– by Prathamesh Adep, CEO at Nextsky.
Creating an identity or brand for a startup in an early stage is very challenging. First of all, you need to generate initial traction with 10 to 15 customers. And the most important thing in the initial stage is to focus on the value proposition. You need to closely watch every move of your customers from start till end. If you fulfil your commitment that you gave to the customer, then you are on the way to create your brand.
Many of you know that WhatsApp never did any branding. They were not the first to build such a messaging platform before WhatsApp others too tried it, but they failed. WhatsApp was just the right technology, at right time, and in the right market. But all startups are not so fortunate.
To create a brand, your first brand ambassadors are your initial customers. They do your branding free of cost if you just make them happy with your service/product. The second meaning of ‘Brand’ is ‘Trust’. And to gain trust takes a long time, hence creating a brand will also take time.
Below are the five basic rules to create your startup brand identity.
Basics of Brand Identity
- Start with Why – There are tons of companies who do branding with what and how. What we do & How we do. Like dell computer say as we make the world’s best computers at an affordable price. Now here the ‘Why’ is missing. That is where Apple company is best at. This is the golden quote of Simon Sinek “People don’t buy for what you do, but they buy for why to do it”.  So before making any marketing plan, first ask why you are offering this service/product.
- Employees first – Any brand first creates trust and belief within the employees. Every employee must know why the company is in place and for what the company stands for? Once you inspire them with your mission/cause, then you are on the way to go to the customer.
- Constant innovation – Many of you know, that google spends very little money on marketing. They speed more in product innovation. To create a brand and spread the word of mouth, you need to constantly fulfil customer’s rising demands. You need to find out the frictions in using trial, onboarding, deployment, and support. And remove those frictions.
- Feedback – Create a simple process or system where a customer could freely and quickly share their problems or concerns. Try to understand those problems and resolve them at the quickest.
- Share – If you are in B2B or B2C, always remember to give the share button to the customer on mobile or computer. Happy customer will love to share your service/product to their friends.
About the Author
Prathamesh Adep is a passionate entrepreneur, who is on mission in making difference in people’s life. He is also a broadly skilled business leader with deep competency in cloud computing, ERP, data analytics, IoT, AI, software business strategy, and scale-marketing, particularly through digital techniques and indirect channels.
