When should I invest in branding for my business?
Me working at Patch Chelmsford and coming up with brand ideas photo credit: HJ Photography
Investing in branding for your business can be scary & overwhelming so I want to give you some help on that journey…
It can be a scary thing to do to invest in your business branding. I’ve just done it so I totally get it. Whilst it’s fresh in my mind I want to talk brand strategy and when it’s time to invest.
I get to chat to many business owners through my business Jen Lister Strategy & The Village networking. So I know that generally speaking there are 2 approaches when it comes to branding your business. There is absolutely not one right or wrong approach, and every business owner is different, so take a read of this and give yourself the time to reflect and decide how you want to do it - it’s your business after all!
1. DIY branding your business
Essentially this is when you decide to give it a go all by yourself. You may use Canva or another tool that helps you be creative. But essentially you are just starting your business and want to test the water. There can be nervousness about investing in your branding at the start, because typically you won’t have made any money yet, and therefore spending money at this point can feel uncomfortable.
There is also a misconception that branding is just about a logo, but it’s much more strategic than that. Your branding includes your brand values (the words that represent and mean something to your business), the colours that you can use in your creatives (often a selection of primary and secondary colours), various typography (to help with things like your website design), and creatives to bring your brand to life (e.g. your social media content). Ask any branding expert and it will drive them crazy that people sometimes think branding is simply a logo!
This is the approach I used when I started Jen Lister Strategy… I used Canva and did it all myself, it was okay and I’d say pretty average… But I had just had a baby and wanted to focus on growing my business. The money I did decide to spend right at the start of my business was to invest in a business mentor and coach as opposed to my branding. However in hindsight I can totally see the benefit I would have got from investing in my brand from the start.
On the other side of the coin I feel like when I look back over the last 5 years I can see how my ideas for my business vs the reality of my business has evolved. Sometimes you start your business offering your services to the world and then that service takes a different direction. So for me, it has been great to allow my business to establish itself and then I have been able to feed this evolution into the rebrand that I decided to do further down the line…
2. Invest in your branding within the first 5 years
The second approach I see is that business owners decide to put that investment into their branding within the first 5 years of their business. They are ready to shed the DIY branding and step into a new phase of their business.
We know that the first 3 years of business is critical and it’s common for businesses to fail in the first 3 years (I hate to sound negative but the stats show that 60% of businesses fail within the first 3 years - check out the stats here). So if you can push past that barrier and get to year 4, that’s a nice time to take the plunge and invest.
This is what I chose to do. When I could see my business was growing stronger I found the amazing Lucie Selby to support me on my branding journey. This involved working through my brand values, amongst other things.
I loved the process of being creative and taking the step back from my business to think about my branding whilst working with Lucie. I must say I was also really nervous about the prospect of not actually liking my new branding! Luckily that wasn’t an issue.
In Summary…
Every business is different, and your personal circumstances will dictate what’s best for you. If the investment is possible for you then I’d always say go for it at the very beginning, as it will help shape your business. However if, like me, you feel like you want to hold off so you can test the market with your new business then that could be a better approach.
It also depends on your love of creativity and graphics design too. If Canva is your best friend and you can really nail it by yourself then give it a go!
If you have any questions or want advice on branding you can chat to Lucie via her website here.
Or if you want to get in touch with me you can DM me on insta or LinkedIn @jenlistercoaching or fill out the contact form on my website here.
