Some will tell you this is the first thing to do. Design a logo, set up a website, and without these actions no one will know of your existence. And I say…just before.
Just before approaching business branding
I will start my explanation with a case that happened to me yesterday. I met a client who is already a bit of a friend and she told me that she is tired of being an employee and she wants to start her own business and she wants to set up a website. Do you have a logo? I asked her. “No”, she answered, “should I?” Of course I answered. After all, the person who will design the site for you will be based on the colors and shapes of the logo when he comes to plan the site.
“Well, then design a logo for me?”
Wait, I told her. Who is your target audience? Have you decided how much you will charge for a meeting? “It’s customary to charge NIS 400, but it seems too much to me and not everyone will be able to afford me, so maybe I’ll take less.”
Do you want everyone to contact you? I asked.
“Hmmm… I’m not sure that “everyone” is my target audience. I need to think.’
Wait a minute, I asked. Just before you run away with website and logo design, I want us to characterize your business together based on your rich experience as an employee. Decide who you want to contact, what you want to broadcast, what you want to call yourself (a copywriter like me specializes in this, of course) and only then run forward.
Think before you act
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those people who recommend waiting, applying, and procrastinating, but I’m very careful that the person I’m creating business branding for is at a stage where he knows exactly what his business will look like and where he wants to go.
Of course, a business is in constant motion and it is always desirable to make changes to it, to introduce innovations, to update, etc. But when establishing a new business, it is good that a few months after the opening, they do not require changes to the base – in the logo and the areas of specialization and other basic characteristics. It is recommended to invest a lot of thought and start the branding with full focus.