If you want to create a successful boutique business, your identity and brand are the most important things that you have and it all starts with a strong identity. Your identity consists of your name, logo, colors, signage, the look and feel of your business.
Are you using three different versions of your logo?
Do you even have a logo?
Is your domain name different than your business name or different from your email address?
These are all branding and marketing issues that you need to address to charge what you’re worth.
I find that there is a lot of confusion between identity and branding. Your brand is how people FEEL about you. You can’t build a strong brand on a weak identity. If you have you made a branding misstep and you have created confusion or a disconnect with your clients and prospect, this could be a good time to tackle a rebranding strategy, However, if you want to change your identity because you are bored with it, that is not a good reason.
Think about how many years Coca-Cola has been successfully been using their logo (actually, to set the record straight, Coca-Cola did change their logo in the very beginning). Over 100 years. Even though you are close to your logo and look at it every day, many times, it takes others many, many, many repetitions of seeing it to even become aware your business.
If you want to rebrand because your margins are suffering, your customer base has dwindled or you are panicking because of the competition, it may be time to slow down and reconsider. You may have deeper issues such as the need for a clearly defined position in the market or a decisive sustainable competitive advantage. If you fall into the category of brand confusion: you’re using several versions of a logo or if you haphazardly approached your identity when you started, now could be the perfect time for a rebrand.
If you need help walking through the process, summer is a great time to take a breath and refocus. Check out Jumpstart Your Brand in 21 Days if you need help from a branding expert to figure out who you are and where your brand needs to go in the next three weeks.