Our Top 5 Tips to Really Kick off your Start-Up

1. Branding

The strategy of branding and logo are intrinsically intertwined with each other. The logo acts as the core symbol for the business. It must be recognisable and resonating with its target audience and the general public. However, the logo alone is not the entirety of the brand, there are a multitude of other elements and features that make up a valuable brand and story. It is important to establish a clear and memorable brand identity for your start-up; your brand identity consists of your brand values and how this is communicated throughout your business model and service/or product. Developing an effective branding strategy and identity is critical as it is communicated across all marketing channels, establishes a trusting consumer-business relationship and adds value for the customers to keep returning to your business, therefore establishing loyalty.

2. Social Media

If this is your first start-up, you might not have a big budget to work with. Social Media marketing and advertising is a great low-budget option to kick off your start-up. Although social media shouldn’t be used in isolation as a marketing strategy, it is an effective channel that is engaging and far-reaching. It is important to really research into the effectiveness and purpose of each social media channel and understand what your target market is using. Whilst it is great to have an active presence across a wide range of platforms, it is important to really be focusing your marketing where your target audience is active the most. Social media holds an abundance of opportunities to be creative in your content and help to build upon your brand story and identity.

3. Finances

It is important to secure adequate funding for your business start-up to ensure you get off the ground. You may want to employ someone to manage your accounts and financial planning. It is critical you keep track of employee salaries, budgets, profits and losses over the next five years and identifying any areas you may be able to save money. As a new business owner, it is important for you to ensure that your account department is keeping up to date on all past and present financial transactions to determine in the future whether your start-up is under-performing or over – performing. This will ensure you maximise efficiency over the next 5 years of your new business venture.

4. Graphic Designers

Unless you have a skillset in platforms like Creative Adobe Suite, it is important to source a graphic designer to help to bring your brand and campaigns to life. With effectively designed visuals, your new brand will be able to make an impact across marketing channels, packaging and more! Although the employment of graphic designers may not seem like a priority it is critical in order for your business to drive sales, up-scale a product or service and build upon your brand story.

5. Distribution

It is important to determine how your product or service will reach your target market. You can either choose to sell directly to the consumer or build distribution channels to ensure your product ends up in the hands of the consumer. To select an appropriate distribution channel, it is important to consider the size of the market, cost of the distribution channel, type of product, degree of control over the distribution channel and its flexibility.

Let us know if these top 5 tips have helped you begin the planning of your next start-up!