How to Build a Business That Expresses Who You Are

Let’s face it: even if you only have a few years of professional work experience, you actually have the skillset to start your own business. Working gives you a lot of perks, but so does venturing out on your own.

Whether you are working or still actively looking for work, it is time to consider an entirely different opportunity. Capitalize on your skills and build a business where you can be your own boss.

Taking a leap from employment to entrepreneurship can be an intimidating journey. Here are some tips that you can use to create a brand that expresses who you are.

Pick Your Focus

The first step in creating your own brand is to find your focus. Your focus sets the tone of your brand.

To find your focus, you can start with your positioning statement that best describes your claim in the market. The positioning statement helps you answer vital questions about your brand. Ex: What are you selling? Who is your target audience? What is your value proposition?

Your brand must offer a unique value proposition. Since it is one thing you’re competing on, try to find what unique characteristic will set your brand apart from other products. You can try pitching three to five adjectives that convey your brand’s personality to your target audience.

Choose a Unique Brand Name

Nowadays, people want to get to the core of your product. The only way to communicate to them who you are is through your brand name. A brand name is more than a business name; it echoes your personality, actions, reputation, and the image of your business.

Ideally, your brand name should be unique and hard to imitate. You can choose very specific names; but, if you’re planning to expand product lines, you can choose a general name that represents your product category. This helps you to easily pivot once you start to branch out. To create a brand name, you can make up a word, use metaphor, alter words, reverse your name, combine two words, or use your initials.

Decide on Your Color Palette

We live in an attention economy. People are attracted to colors, glitters, and anything that shimmers. You can leverage different colors to visually represent your brand. When people see these colors, they’ll eventually trace it back to your brand.

You can go dark or light depending on your brand. Dark colors can send a moody, melancholy, strong or fierce message, while lighter colors are comforting, calming, relaxing, or invigorating.

Colors convey feelings and emotions, and you want them to be consistent across your brand. This is also known as the color psychology, where people connect to your brand through colors.

Create Your Mission Statement 

Your product must be aimed at something. Your mission defines your goal. This will also be your guiding star in creating a structure for your product.

In other words, it determines the direction of your company. Smart business owners use this statement to remind their teams why their company exists. At the same, it tells customers why they must buy your product.

Your mission statement can be anything from making everyone toxic-free to giving athletes the best running shoes they can use for marathons. The mission statement must reflect your values, which will set your brand apart from others.

Create a Unique Tagline

A tagline is also known as your slogan, which is a catchy phrase that you can place below your logo. You can also display it on your social media, website, or business cards to create an impact on your target audience.

An ideal tagline is short and catchy but something that will definitely create an impression. You can capitalize on your passion to create a catchy tagline that reflects your product line. For inspiration, you can watch trending videos and see what people are following nowadays.

Do not ignore what people are saying. You can create a tagline based on what customers want. For example, Nike’s tagline, “Just Do It”, is based on the attitude of customers who wear their shoes.

Design Your Logo

Your logo is a visual representation of your brand.  It can be everywhere that your brand exists. It can be printed on bags, published on your website, and displayed on billboards. Either way, your logo should be a standout, identifiable, and scalable to work at all sizes.

Scalability plays a vital role in your brand. Nowadays, people are everywhere on the internet – Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and many more. If you want your brand to be seen on these channels you must have a logo that is responsive to what each channel requires. Check out logos from popular brands to get inspiration. Some examples of popular logos are for abstract logos, mascot logos, emblems, or a combination of words or pictures.

Evolve Your Brand as You Grow

There is no end to a program. Building a brand that represents your ideals doesn’t stop when you have everything in place. The internet is rapidly evolving. Countless brands emerge every day. People can change and shift from your brand to another if they see that you’re no longer interesting.

You need a brand that is consistent whenever a customer interacts with you. Everything must be coherent, from your theme down to your customer package. But you also need to continue improving your offers. A solid marketing strategy should come in handy when nurturing customers. It helps them remain loyal to your brand.

It is important to not ignore the attention of people around you. At some point, people are attracted to your brand, then along comes a new brand and they are distracted. In a matter of days, you can lose hundreds of customers without brand growth.

Continue making a great impression. Tug your customers in the right direction, manage your reputation, and solidify your image. You must invest in tools, knowledge, training, and other information needed to help you stay on track. Once you build your brand, you must always put your best foot forward to carry it out successfully.

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