Starting a business does not necessarily mean you have developed a brand. It is vital to know the difference between the two, so you can set yourself and your business up for maximum potential success. You can build a business without creating a brand, BUT you cannot create a brand without building a business.
What Is Your Business?
Your business is the sum of the products you sell, the services you offer, and the corresponding business model. The goal of a business is to be profitable.
What do you want to sell? To build a brand, you need a place to start. Preferably you will design your business plan and model around something you are passionate about. Passion for what you have to offer will allow you to have the fortitude for the good times and the bad.
So many different considerations go into building a business, and one of the first considerations is the need for this product or service. If there is no established need, then the company will likely not be successful. The only chance is forcing your way into the market and hoping you educate potential customers by telling them what they need.
Questions to ask before establishing your business include:
- Is there a need for this product or service?
- Will you be the first, or is there already a market?
- Do your diligent research.
- How quickly do you need money?
If you need money quickly, starting a blog as a business from scratch is not your best option. It can take years to build up a blog to make a decent profit. However, building a face mask business may ramp up very quickly and provide a sizable profit due to COVID-19.
What Is Your Brand?
Your brand essentially has personality. For example, your business could be cell phones, but your brand could be Apple. What makes Apple’s brand different from any other brand such as Samsung, Motorola, etc. The brand is what makes a person choose one brand’s cell phone over another.
If your brand can stand on its uniqueness in the market and do well, the competition will suffer the impact. Apple doesn’t need to compete with Samsung because Apple has dedicated consumers just as Samsung would have dedicated consumers. A brand often has loyal consumers.
Emotions and Purchasing
According to Bennet Schwartz, consumers will purchase products and services based on emotion. Back to the Apple example, consumers are either Samsung (Android) or iPhone (IOS) for most people. There is not usually a great deal of flexibility based on price. If you love an iPhone, you will likely never switch to Android unless forced to and vice versa.
Summary
This article details exactly why you need to develop and build a brand and not just a business. A brand will cause your business to stand out among the industry leaders. Consider some of these big brands. Are they interchangeable as far as preference?
- Coke vs. Pepsi
- Apple vs. Samsung
- McDonald’s vs. Burger King
- Walmart vs. Target
You get the idea. Now let’s move forward with a brand focus and not just a business focus for lasting consumer relationships.