We all want our business to grow.
It’s why we work so hard on our marketing strategies, our sales plans, and our product offerings.
But as our business grows, it sometimes evolves, and that can be a scary thing.
Perhaps…
- the work that fulfilled you or challenged you at the beginning no longer excites you
- the customers you first had are no longer your ideal client
- you have discovered new needs to be met, new problems to solve
Yet, the fear of change may be holding you back. Even as you’ve discovered new avenues for your business, you may be hanging on to the original products, clients or plans that you first had. It’s completely understandable – those plans are the ones that were the foundation for your whole business!
But if you don’t let go of those original plans you may be preventing your business from growing successfully.
When you try to evolve at the same time you are trying to stay the same, you’re sending mixed messages to your customers. As your business evolves, your brand message needs to evolve as well. And that’s ok! Give yourself permission to make changes to your business as it grows bigger and more successful.
Business Evolution 101
Grab a notebook or your business plan and allow yourself to be honest about your business, and dream about the future…
- What is the work that you truly love doing?
- Who are the people that you absolutely adore working with/for?
- What problems do your customers need you to solve?
- What marketing strategies do you love to work on?
- What sales methods hardly feel like work to you?
Once you’ve answered these questions and brainstormed a bit, go back and have a think about your brand.
- Do the ways in which your business is evolving match the brand message you originally put out?
- Are there any changes you need to make your brand message?
- How can you reflect this new brand message? Do you need to make adjustments to your look (colors, fonts, icons or graphics) or to your voice (your sales copy and written content)? Do you need to make some small tweaks or is it time to do a rebrand?
Evolving Your Brand…
It’s ok to evolve your brand as your business evolves.
I know that sometimes feels hard (your brand may feel a bit like a baby, you may resist changing it because you spent so much time getting it just right at the beginning) or scary (you might be worried that making changes is too difficult or will negatively impact your business) but it’s worth getting past those stuck feelings and making changes if they’re needed.
If you just want to update your brand a little, try coming up with a new tagline, rearranging your logo so that it looks more modern or fresh, updating the copy in your business so that your brand voice is more clear & strong, or updating your website with a new theme and new photos that fit with your existing logo but give your business a more professional feel.
If you need to revamp your brand, try keeping one thing the same and then changing something else. For example you could keep your colors but update your icon & business name fonts. Or you could keep your icon but give it a fresh new look with new colours & a more professional or modern feel. MORE >
