The start-up journey is a long drawn one with its own challenges. At every stage, there is a dilemma, starting from the genesis of the idea, should the idea solve a business problem or a social problem to should I continue working or should I pursue my dream to many more…
One such dilemma is should branding come first or should business come first?
There are enough and more arguments for and against both sides.
What drives a start-up to think branding first or business first is the attitude and belief of the entrepreneur. There are different types of entrepreneurs – those who have no absolutely idea what branding means, those who think branding is all about designing a logo, those who understand branding but believe that business is the need of the hour and those who believe that branding first is the way to go.
The key to an entrepreneur thinking branding first is their past experience, their exposure to the marketing world etc. that has given them an understanding of how important branding is for their business. It’s such a joy to work with such entrepreneurs’. At the same time, the pressures of angel investors and proving the concept in the market is what drives the entrepreneur to think business first. This is completely dependent on the stage in which entrepreneur’s journey is.
The ideal scenario, however, would be to first define the brand, its purpose and then enter the market. That’s not to say that starting the business first is the wrong approach. It’s just that the cost of building a brand first is much less compared to building the business and then reengineering the brand.
It’s a question of ‘What’s the cost you are willing to pay?’
-by Artthi Ponnusamy