Why Small Business Owners Should be Passionate About their Brand
If you own your own business, you’ve got a lot to think about. Employees. Finances. Satisfying customers. Competition. Economic downturns. Marketing. It’s hard to wear so many hats and keep everything straight. And the decisions and shiny objects! It’s so easy to get derailed! What strategic direction should we take? Our customer asked us to do this for them, but should we? Oh, look at that opportunity! Should we take it? It’s enough to keep you up at night.
But out of all of those thoughts that run through your head every day how many of them relate to your brand? How much time do you spend thinking about what people say about your company? How comfortable are you that YOU can accurately describe the value you offer? You should be thinking about this! Spending time focusing on your brand could make your job easier and who doesn’t crave that?
I strongly feel that branding is something that should rise to the top of your to-do list. Why? Most people think about branding as being externally focused. How do we say what we do and attract new customers? This is very important but as a business owner myself, I would argue that one of the strongest benefits a brand can provide starts inside the company.
One of the most important gifts an entrepreneur or small business owner can give him or herself is the ability to stay focused. A strong, clearly defined brand helps you capture and maintain that focus by:
- Helping you market to the right people — the ones who value your “brand promise,” or what your company stands for;
- Helping you attract the right employees who fit in with your company culture;
- Making the right products or offer the right services, you know the ones that lead to profitability;
- Planning your strategic direction; and
- Making daily decisions on what opportunities to pursue.
A strong brand is like a filter that you can run your strategic decisions through. For every Business Owner decision you face, ask yourself does this initiative help support or strengthen our brand? Will it make the value that we provide our customers more robust and harder for the competition to match? If the answer is “No” or “Well, maybe,” don’t do it.
To help us all get stronger and healthier brands this year, sign up for my newsletter or check back often because I’m going to be sharing actionable tips and advice on how to make your brand the strongest it can be. I’m going to treat it like a fitness program where I’ll be your personal branding trainer. I’ll be giving you “exercises” to strength your brand and providing the inspiration and motivation to work it, work it.
So let’s start working together on creating a stronger, healthier brand in 2014 to give yourself the gift of focus!
To help me focus my tips and content to offer you the most valuable, actionable information, what are some of the most pressing questions or challenges you face with your brand?
