A friend finally took the plunge and started a home baking business. She’s been a stay at home mom for nearly a decade now and was visibly itching to find a purpose other than her children. She called me excitedly and told me she was sending some samples across. The samples arrived and they were yum. Being a forever Marketer, I couldn’t help but notice they had basic packaging…plain white boxes and ZERO branding. I questioned her about this and got a standard response…it was too new, she wanted to focus on getting the product right first and it was a tiny venture in any case!
I let it go. I kept ordering from her. 3 months went by and the packaging didn’t change, nor did any brand identity appear. With the festive season around the corner, she started participating in small, local pop ups and her orders kept increasing. Still no branding! Her name and phone number was all she was using on all marketing collateral which was basically visiting cards that she kept slipping into the carry bags.
By now I was hopping mad!
Here’s the thing. Many small home businesses started by first time entrepreneurs, a lot of them women, skip the branding process.
Yes, I agree it is a tiny business. And I know you are unsure about where it is going ( I am going to talk about THAT later too) but the packaging counts as much as the product.
It is about the entire experience you give your customer. You need to build a relationship with the customer and for that the tiny details count.
Rally around ex colleagues, friends, relatives and find a great, meaningful name for your business. Use the same resources to find someone who can help you put together a small logo and some interesting marketing collateral. You don’t need to spend a mini fortune.
You make a great product. But, if you want to increase your customer base from more than a handful of loyal friends, if you want to look professional, if you want to offer a more whole some experience to your customers and most importantly if you want your family to take your work seriously then branding is a must…
I finally prevailed. We’ve come up with a name, a logo, product stickers and also a sweet, personalized tag line…With Love – from my kitchen to your home.
While this is only the starting point of Branding – followed by tone of voice, colors, content on social media; it is by no means a negligible start.
She’s happy. I’m happy. And her carrot cakes continue to be super yum!
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