Launching a brand and establishing a business is undoubtedly an exhaustive, confusing, and stressful process, but go about it correctly and put your heart and passion into it. The results could be as you hoped or even better. If you’re ready to commit and just starting to figure everything out and make your initial decisions, the following is a quick guide for tackling the beginning stages.
Make lists
Lists can help get your brand and business go even after, even if you’re not typically fond of doing them. Keep a separate document for each list, and separate them by subject or task so you can easily see what you’ve done and what still needs attention.
Examples of possible lists include the color combinations you’re considering, potential areas for a brick-and-mortar store, wholesale companies you want to look into, and the types of products you wish to offer, like the Bella + Canvas wholesale zip-up hoodies. Finally, make a separate list of tasks you can delegate to trusted individuals to give yourself a break and eliminate some stress.
Don’t overthink everything
Not overthinking everything is one of the most challenging aspects of launching a brand and establishing a business. Of course, you don’t want to put little thought into anything and hastily make decisions, but that also doesn’t mean constantly second-guessing yourself and being riddled with doubt. Instead, make sure your choices are from the heart and how you want your customers to see you and the brand and business.
Take your time making decisions, keep your potential customers in mind, and do your research, all of which can help you feel great about your actions. If you’re going to be launching a brand, you have to be able to trust yourself. Should you start overthinking, take a deep breath and remind yourself of the thought and work you put into the decision in question and that you did what you thought was best.
Have patience with yourself
Granting yourself patience is another challenging part of launching a brand and business. Not everything is going to go perfectly, but that’s okay. There will constantly be new things to learn about yourself, running a business and the business world in general, and the specific industry you’re a part of.
As difficult as it is, being patient with yourself can help you thoroughly look at the situation, determine what you could have done differently (if anything), and figure out how to move forward. Focus on what you can do in this moment rather than rehashing what happened and being hard on yourself, which will be challenging to have a clear head for decision-making.
Come up with your ideal plan
Establishing a brand and business comes with all the little details that are significant decisions. For example, what do you want to name your business, what type of logo will your company have, and what colors and fonts do you want to use?
Having an ideal plan is essential. Sketch out potential logos and designs (whether you’re going to have an online business, a brick-and-mortar store, or both), decide about colors, and write down ideas for everything, from what you want the name of the company to be to potential business locations. After doing this for at least several months, you’ll likely have a lot of scratch-outs, doodles, scribbles, and multiple pages of concepts. Still, you’ll also likely have many ideas you love enough to use for your brand that you can put into a solid plan.
Double-check all the business paperwork
You can only launch a brand if you get the legalities in order first. Business paperwork is one area where you can’t make any mistakes, so it can be helpful to have another person–specifically a lawyer–look at everything and help you along the way to guarantee you didn’t miss a step. It’s imperative if it’s your first time tackling all the complex paperwork involved. You don’t want anything delaying your launch, like realizing in the future that you didn’t file a paper.
Take care of tasks as soon as they come up
Procrastination could be incredibly detrimental in business, especially when launching and establishing a brand. You’ll likely need help handling every task as soon as you learn about it, but it’s essential to do what you can to make it happen. For example, when you get mail for your business, don’t put it aside to take care of it another day. When you find a potentially perfect location for your brick-and-mortar store, call the real estate agent immediately and schedule an appointment to see it sooner than later.
Putting off tasks only encourages your to-do list to grow, which could add to your stress and make launching your brand and business more complex than it already is if you’re at a point where it’s a lot for you to handle on your own, ask for help from those you trust who would have your back and help you with what you need.
Create an online presence before officially launching
Launching a brand and having a business is easier with an online presence. Even though you have yet to launch, setting up your website and social media sites can help you start getting potential customers’ attention. Establishing your social media before you officially launch can help people be with you from the start and see the process as it unfolds. Make sure every aspect of your brand, from the logo to the vibe you want your brand to convey, goes with you from one site to the next.
You could post videos of yourself talking about the successes and struggles along the way, so people get to know you as a business owner. Consider posting pictures of tasks like setting up your brick-and-mortar store, organizing products you will sell, and choosing what decorations you want to use.
Once you have everything set, from the legal paperwork turned in to the products purchased and ready to go, make sure you take time to celebrate your launch. It’s a huge accomplishment and something to be proud of and enjoy.