When starting a brand new business often the focus is not on your branding, but rather on how and what you are going to do to create the millions you dream about while working at the McDonalds drive through. Being excited about your new business is normal and all you want to do is get out there and make some money, but before you can do that you need to create yourself a beingness!
Be Do Have
These three words are commonplace and we use them regularly but they have a certain importance in this universe that we don’t always realise and take for granted. We all know about Have and usually want more of it, and we all know about Do and we wish we could do less of it, and Be is something you used to play when you were a kid. “I want to be a fireman” or “I want to be policeman” and yes some said: “I want to be a politician”. The fact is that in order to reach the most desirable of the 3 (Have) we need to apply the other 2 first. Think about it this way, a pilot isn’t just a guy who walks into an airport and starts up a plane. A surgeon isn’t just the bum on the corner doing a bit of moonlighting. They decided to be those things at some time in their life. They then followed it up with a whole bunch of DOING, and eventually they had all the things associated with the beingness.
Now this whole concept applies to your business too. In order to have a large client base and lots of money in the bank the business must first set out to BE that successful business. A large part of creating it’s beingness is in its branding and name. Without a proper name and branding you will not succeed in the Do and Have parts.
Start with your goals and aspirations
Before you should even consider starting your business you need to layout your goals and aspirations. This needs to be simple and to the point of what you want to achieve like, “Have a furniture business that creates R20000 profit p/m.” And you shouldn’t just conceptualize it, you need to WRITE IT DOWN! Writing it down means putting it out there in the physical universe. No idea that stayed stuck in someone’s head grew to be anything more than an idea. Once your goals are in place you can plan on how you are going to achieve them. You then have a finish line to strive towards, and when you reach it you create a new goal.
Choose a name that explains your “BE”
Before you simply rush off to register your business name you need to think about whether the name you had in mind really reflects your beingness. If your company is a plumbing service then you would obviously consider names that are relevant to plumbing like “The Drain Surgeon” or “Pipe Down” etc. If you can’t make it obvious what your company is all about in the name then you should try to do so in your slogan or the logo itself. Again in doing this your business is not just an idea but you are putting it out there in a way that everyone knows and understands it.
Get an expert to design your logo
Of course you could already have a clear picture of what you want in your mind, so if you do sketch it or write it down. If you are not sure how to put it all together, don’t worry about it, that’s the designer’s job. Don’t worry about your ability to draw it, just draw it. Any input from your side is better than none. A good designer will make you complete an artwork sheet in any case that forces you to give your ideas and vision to the designer, so he is not just working in the dark. Get examples if you can. Don’t get someone who has never designed a logo before to design your logo. It’s not going to look good! Don’t be cheap on this, remember that is is crucial to the very first part of BE DO HAVE. If you don’t do this properly you are going to struggle to make a success of your business in the future.
A good logo leads to a great website
So finally you have your gorgeous, funky logo design and now you want to put it out there on your website…JUST GO FOR IT! If your logo is ALL THAT and more it will be really hard for the web designer to mess up your site. Why? Because the logo gives him all the info he needs in order to create a design that matches and compliments it. Of course you should be dealing with a web professional, but the chances are slim that you are going to be extremely unhappy with their work, or ask them to redo the design 6 times. It’s all about laying foundations and covering the basics properly.
Looks are everything
The reason I started writing this post was to convey this message. You cant go fooling yourself in the thought that people don’t care what your site or logo looks like, as long as you provide good service. The world simply doesn’t work that way. If you want to get new customers you need to look good. If you want to get that job you need to dress up! If you want to get that girl you need to shave! It’s as simple as that!