3 Questions to Help Launch Your Startup

According to "smallbusiness.chron.com" over 600,000 businesses are created each year! Creating a business is easier than ever with so many resources, co-working spaces, and accelerators around. Creating a brand for your company, not so much. Understanding what your company stands for, who it's serving and making sure others are feeling the way you want them to take time, effort and in some cases money. So in this blog post, I will be sharing 3 questions that will help you reach the pinnacle of your startup.

What do you want to be remembered for?

Creating your mission and vision is the first step to establishing your brand. A mission statement is why your company exists, the main function. A vision statement is a result of what happens once the mission is achieved, not for you and your company but for the world around.

Example:

Google's mission statement is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Its vision statement is to “provide an important service to the world-instantly delivering relevant information on virtually any topic.”

Curating your company's mission and vision statements help define your brand and what you stand for, which will undoubtedly help users to build trust. Building trust is a key component of branding your startup because before customers buy from you they need to trust you. You can build trust by being more personal and the first step is establishing what you stand for through your mission and vision statements.

What are the 5 w's?

Knowing your intended audience is key to being successful in any business. Not having a predetermined audience will only lead to a waste of marketing dollars, time and company image. Understanding what your customer's pain points, what they want, how they feel, etc. need to be defined. Learning who your target market is and what fuels them will help refine the messaging you use to target them.

Answering the 5 W's is the first step in identifying your target market. Who are your customers? What are their buying habits? When do they buy? Where are your customers located? Why do they buy?

Example:

McDonald’s targets students, employees, and professionals in the age group of 8 to 45 years belonging to low & middle-income groups and having an easy-going and careless personality.

What three words define your brand?

Cultivating three words that define your brand will be the first step you take to visually/emotionally brand your startup. Listing these specific words will help you design and build your digital assets, whether that be the logo, marketing material, and social media posts.

These three words should be how you and your customers envision your brand. Your brand should make customers feel emotions. You can make your customers feel through visuals. Visuals will help relay your brand when you are not there to explain it. Making sure your branding is consistent is key to gaining trust from your customers as well as establishing your company.

Example:

Audi makes me feel classy, respected and sophisticated. All three words are defined through their branding and marketing efforts.

If you can successfully answer all three questions, you are on your way to creating a lucrative brand. Branding is a key component to grow a fruitful business. The future is digital and visual. You not only have to know what your company stands for, understand your market, visually establish your brand but have to make sure you stay active on social media. For my next post, I will be expanding on social media tips for startups!

sincerely, gagan

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