For most solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, and small business owners, brand and business are intertwined. Great branding is one of the most important aspects of any new venture because it distinguishes the business in the eyes of customers.
Yet, it’s important to understand that they aren’t one and the same. Yes, a brand powers business—but the business also needs to fulfill the promise of the brand. As profoundly important as it is to establish and refine a brand, leaders need to establish a business to back it up.
Business vs. Brand: A Vital Synergy
What do you picture when someone says “golden arches?” More than likely, Mcdonald’s comes to mind. When you see a swoosh on the side of a shoe, you know instantly that it’s Nike. We all know that Wheaties is the breakfast of champions.
These brands are so big and powerful that we automatically know the business they’re in burgers, sneakers, and cereal. But think about it beyond the recognition.
When you think of McDonald’s’ arches, what do you think of? Fast and affordable food. The Nike swoosh? World-class athletes and sports. Wheaties? A healthy breakfast.
The reason we associate these attributes universally with the brand is that they’re exactly what the business delivers. If Mcdonald’s sold tacos, we wouldn’t think of burgers.
If Nike’s sold sandals, we’d probably think of beaches instead of basketball. And if Wheaties were bright colors and coated in sugar, it would hardly be the breakfast of champions.
Simply put: brands need to represent the business and its products accurately. If a product meets the expectation of the customer based on the brand, the business will grow its following.
Look Inward From Brand to Business
What does it take to fulfill a brand’s promises? For starters, businesses need to look beyond the brand, to the core of the business and its values.
If your brand stands for affordability, how can you keep prices low? If it’s rooted in luxury and sophistication, how can you show that? If your central focus is inclusion, how do you make that evident? The answer surprises most entrepreneurs and small business owners.
It comes from a focus on business operations.
To maintain a promise of affordability, you need to keep COGS low. Luxury brands need to maintain relationships with premium suppliers. Inclusive brands need to be stewards of underrepresented groups.
While these things show up in branding, they’re executed at the operational level—otherwise, they’re just empty promises.
Building the business side of a brand is often much more difficult than building the brand itself. Perception is much easier to build than something concrete.
For example, it’s easy to convince someone that you sell high-end luxury goods—but delivering something that truly exceeds that expectation is much harder.
The same goes for affordability or any other characteristic a business might attribute to its brand. You can call your brand anything you want… but can you fulfill it?
Forward-thinking small business owners recognize the need for operational structure and organization as much as a powerful brand. The question is, how can you focus on one without neglecting the other?
Be a Business Professional, Not a Brand Advocate
Too many small businesses make the mistake of playing cheerleader for their own brand instead of working on the business itself. While building that brand is vital, the business operations are what fuel the scalability.
Without the infrastructure behind it, a brand can become huge… but can’t ever live up to customer expectations. The ethos of a good brand is strong, but its ability to succeed comes from how it functions.
Part of thinking bigger than your brand is delegating its management to someone you trust. It’s why McDonald’s, Nike, and Wheaties have entire teams of professionals managing their brands.
And while it’s not feasible for small businesses to pay for full-time brand management, there are ways to automate brand while you focus on the business. Examples include:
- Scheduling social outreach and engagement, and auto-optimizing paid ads
- Hiring part-time advertising and marketing staff to coordinate branding
- Invest in branded packaging, print collateral, and digital branding
Establishing good brand foundations makes it easier to hand off-brand growth initiatives to someone else while owners focus on the nuts and bolts of the business. It also ensures synergy as business and brand grow in tandem.
Emphasis on scaling business operations produces a runway for growth. As the brand piques the interest of consumers and brings demand momentum, the business will be able to respond in-kind, from sourcing materials and producing goods to cost control and marketing opportunities.
Know the Challenges of Building Your Business
For many startups and small businesses, their brand is their business. The idea of shifting focus from that brand to the operational aspects of the enterprise is daunting. Won’t pulling back focus on the brand hurt the business? It’s an easy thought trap to fall into.
The simple truth is that many small business owners end up chasing their tails. They focus heavily on brand and drive strong demand, but run into roadblocks and barriers when they can’t keep up with that demand.
They firefight operationally and continue to focus on brand building and sales. Switching this focus would actually help the business grow. Sound operational practices and a focus on structuring growth provide the runway to realize the benefits of a strong brand.
More important, a forward-looking focus on operations makes it possible for businesses to maintain their brand identity while they grow. If you can’t stay affordable, or lavish, or inclusive as you grow, your brand will fall behind and drag your business down with it.
Establishing the business’ operational infrastructure puts everything in place to retain brand identity at every stage of the business’ growth. In this way, a focus on business paves the way for a stronger and stronger brand, at scale.
Think Like a CEO
How can small business owners think bigger than their brand and grow their enterprise? Simple: start thinking like a CEO—or hire a CEO with industry experience. When you start paying closer attention to business ops, you’ll start to see growth opportunities.
And while branding is key in establishing your business and driving demand, ultimately, business sound, scalable business operations are what enable it to get bigger. You can’t have one without the other.
Conclusion
The shift in mindset from brand-building entrepreneur to up-and-coming CEO is a difficult one to make. Yet, the growth of your business depends on it. Make sure you’re paying as much (or more) attention to how your business functions as you do how it’s branded.
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