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Insights on money, career and trading

Branding your new business

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Daniel at 5:46 pm

If you’ve decided that you want to be your own boss and branch out into something which has always been a hobby or a passion in your leisure time, this is a great time to be bold, be brave and to start your own business.

It’s a big leap from the comfort of a monthly salary to looking to make your own income; so many entrepreneurs keep at least a part time job as back-up whilst they are setting up their company. Once it’s at the stage that it’s paying for your time and investment, you can cut the ropes from your other job and set sail alone.

There are many elements to consider when setting up in business including the name of your company, your branding, the design of your product packaging and any specific logo you may want to use. You should also look to gain insights from your potential customer base to find out what they really want. You can do this by heading to a site like https://reputation.com/products/surveys/ where you can discover ways in which to engage with your target market in a way that will allow you to hone in on your specific brand.

The name of your company needs to be one which is unique, easy to remember and also one which is straight forward to spell. If you’re looking at the international market, check out how the word translates into your target market language – there have been embarrassing situations over the years where large companies have launched a product and the name has translated to something rather undesirable.

Your branding covers the whole ‘look’ of your company; the colours you use, your logo, the design of any specific packaging and the image this presents to your customers. Branding is important to get right in any sector but even more so if you’re entering an already crowded industry. Take time to research competitors and work with brand consulting firms that you can find on the Visual Objects website to ensure you stand out. They can help you to make sure that your brand is consistent across all of your media platforms – this could be anything from social media profile pictures to physical packaging on your products. You should also ensure your branding is consistently displayed in correspondence to where your customers are most likely to see it. Your email signature, for example, should always be branded and in line with all of your other media. For more information on how to do this, you can get more help at mSign where they are experts at e-signature solutions. The brand you display publicly will become associated with you, so it’s important to always get it right.

When deciding on all these elements, one aspect to consider is that you do not choose a branding design which could be deemed to be the same or overly similar to any other company such as a direct competitor. If this were found to be the case, you could be faced with questions from their lawyers as to the violation of their intellectual property such as trademark violation and on top of that, an expensive legal bill.

Similarly, it’s important that you protect your own company name, logo and branding from being copied. Lawyers such as those with http://www.londonip.com/ can take you through the process of all legal elements with regards to intellectual property rights including trademarks, images and designs which are part of your business and copyright if perhaps you are setting up a business in the entertainment industry and need to look at the legalities of use of music or film.

Setting up in business is an exciting time and whilst you will want to launch as soon as you can, it’s important to plan all elements. You only get one chance to reveal your company to your potential customers and clients so it’s important that you get it right the first time. First impressions count and so ensure you decide on a name that’s right for your business, a logo which will get you noticed and a branding image which sends out the right messages. Achieve all this and you’ll be on the road to success in no time.

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Insights on money, career and trading