If you are looking for ways to improve your business, most business owners try to look for operational improvements, however, the answer may be improving your identity through branding. Branding is not just for large companies, it is an essential way for small business to communicate with their customers what they stand for and what to expect from them. Branding shapes the way your business is perceived by the outside world.
A brand is more than just a logo or a letterhead, your brand is your corporate identity. An effective brand tells the world who you are, what you do and how you do it. Branding is a huge factor in building your credibility with prospective customers. If your brand is perceived as a premium brand you are at an advantage over your competitors as people will be prepared to pay a more for your product or service. Having a strong brand also helps you in your sales process. If you are well known and have a good reputation 80% of the work is done.
Your brand must fit in the with the strategy of your business and be in line with your mission & vision statement and core values.
If you have not developed your strategy, read these posts on developing your:
Vision Statement
Mission Statement
Corporate Values
Your brand should also fit in with the market position you want to be in your business to compete in.
Things to take into consternation when building your brand:
Image
If you are positioning yourself at the high end of the market and want to portray a premium image your branding should reflect this from the actual product to the location and décor of your office.
Quality
If you are positioning your business in the high end of the market your product should be of the highest quality as people at this range of the market expect the best. On the other side, there is little benefit to your business in marketing high-quality goods at the low end of the market.
Pricing
Your price should reflect the product and the market you are aiming for. Be careful when marketing low-cost goods and budget goods. Budget goods or “value” goods are at the lower end of the market, “No Frills” goods are good quality products but only provide the customer with the basics which can then be upgraded at a price.
Make Your Business A Success
The key to a successful business can be found in our Business Success Formula. If you structure your business using the Business Success Formula as your blueprint you will decrease your chance of failure significantly.
We assess your business and implement our business success formula in our business assessment service The Business 360. It provides you with all the information to 10x your business in a matter of weeks. You can check it out here.
