You’ve Registered Your Business Name… Now What?

Once you register your business name, you need to start planning your next step. Don’t fret if you are feeling clueless about what to do next, because we’ve got you covered!

We’ve seen many upcoming entrepreneurs dealing with this dilemma of not being able to figure out, what to do next once they register their business. As you are just entering the world of business, you need to be very cautious about the first few steps that you take as a new entrepreneur. A single wrong step at the start can ruin your whole business model in the future. Keep reading our guide here and it will help you establish your place in this world of business!

1. Define Your Brand

The foremost step that you need to concentrate on is to make sure that your brand’s name is captivating and easily understood by your target audience. You should keep in mind that branding is what’s going to make or mess your business in the future. It’s the most important element to achieve success. In order to define your brand accurately, ask yourself these questions:

• What’s the mission of your business?
• What are the benefits of products and services that your company is offering?
• What your customers should think about you and your services?
• What qualities you want to deliver with your services?
• What is the voice of your business? What is the tone and language of your marketing materials?
• Casual and friendly? Or professional and authoritative?
• How does your startup fit into the greater marketplace?

2. Understand The Importance Of Branding

Branding is an imperative aspect of business, may it be small or large, retail or B2B business. It’s how your customers are going to identify and remember your product or service. It lets your customers know what they can expect from your business and also differentiate you from your competitors.

The purpose of a brand is to increase sales by making the product or service visible to target customers. Branding is not just about creating a creative logo and a catchy name, it’s a promise that you make to your customers which ensures top-line quality and excellent services. A brand is derived from who you are, your business goals and whom you want to target. It signifies your work ethics, culture, values, actions and results. Here are a few reasons why branding is incredibly important for your business:

• Branding Promotes Recognition: 

  Most of the people do business with companies with which they’re familiar. If your brand is consistent and easy to recognise, it can help people feel more at ease while purchasing your products or services.

• It Helps You Stand Out From The Crowd: 

  Once you register, you are in the big leagues. You’re not competing with local companies only, but with many reputed companies worldwide. Standing out from the crowd is kind of a necessity if you want to survive in the market. Your brand’s name is going to be the key to the foundation of your business.

• It Provides Direction To Your Staff: 

  A clear brand goal/aim tells your staff how to act, how to deal, how to win, and how to meet the industry standards.

• A Strong Brand Helps Customers Know What To Expect: 

  A clear and consistent brand keeps the customer at ease, because they know exactly what to expect each and every time they experience your brand’s products/services.

• Your Brand Represents You and Your Promise To Your Customers:

   It’s really important to remember that your brand represents “YOU.” If you promise something to your customers, you have to deliver it! It is your reputation that’s on the line as well.

• It Helps You To Stay Focused: 

  It’s easy to get distracted from your goals, but a clear brand strategy will keep you and everyone else working with you stay focused on the mission to success.

• It Helps You To Connect With Your Customers: 

  A good branding will help you to connect with your customers at an emotional level.

• It Offers An Added Value To Your Business Model

  A strong brand offers more value to your organization. Just think about the brands like Coca-Cola, Apple, BMW, Subway, etc. All these companies are worth much more than their physical assets.

Right branding is vital and it is based on a strong idea. The brand signifies your entire organization. When your organization is clear on the branding, you will see exceptional results, while building trust and loyalty among your customers. So whenever you start with branding, prepare a brand abstract documentation that consist all details of a brand including target market, SWOT analysis, business environment, mission statement, philosophy, positioning etc.

3. The Next Step Is To Develop a Practical Marketing Strategy For Your Business Model

Most people directly dive into developing a website and logo without even realizing what they want to create or what is their goal and mission. This is why we discussed branding before the marketing strategy. Once you know your goals, targets, whom you want to target and when, you can begin developing a marketing strategy that is practical and can reap you good ROI. Your marketing strategy must be aligned with your corporate goals and objectives and should cater to your audience needs!

4. Market Research Is The Key

You need to do a thorough market research and understand the needs, desires and habits of your customers. Do not assume anything. Let the research and surveys gather the data for you. You have to be careful while developing your brand’s identity and research is going to help you shape that. Collect data and get to know your probable customers’ mindset and changing market trends.

5. Creating Brand Identity

“What kind of image you really want your brand to convey to your customers – positive, uplifting personalized or assertive?”

Whichever personality you choose, make sure that you deliver the same quality consistently, in all of your brand marketing strategies such as email marketing, social media marketing, or even face-to-face interaction with your customers. This will help you to create a strong persona for your brand and will make your interactions more consistent, authentic and ultimately make your brand more memorable.

One of the most important elements of developing a brand is the voice. For more information on creating this crucial foundation to your business read our in-depth guide to brand voice: Is Eloquence A Lost Art Or The Key To Your Brand’s Success?

6. Create a Logo For Your Brand

Once you’re done with the brand identity and research, the next step is to create a strong and impressive logo for your brand. Logos go a long way in brand recognition. Most of the people jump into logo design without looking at the big picture. Consider how you want to use your logo. How it will appear on your printing brochures and white letter head. Select/create a logo that reflects your brand’s personality. A great logo will make your business appear more professional and help your business to stand out from the rest. If you’re a web only business? Then you need not to worry about printing brochures and how your logo will look on a white letter head.

7. Design a Creative Business Card

Today, whatever marketing we do in our business is digital – sending mail, attending meetings, signing contracts etc. But business cards are still one of the most valued methods of marketing that may never get replaced by the digital tools. They are the best direct marketing tool and offer the first impression of your brand to your customers and other organizations. So make sure to design a creative business card for your business.

8. Develop a Tagline

Taglines are important for every business, whether you are a small or large business. Some of the famous brands are recognized by their taglines, for example: Just do it – Nike, Red Bull – It gives you wings, LIVE IN LEVI’S– LEVI’S etc. Whatever your business is, you must have a perfect and impressive tagline. Your customers will get an idea about what they can expect and it also help them differentiate your brand from others. So write a meaningful/catchy tagline for your business that reflects the essence of your brand.

9. Developing a Website

Once all the logo, branding and strategies are in place, start thinking about developing a website for your business. The website should portray your brand’s personality and complement your business model. Make a website that sets your business idea apart from your competitors and make it memorable for your customers. Don’t forget to design your website search engine and user-friendly.

Now, just developing a website is not going to be enough to help your business grow and succeed. There is more to do…

Stay tuned for our next guide that will help you make your website a successful venture and offer you tips to take your start-up to the next level!