As a new business owner, building a brand from scratch can be a daunting task. You have an idea, maybe even a product or service ready to launch, and – now what? Even as a seasoned entrepreneur undertaking a rebrand, it’s not always clear where to start. And if you’re like most business owners, your mind is probably wandering to the creative. Logo design, color palette, tagline – the list goes on. What you really need to do, though, is take a step back. Breathe. There’s plenty of time for creativity, trust us. That will come later. There’s a more important question that you need to ask yourself before anything else when building a brand, and this piece will lay the groundwork for everything that comes after it.
Strategy. That’s it. What is your strategy? This really is a multi-faceted question, and it has a lot to do with defining who you are and what makes you different. What makes you uniquely you. How do you define yourself and your company? What are your goals? How do you want to be seen in this competitive world?
A lot of new entrepreneurs don’t take the time to strategically identify what makes them different and what they have to offer. Why? It takes time. Time, dedication, patience. It’s not easy, we get it. But once you have a clearly articulated strategy and vision in place, it becomes much easier to figure out who your target audiences are. The people who care – the ones who will “get you.” All of this good stuff becomes the foundation for your business. And then? The fun part, of course – creating like you’ve never created before.