Best Practices to
Start up your brand !
12/08/2020
As a business owner, you’re going to have a better chance of winning business if you have a memorable, recognisable and professional brand. For those of us who’ve moved from the public sector into consulting, thinking of ourselves as a ‘business’ might be counter-intuitive, and the concept of ‘developing a brand’ for our business, daunting. But while you might think of yourself as a ‘consultant’ rather than a ‘business owner’, you do need to embrace this and invest your time in developing a brand.
As a new business owner I know there’s so much to do and you don’t want to get overwhelmed with a vast branding project when you’re also going through the long list of other tasks involved in setting up a business. But developing a brand for your business doesn’t have to be extensive or expensive, so you can avoid sinking into overwhelm. When we think of ‘brand’ our first thought is usually visuals (logo, colour palette, fonts), but a brand is also, and just as importantly, about how you sound and the messages you communicate. If you’ve never had to do this before then here is my checklist for the essential tasks all new consultants need to do to develop their business brand.
1. Choose a business name and register it
The easy option is to use your name. Many consultants do this, and as a solo consultant it works particularly well – when a client hires you, it’s always going to be you that shows up to take on the project. But some people are not comfortable with this option and prefer to choose a ‘company’ name. This is also totally acceptable, but think about it carefully and make sure you’re confident it’s a name you feel you can live with over time. Don’t forget to check if the name is already in use, and then go ahead and register it. It’s easy to do – just google for the relevant government site in your jurisdiction. Another thing to check before you decide your business name is whether the domain name is available. I cover this in the next step, but it could influence your decision, so do this before you register a name.
Make sure you’re confident it’s a name you feel you can live with over time
2. Purchase your domain name and email address (with your business name in)
Once you’ve decided your business name, you should purchase the domain name and then set up an email address with the business name in it. Domain names are simple to buy – a simple google search will connect you with suppliers. And unless the name is in highly desirable [e.g., BLM Consulting] or very common [e.g. ’Steve Adams consulting’] it’s likely to be pretty cheap. Once you have a domain name you can use it to set up an email address – e.g. steve@steveadamsconsulting.com Most email platforms have a paid version that will support this. We recommend using Gmail - not only will you get your email service, you’ll also get easy access to Google drive for file storage, sharing and document collaboration.
3. Create a simple brand story document
OK, so this is a bit of jargon, and those of us who are new to business might not be familiar with it. But we are all familiar with the concept of a ‘brand story’ for organisations we have worked in, even if it hasn’t been termed this way. Just think mission, values, target populations, etc., and you’ll get the gist of it. Here are four tips to get you started: • Decide on your brand/business values – what do you stand for, what do you want to be known for? • What tone of voice will you use in your marketing materials –first person, formal, casual, friendly, knowledgeable? • What’s your value proposition – another jargon business term which essentially means from the client perspective, what value will you add? • What are the key messages you need to communicate to your audience – about you, your background, your skill set?
