Why Being In Business Doesn’t Make You a Brand - & What to Do About It
There’s a difference between being in business & being a brand
As a business owner, you’re tasked with the tricky balance of being the entrepreneurial visionary 💡, the doer of the technical skill (until you’ve created a team), and manager/organizer of workflows, processes and back-end systems that help you grow. Understanding and embodying both the business and the brand are critical to your lasting success.
Valuing and investing in the brand is typically sought by the entrepreneur with a vision for the long-term future. Small businesses without a 5-year vision and strategic plan for the future (on paper) are planning to fail. Let’s start by acknowledging the difference between the business and brand:
↬ Business: the practice of making one's living by engaging in commerce; a person's regular occupation, profession, or trade 👩🏽🍳.
↬ Brand: an identifying name, logo, word, &/or sentence that companies use to distinguish themselves from others; additional value that a customer adds to the intrinsic value of a product; “goodwill” 💎
A business that fails to prioritize branding simply offers you products & services - They sell you goods or services in exchange for money. Your relationship with the business doesn’t go too far beyond the point of sale. It’s not sophisticated. You may choose other alternatives in the future. You might forget them 🤷♀️.
These types of small businesses can sustain, but not without intense participation from the ‘doer of the technical skill’ who started the business in the first place. If you dream of achieving the type of entrepreneurship that allows you the flexibility and income to golf at 11:00 am on a Tuesday, keep reading👇🏻.
To elevate your business to a brand, deliver purpose + vision
Brands do more than sell you products and services. They sell you an aspirational vision of yourself when you interact with them. Brands have a clear purpose to fulfill, problem to solve and unique solution that they’re excited to offer you. They’re passionate and inspired to do good and inspire you.
Beyond selling you an awesome good or service, brands deliver extra value beyond the point of sale. This typically comes in the form of thought-leadership or entertainment - They leverage their expertise to create valuable, interesting or entertaining content that keeps you coming back for more. It keeps businesses top of mind, and helps create a memorable brand experience.
This added value that sets apart businesses apart from brands is rooted in the purpose and long-term vision 💫.
To elevate your business to a brand, think long-term + think BIG
Brands are built on a long-term vision created by the passionate and excited entrepreneurial spirit within the founder/owner.
This spirit has 5, 10, 15-year goals for their business, and they know that no dream or future goal business state is too lofty. This small business owner envisions their product in Target and sees an exciting future full of growth and opportunity 💰. They understand that to reach new heights, their role as business owner must continually evolve, becoming farther from ‘doer of the technical skill’ and closer to the everyday leader, innovator and visionary.
To help achieve their desired growth, a key element (among many sound business decisions) that entrepreneurs leverage is strategic branding in the form of visual aesthetic and messaging. With a high-quality brand in both visuals and message, they can leverage advertising and marketing to effectively resonate with their audience, generate leads and grow a loyal customer base 📈.
To elevate your business a brand, convey emotion + value
Brands sell you their reason for existing beyond profit. It’s their why. Interacting with them influences aspirations within yourself. You aspire to be healthier, fashionable, more adventurous, to have a beautiful home - Whatever it is you desire, they encourage you with what they say and how they say it.
Brands entertain you, educate you and deliver lasting value.
Branding helps businesses connect with people. Without it, sales are just that - sales. There’s no lasting relationship that’s fulfilling for both the business and the client 🤝.
Reaching your ideal client through the consistent communication of visual aesthetics, tone and personality across all client touch-points is key to growing. Discovering and creating your brand identity is a timeless investment in the growth of your business. Embodying a true brand in business is necessary for success, and understanding the difference is important for entrepreneurs who want to build successful ventures 🌱.