invest your hard earned money into a professional brand designer…you want to know whether or not it is the right move for you, I get that. Because I wouldn’t want to spend my money if I was confused or sceptical about the outcome being worth the investment for you. That’s why today I’m going to discuss sign to look out for that will help you understand whether or not you’re ready to invest your brand.
Audio Time Stamp | 01:04
What you may have done.
Knower days it’s pretty quick and easy to set up a business online. There are so many self-hosting website developing platforms such as SquareSpace or WordPress. And you have multiple social media platforms to be heard and market your business on. So when it comes to starting your brand the most likely answer is you probably picked things through personal preferences and availability. Whether that’s the fonts you selected the colours you are using and the web layout you’ve customised. Either way it’s likely you didn’t have a very strategic process to building your brand other than oh that looks nice I’ll use that!
Now I’m not going to say this is wrong. Because if it has given you the ability to start I think that great no matter what… but just please don’t picked comic sans as font! But if someone asked me is this brand process best practise? Absolutely not. Is it going to cause you some issues in the long term, mostly likely yes. Plus is it going to build a strong connection with your people? Probably not. However, I’m not going to say this mean you need to invest in a brand.
Audio Time Stamp | 00:32
You need to know before hiring a brand designer.
Because I think it’s important to be aware that in order for a brand designer to do a good job they need some idea around what it is you want. You could have the greatest designer but we aren’t mind readers! Therefore if you’re really unsure about what you want then it more likely you are not ready. When I say you need an idea around what you want I’m not referring to looks, like I want to look professional, because let’s face it who doesn’t want to look professional in business?! Or I want to look like them raises big alarm signs.
When I say you need to have some idea around what you want. Really I mean to say is you need to have some idea on how you want to be perceived by your people. You need to have a better understanding around who you want to work with and what you want to stand for. Specially if you’re a service business you might not know who you want to work with until you’ve actually gone out there and started working with them. And you might find oh I really enjoyed working with more creative people but I’m not fused if their male or female. Or you might of realised that your services just aren’t working and you need to pivot your offerings. There’s nothing wrong with needing to evolve I’m currently in the process of it myself. But want I want you to be made more aware of is, brand designer we don’t provide you with all the answers to your brand, otherwise it wouldn’t be yours.
We listen to what you want, we identify what things you need to accomplish what you want and be the most impactful and with our previous experience and knowledge within branding and working with other small business we have a good understanding around what works and what doesn’t. So when a decisions has to be made we can recommend and help advise you to what we believe is the best options for you. But we can’t brand a business who doesn’t have the bare foundation or basic of what they want. This is why you might want to take some time working with people get a feel of everything before you make decision. Even asking the people you are working with or buying your products questions. Maybe ask them why did they pick you over another business, this is a great place to start and help you understand maybe what is missing.
Audio Time Stamp | 05:57
My personal rule when I want to invest
On the other hand you might have already have a pretty good grasp on how you want other people to perceive you, but you unsure how to articulate it and communicate it through visuals. Does that make you ready to invest? Yes and no. A brand is an investment and when working with a professional one on one, it is a little expensive. I can see that for a small business investing 3 figures into something can be horrifyingly scary. This is why I have a personal rule in my business if I don’t have the full budget to cover the costs at the start then I can’t afford it.
I do understand that debt can help you get the ball rolling but personally I wouldn’t be able to A. enjoy the process B. Be riddles with anxiety and C. be in a scars city mindset afterwards because all I would be thinking is I need to make that money back quickly. So I advice trying to find other avenues before resorting to a loan. Plus I personally wouldn’t want to work with someone who is getting into debt to work with me. Mainly because I think they would put more stress and extra pressure on the project more likely to question everything than actually enjoy the process and trust the person they are collaborating with. Building a brand is a creative and fun process it should feel exciting not anxiety driven.
Plus let’s face it starting a business is stressful anyway you don’t need extra stress by racking up large amounts of debt. I personal believe that it’s best if you don’t have the budget to start slow. If you are DIYing your own brand make sure you do your own strategy, don’t pick things out of just sheer good looks and personal preference pick things that you think could help you communicate to your people who you are.
Audio Time Stamp | 08:35
The two things I would look for before you invest.
If you have the budget, If you have a good understand on how you want to be perceived than I believe it’s time for you to invest in a brand designer. And now really it’s just a case of finding the right one and that’s a whole different story! If you enjoyed this episode please go check out three things to do before hiring a brand designer.
Also a little update I want to start adding a Q and A round so if you do have any branding questions you want answered then please email me at design@oliviagoodenough.com I’d love provide you listener with real time answers on whatever it is your struggling with. Thanks for listen and I’ll see you next time.