Starting a Business | Branding and Business Development
The 3-Second Recap:
- Save time and money with the right business start-up plan
- Hit the ground running FORWARD, not zig-zagging
- Understand the importance of branding
Starting a Business is Not Easy, Have a Plan
So, you have a great idea, service, or product and want to get it out there? Or maybe you want to become a well-paid influencer, sharing your tips and knowledge on social platforms? Whatever it is, you can save yourself a lot of headache, time, and trouble by having the right business start-up plan in place.
A business start-up plan serves as a road map to getting your business up and running. The RIGHT business start-up plan will also help you find early success. So what does the right business start-up plan look like?
- Branding comes first
- Branding is more than just a logo. The logo is a visual representation of what your business does and stands for. Branding also includes your messaging. Messaging is how you easily and clearly communicate to your audience what you do and how you can help them. As you develop your brand, your actual “business plan” and strategy will start to come together naturally.
- Website
- Yes, even a small business needs a good website. This is just a foundational piece of doing business in the digital age. It is how you exist. It is how your audience finds you. It is how potential customers vet you. Your website should be clean, informative, and most importantly, OPTIMIZED for Google.
- Social Media
- This is another foundational piece of modern business. This does not mean you “have to” create catchy, trendy reels all day. It does mean you should know where your audience is and be present and informative wherever that is.
While this is a short and simple list, it truly is the foundation of an effective business start-up. Within each category, there are layers of strategy and tactics that require know-how and experience in order to improve effectiveness.
Nail Your Branding Before Moving Forward
To truly hit the ground running, you should put most of your initial resources, energy, and effort into nailing your brand.
In branding, you need to understand what makes an impactful logo, who your audience is, what they engage with, how your competitors operate, and more. As you develop your brand, you will also come to understand what kind of local licenses you may need, what kind of business entity makes the most sense (LLC? S-Corp? Sole?), and how to manage finances and taxes.
The more you learn about your potential audience, and the more you develop the
brand, the more your strategy will start to come into focus. This will help guide you into the initial stages of marketing.
This is why branding comes first and requires the most attention. If you do this step really well, it will make life so much easier going forward.
The Common Issue New Business Face
Unfortunately, many new businesses don’t spend enough time developing their brand. They crank out a graphic logo and eagerly jump into sales hunting. Maybe they create some social media accounts and have a generic website. Sure, they check the boxes of a start-up plan. However, without well thought out brand development, this approach commonly leads to inconsistent brand representation, which is confusing for potential customers.
Because they did not fully develop their brand, they may find that their sales become stagnant. Their website traffic spikes initially, then stops generating leads. They have 30 followers on social media and no engagement. Now they are scrambling to find leads. They throw money at Google Ads. They dump money into some SEO. Again, this may lead to a short term bump in sales, but without a strong and clear brand, this success will be short lived.
Branding IS Your Strategy
Remember, we told you that your brand is more than just a pretty logo. It is a well thought out, heavily researched, expertly crafted STRATEGY that will guide your entire business. At least, it should be. When you develop your brand, you create a consistent message for everyone to see. There is no confusion. In how you look, operate, or communicate.
You can then use your brand to guide all your decisions. From social posts, to paid ads, even to business partnerships.
This is how you avoid zig-zagging forwards and backwards. You ever hear the saying “measure twice, cut once”? It is really hard to work backwards.
A Business Start-Up Plan That Works
Institution Enterprises takes pride in helping people bring their business ideas to life. We realize that most business owners want to focus on the actual “business” part, not all the other stuff, like marketing. We also understand that starting a business is really challenging from a financial stand point.
That is why we developed our Business Launch package. It is our way of helping you get your business off the ground, without putting you in the hole. Our Launch package includes expert Brand Development (logo, graphics, strategy, messaging), a fully optimized-for-Google custom website, and the support and guidance to help you get going. All of this is provided at an affordable monthly rate, paid over the course of 1-year. This is the important part…that means that we will be working with you for your first year in business. We are invested in helping you succeed, and we know that success comes from ongoing support.
If you are interested in learning more, then simply reach out and let us know what we can help you with!
Institution Enterprises provides expert business development consultation and support, specializing in branding, web/digital development, SEO, and marketing.
