The term startup is not new to us today. Even before, people have started a new business. There is a slight difference between the two. Earlier people had limited avenues of business streams such as trading, manufacturing, retail shops, distribution agencies, etc. But a startup is a business model that is scalable in every way. The purpose of this is to develop the business on a large scale in which the cooperation of other people besides the solo founder is also required. And most importantly, it is idea based. Have a unique idea that no one has done before or put it in a new way that is easy for people to adopt. For e.g., Flipkart, Ola, Uber, Country Delight, AIRBNB, etc.
Secondly, many startups are technology based with a unique idea. One of the reasons why such startups are on the rise today is the huge benefits of government initiatives like “Make in India”, “Atmanirbhar Bharat”; and the benefits of registering company under startup category. Startups today can be considered as a global movement or a global phenomenon. Startups get started in excitement when they get an idea. There is also a misconception that if we start with technology, our startup will become a unicorn (the company is valued at USD 1 billion).
The most important thing for a startup is to understand whether the idea I have is really needed in the market or by the consumer. Many startups do not try to find or think of an answer to this and as a result they face failure. If you study closely, you will find that startups that have built ideas keeping in mind the needs of the market and the consumer have inevitably succeeded.
Another misconception of startups is that we have ideas, technology and products so sales will be done by default and so we don’t need to create a brand. Startups need to understand that in valuation of the company, brand will play an important role. Startups argue that if we have less funding then we should invest in the business or keep it for branding! First of all, know the difference between branding and advertising. Initially no one is asking you to spend behind advertising. That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t spend money on building the brand. Start investing in branding and marketing gradually, and set up a brand building process.
Design the name and logo of your startup professionally. You can get proof of the clarity of your idea and that it has been tested in the market by doing small scale research. Then the clarity of your target audience. Information about who you created your product or service for will keep you focused and save you time & money. Understanding how your product and service differs from your competitor will attract your consumer. Beyond this and most importantly define your brand’s vision, mission, purpose, and values. These things will give your company a culture that is an extremely useful aspect for a successful brand.
Thus, startups who think it costs money to build a brand should think about how important it is to implement the above points and the good part is that there is no immense cost for it. One can consider these as an initial step for building a brand. These pointers will give startups clarity for business and brand growth which will give them focus for the future. As we know that digital medium is cheaper than traditional media, you can consider promoting your brand through digital media.
Develop your website with the above-mentioned suggestions. It is the most important medium today. Anyone, be it your customer, supplier or investor will first search your website to get your information and evaluate you through it. So, keep in mind the pointers mentioned above and develop your website that gives people clarity and big picture about your brand, about your startup.
There are many benefits to creating a brand for a startup such as – your technology, service or product may be easily copied but the brand positioning that gives you the differentiation is difficult to be copied, which will be the identity of your brand. It will give raison d’être to your business and brand. Will make your startup organized. Today people have to work with the startup brand and if the startup builds the brand, it will attract good talent. If the brand is not established, then talent will not consider it. And most importantly, if the brand is a startup, it will attract investors to invest in its own company. Investors today do not just invest knowing the idea, they will ask you for a brand and marketing plan.
Investor knows that the valuation will be of the brand and not just of the idea or technology. You are at any stage of investment – Seed Capital, Venture, Series A, B, C; the sooner you start building a brand the better it will be for the startup.
When a startup is thinking of growing on a large scale, it is necessary to come up with a unique idea, but if it does not build a brand, it will be difficult to achieve success and the objective of attracting great valuation of the startup will not be achieved.
So, balance both sides of your startup coin – idea and brand building; so that your startup always goes up, up and up …
Some parts of this article are excerpts from the book “BRAND BANSHE, BUSINESS VADHASHE”, written by Sameer Joshi, Founding Partner – Sam & Andy.