Sales & Marketing

When it comes to designing a logo and a ‘look’ for your business, the sky’s the limit in terms of what you can pay and what’s possible to be produced. It’s important that in the early stages of your business, you only invest in what you actually need. However, like many other service-based industries, when procuring design services, you really do ‘get what you pay for.’

It’s up to you as to whether you choose to employ a designer or a design agency to create a logo for you. Remember that your business’s logo’s function is not merely to be a decorative part of your business card or email signature, but to tell the story of who your business is, what it stands for, and what it does when you’re not there to explain it yourself.

When briefing a designer, be clear about what you want and what you want to use it on. Give them key words that you’d like people to think about what you do or could do for them.

Here are some questions to help get you thinking in the right way. The answers will help the designer produce the right design for your business:

• What sort of business sector are we in? e.g. construction, finance, business consultancy, engineering, real estate, event catering
• What sort of first impression do we want to give people about what we’re like to work with? e.g. friendly, fun, professional, creative, reliable, trustworthy, safe, conservative
• What is it we actually do/produce? e.g. mobile app design, life coaching for over 55s, event planning for weddings, physical therapy for post-surgery patients, construction procurement advice for developers
• Is our geographic location or the areas we can service/deliver to important for people to know? e.g. East of England, Peterborough, right across the EU, worldwide, EMEA region
• Are there any particular colours you like/dislike? Are there any particular colours strongly associated with your industry sector? Do you want to embrace or avoid them?

Even if you don’t have a logo or ‘look’ in the beginning for your business, it is important to have a business card and a fully populated LinkedIn profile.

LinkedIn is a social networking platform often described as ‘facebook for business’. Registration is free and a common way for businesses to ‘research’ one another. This is particularly important if you are trading in a B2B sector or with business customers. It’s also valuable for networking with others in your sector or potential customers.

If you’re not yet in a position to have a logo or business card designed by a professional, there are many low-cost options online to have business cards made using a template available on the website. This can be a good interim solution while you are setting up.

Firstly, to create an effective marketing strategy for your start-up, you need to find a solution for your target customer’s problem. Once you can visualise their journey to finding your product or service, you’ll be in the perfect place to create targets, and consequently leads, opportunities, and ultimately customers.

Your initial market research is vital for understanding your target market. This can be as simple as communicating with potential costumers to find out exactly what they want and need, or by carrying out research online. Once you’ve found your target market, you can begin to promote your business. This can be done in several ways, including:

• Online marketing through your company website and social media channels
• Email marketing and e-newsletters
• Paid advertising
• Content marketing e.g. blog posts

One you’ve established a database of potential customers, you can begin to hone your sales technique. To keep track of your customer leads and your growing customer database, you’ll need steadfast infrastructure or systems in place. This could include reliable Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software or a consistent way of managing phone enquiries, such as a call answering service or virtual office set-up.