What is small business branding? The brand of your company is going to be the “face” of your company in the marketplace, the subconscious association of your company’s products with good quality and promises well-kept, and the promise of more clients to buy your services and products in the future. In fact, the moment people start associating your brand name with top-quality and superlative service, you can consider your company to have “taken off.” So, you should not be surprised to know that small business branding is as essential as large business branding and that you do not have to spend thousands of dollars in doing it.

You can start your small business branding by making sure that the quality of the products and services is a cut above that of your competition. Have something new to give to your clients. Give them quality customer service, as well as unexpected value-added services. Going beyond what was expected in your job profile is going to add to your brand name’s popularity and market value. Besides this, your personal experience and qualifications in providing that particular service is going to go a long way in gaining you a satisfied customer base.

You do not have to spend thousands of dollars in starting up a small business. Are you proficient in your particular field? For example, are you a good house builder who has trained under an experienced mentor for a couple of years? Start building your brand by getting people to know all about your qualifications and the jobs that you have done through the years. Get people to identify you, subconsciously, with quality house-building. Show them that they are going to get good value for their money when they choose you over the competition. After that, deliver what you have promised!

Once you have promises to keep, make sure that they are kept diligently and honestly. This sort of business integrity is going to go a long way in giving you an edge over the competition. Your company ranking is going to be based on what sort of services, both product-wise and customer service-wise, you provide to all of your new clients. So, your company brand is going to identify top-quality products and services from your popular company.

A worker shortage might be excellent news for the economy! Maybe, just maybe, firms will awake and see workers’ substantial contribution to their success. Some CEOs take unconscionable sums and destroy their firm’s value, unlike many frontline workers who create value. During the pandemic, CEOs took vast sums as they laid-off workers. Some firms sought bankruptcy protection, but hat didn’t stop their greedy CEOs from snatching hefty bonuses.

We have a worker shortage and firms are scrambling to hire whomever is willing. Some firms, like McDonalds have paid signing bonuses. Canada’s Loblaw and its competitors paid a bonus to frontline workers when the pandemic began. They stopped it after three months in unison with their competitors. When government confronted them about this collusion, they claimed it happened independently. Go figure! It’s like you caught your three-year-old with her hand in the cookie jar and she said, Mom, “Cookie Monster did it!”

Worker Shortage Inevitable With Shoddy Treatment

Loblaw’s behavior disturbs me. During the bonus period, profits soared. Per se, that’s no problem. I favor firms making profits. To be sure, I am against government taxing profits. But paying workers the bonus during the pandemic shouldn’t hinge on profits. It was just right. Meanwhile, my wife and I shopped at a Loblaw store and workers continued their excellent service despite Loblaw’s slight.

Leaders must realize frontline workers are the firm’s foundation and treat them well, not as cogs turning out CEOs bonuses! When employers treat workers like machines, they disengage. Gallup said, over several decades, they and other researchers found a strong link between employees’ workplace engagement and the company’s overall performance. Yet employers refuse to accept this. But there is good news: surveys show some firms break the mold and treat workers with respect: Cisco, Apple, Accenture, IBM, FedEx are a few.

Next Quarter’s Earnings Drives Businesses

Companies see next quarter as the prize, so they exploit workers and fudge next quarter’s numbers. I repeat: I am against government taxing business. However, I favor the Biden Build Back Better provision to tax share buybacks that the House passed, and it is before the Senate, even if it might have only a modest effect on share buybacks. Companies shouldn’t be spending billions buying back shares while exploiting workers.

Firms should present to shareholder meetings options to use buyback funds. Choices might include effects of paying bonuses to frontline workers with buyback funds. Shareholders should hear about potential strategic investments, too. Another option is stopping buy-backs for five years after layoffs. Executives, too, shouldn’t get bonuses within five years of layoffs. We must get rid of worker exploitation that enhances CEO bonuses.

I learned most of what I know about branding from really big companies. Working in a corporate environment with Fortune 100 companies gave me and advantage in my industry. As a graphic designer I was an integral team member when they were recreating, merging or introducing new services to the brand. As a result I was “on the cutting room floor” for many of the decisions effecting the company globally. Even many upper level executives didn’t have this privilege (I guess they were too busy, or thought it was better left to the pros). I knew it was an honor, and I paid attention.With each new brand the most critical implementation component was the brand style guide. It’s a document that guides each and every employee, and all service providers, through the proper use of the brand’s logo, color scheme, partnerships and communication. In every case, before the brand was introduced to the public, each manager had a copy of the brand guidelines which they then distributed to their staff.Without brand guidelines, your brand appears messy and disjointed in the marketplace. I’ve seen many companies stunt their growth by not putting time into this very important asset. It is a staple business tool if you do any marketing or advertising, whether online, in print or in person. Here’s what should be included and why (write this down or print it out, it will become your Table of Contents):1) Your Core Values. Brand values are adjectives that we use to describe what we believe in and how we think our business should be run. In developing your brand values you differentiate yourself from competitors in the minds of your clients and staff. These values will set the tone for who you serve, why they choose you and why you retain them. As a small business many of your clients will choose you based on these values and not because you’re the best in the business (that ranking is based on opinion). As an example, Brand Excitement’s core values are support, integrity, leadership, and excellence.2) Color Palette and Usage. Your colors are a form of non-verbal communication with symbolism and meanings that go beyond ink and screen. It is best to choose 2-3, although I have seen some brands do well with four. You’ll want to include the color definitions for each color you choose: RGB, CMYK, Pantone and Hex. Your designer will know exactly what those are. This allows you to have your materials look consistent no matter where you get them printed, and no matter the size.3) Typography. This may be represented in two ways – your logo and/or the text of your documents. If you choose a font which is not a common library item, you can’t control how that font will be displayed on the web but you can control how your font is displayed in most print and electronic documents. Having one consistent treatment to your documents provides a cohesive experience.4) Logo. Most people think the logo is the brand, but as you know, it’s only one of the components. You need extensive usage guidelines for you logo, such as how it should be used in a joint venture or co-branded document or presentation, how it should be displayed when photos are used, how to adjust it with a colored background, and the white space around it, to name a few. As your brand grows, the definitions become more and more important for communicating consistently across many media.5) Unapproved Formats. As important as it is to define how the logo should be used, this section is critical to outline how the logo should NOT be used. You may elect to put treatments such as drop shadows, rotations, scale and tracking in this section.6) Brand Review Process. Make it easy for your staff (or interns or assistants or partners or friends) to execute your brand by putting in place a process for all outgoing materials. Any use of your brand components needs to be reviewed and approved by yourself or a designated brand manager. Any requests for exceptions to the brand rules will be considered on a case by case basis by this person. This ensures that communication remains seamless.As your brand grows, your guidelines will expand. Over time your guidelines may come to include signage usage, trademark and service mark details, tagline principles, PowerPoint usage and more. As you develop new materials over time, be sure to outline the process in your guidelines so that the next project runs smoothly.