If you’ve ever contemplated starting a business, you’ve likely been hit with questions regarding your “brand” and branding”.

These terms often get used interchangeably, but they are quite different.

As an entrepreneur, it’s important to understand the distinction.

 

What is a Brand?

 

When you’re a small business owner, your business brand and personal brand might be closely related – because you ARE your business.

People want to do business with YOU, as much as they want to work with your company.

So, a brand is who you are.

What is it that you do?

What products or services do you offer?

What problems do you solve for your clients?

How do people feel about you? What emotions arise when people think about working with you and your business?

Your brand is an experience.

It’s something people feel inside – maybe even subconsciously.

Your brand is your reputation.

 

What is Branding?

 

Branding, on the other hand, is everything you use to communicate what your brand is.

Branding could include your logo, your choice of fonts, colours, website design, photos and videos, signage outside your storefront, packaging for your product, and so on.

The difference between Brand and Branding is subtle but important.

Your branding encourages people to feel the feelings you want them to feel when they think of your brand.

Branding shapes people’s perception of your Brand.

The goal of your branding is to attract your target audience. That is, the kind of clientele you want, the people whose problems you can solve, and the kind of people you want to work with.

 

The common mistake people make when it comes to Brand versus Branding

 

Knowing the difference between brand and branding is imperative to preventing one of the most common mistakes new entrepreneurs make when launching a new business.

Too soon, new business owners are in a hurry to get to their branding.

They tend to skip the brand development stage.

They want to get to the fun stuff right away!

They say to themselves, “We need a website! What’s our logo? Who do you know can print business cards?”

And, unless you have a solid handle on who you are as a brand, you are in danger of wasting valuable time and resources on branding.

They don’t stop long enough to define who they are or who they want to attract.

Unless you go through the process of identifying your brand, you will find yourself struggling to stay focused and be consistent.

You’ll attract the wrong audience and you’ll feel like you’re constantly spinning your wheels trying to get traction with your business.

So, don’t make this mistake!

Identify your brand first. Establish who you are, the character and personality of your business, and how people perceive you. Decide who you want to attract and what you have to offer them.

Then, and ONLY then, get to work on your branding, which is everything you use to help people understand who you are.