Considerate Agency’s Fundamentals for Starting Your Own Brand, Company, Studio, or Product.
What Is a Brand?
Often times people consider the word “brand” synonymous with the word “logo”. Though closely related, the logo is only one piece of what makes a brand recognizable. A brand’s visual expression gains recognition through the harmonious efforts of many supporting elements.
A brand speaks to more than just a logo, but truly encompasses every piece of communication that corresponds to the logo. Building a strong brand deals with the business of developing an image, voice, and culture that is recognized across all platforms, online and offline. A successful brand is not only expressed visually but permeates every facet of the company, even how a customer is greeted at the door. This presents the culture in a more tangible way than a business card ever could, and represents just one of the many components you specialize in to help companies engage with their audiences.
Let’s get started!
1. Start by Defining Your Brand
Who are you and what do you bring to the table? Your ability to articulate your unique value proposition is foundational to building an effective brand strategy and identity.
• How do you provide value?
• Is your brand/company mission easy to understand?
• What will keep people coming back for more?
• Will you need staff if you grow?
• What will make your brand memorable?
• Will you be bold, loud, and unstoppable?
• Are you willing to risk it all to win?
• Why are you special?
• Do you/can you keep it simple?
2. First Steps
• Define your budgets
• Define your timelines
• Build a process map
• Date your expectations
• Buy appropriate web domains
• Buy necessary trademarks
• Register your company
• Grab social media handles
3. Do Your Research
If you don’t, you might as well forget starting a business. Too many people build a business because it’s fun and looks glamorous, and not until they’ve finished developing their brand realize that someone is doing the exact same thing down the street.
4. Gauge Your Expectations
Can you handle honest, constructive criticism?
Are you sure you can handle the volume of orders and requests you expect?
Who’s encouraging you to do this most: Friends and family? Business advisors? Your life coach? Gary V?
5. Note The Competition
There is someone doing exactly what you’re doing somewhere else in the world. Sadly, it’s most likely true. If there are one or two out there it’s not a bad thing…in fact, you could learn a lot from them. Know what they do and how well they do it, even down to copying their business model. If it’s working for them, it may work for you. Just because they exist and are similar to you doesn’t necessarily mean they are the exact same, nor does it mean that they satisfy the needs they claim to. All things can be improved upon.
What differentiates you from the competition? What do you offer that no one else does or can?
6. Don’t Rely on the Logo
The old way of stamping your logo on everything won’t cut it. A thoughtful brand identity system is much more involved and absolutely essential.
• Do you need a logo?
• Should you change the business name?
• Do you need a website?
• Is your product or service purchased online only?
• Should you do any print, radio, or TV advertising?
• Do you need business cards or letterhead?
• Should you promote your business online?
• Is your business generated primarily by word of mouth?
• Would setting your company name in a great font suffice as a logo for the time being?
Answering these questions will help you define whether you actually need a logo or not.
7. Fonts, Colors, & Tone of Voice
Are you using the right fonts, colors, and tone of voice to communicate who you are? Are they up to date, are they easy on the eyes, will they stretch across the whole identity of your brand.
Sometimes personal preference gets in the way of our success. Be sure to do your research in order to understand what it is you need to look like, feel like, and sound like, ensuring that your appeal to your demographic appropriately, as well as stand out from the crowd. There is a reason brands are successful, take a good look at their identities and see why. You may end up spending way too much money on unnecessary things when sometimes a font with the right color scheme is all you need to get started.
8. Know Your Clients
Who are you talking to? Do you know how to best communicate with your people?
Aim to build long-term relationships with your customers. They may start as your friends, your family. Speak to your customers with a consistent tone of voice.
Don’t repeat the same message in the same way over and over again. If it sounds like a sale, it won’t work. Remember to always consider how your efforts are addressing your customers’ specific pain points, how they feel, how they want to be sold to.
9. Website, No Website
Why do you think you need a website and what would it entail?
Sometimes starting from scratch is a great idea. Build what you want, make it look the way you want—a totally custom product. The problem with custom websites is that they require a lot of attention and a constant person/company to manage them properly. If you’re starting out, it is wise to keep it simple and build custom later. Some companies hardly use their website, update it, and it ends up hurting them in the long run.
Do you need an online store?
Try a platform like Shopify and get started that way.
Do you want to manage the site yourself?
Try platforms like WordPress or Squarespace.
Do you want nothing to do with it?
Call a professional. Or maybe utilize other platforms for your info.
Do you even need a website?
Some businesses operate fully through Etsy, Amazon, and other existing e-commerce websites, even through social. It’s more work, it’s more money…make sure it’s important first.
Do you have a friend that does websites?
Don’t do it—it’s a trick!
10. Selling
The final steps of building a business is knowing if you can sell or need someone to help you sell. It’s easy to turn people off even with an email reply so make sure you know what to say.
If you’re friendly, fun, easy to understand, look professional, are reliable and relatable…it will come easy.
It is important to know these things. To answer these questions honestly. To give yourself a real foundation before connecting with agencies, designers, contractors, or partners. The clearer you are before you walk into those conversations, the stronger those relationships will be. When you understand your value, your audience, your positioning, and your expectations, you save time, money, and frustration. You create alignment before execution.
Even if this is what you do for a living, even if you help customers build their brands every day, this work should be your practice. It should be your standard. Make it your responsibility to know these things before your clients ask. Do the thinking first. Challenge your own assumptions. Pressure test your own positioning. The credibility of your guidance depends on the clarity of your own foundation.
Being a creative is fun. Being an artist is a way of life. But being a designer, strategist, or agency owner is hard work. It requires discipline, restraint, research, and honesty. It requires understanding that good ideas are not enough without structure behind them. If you are going to lead people, advise people, or build for people, you need to understand the fundamentals first. Without that foundation, it is easy to create something that looks good but lacks direction. Strong brands are not accidents. They are built intentionally, by people who take the time to understand what they are building and why.
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