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Initial lack of customers and cash flow often causes a small
business to put off designing a logo and marketing materials
professionally “until [they] got a few clients” or “until [they] get
started.” Designing their own marketing materials when they launch
their business, instead of having them professionally created, will
make getting those initial clients more difficult, and may result in a
business that will not succeed.
Many entrepreneurs choose to
design their own marketing materials when they launch their business,
especially by creating their first business card. Or, they will have an
amateur designer, friend or relative create the design. There are
several reasons why this is not the best idea. An amateur logo design
and business card can make your business more likely to fail because:
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Your business won’t look stable. It will appear to be more likely to
fold or to fail. Clients won’t have confidence in doing business with
you. Would you do business with someone that seems to be on unstable
footing – who might not be in business by the end of your project, or
after you’ve purchased an item?
- You’ll look like a very small
business. Large, successful businesses would never consider doing
business without professional, originally designed marketing materials.
Using materials that are not professionally designed (i.e., Microsoft
or Vistaprint templates) makes your business appear even smaller, and
can possibly indicate that you cannot perform to or meet the standards
required. - You’ll look unpolished and rough. Not having a
professional look and feel can make it look as though your business
does not matter to you. Customers may get the impression that you don’t
care about the way your business presents itself, which might indicate
that you wouldn’t care about the quality of your work, or the way that
your work reflects upon their business.
- You’ll look unfocused.
Unprofessional, uncoordinated marketing materials can make your
business look “jumbled” or confused. If you have a business card with
one look and feel and a website with another, this creates a confused –
and confusing – look and feel for your business. This can also cause an
identity crisis for a small business. When looking at your differently
designed materials, potential clients may be fooled into thinking that
they are looking at materials that represent different companies.
About
half of all businesses fail within their first few years. One source of
failure that’s commonly cited by experts is sloppy or ineffective
marketing – if your marketing materials don’t stand out from your
competitors’, your sales will suffer.
When you start a business,
you need to create the quickest possible route to business success. A
logo helps to create this by contributing to your business’s
visibility, credibility, and memorability – three factors that will
help your business to grow and achieve success. So, while putting off
your logo development may seem like a prudent idea from a cash-flow
point of view, it could result in your business never getting “off the
ground”. It can also lead to your business folding when it would
otherwise succeed – if you don’t invest in your business, who will?
If
you think that you can’t afford to design a logo when starting your
business, consider the outcomes – how can you afford not to?...
Erin Ferree, Founder and Lead Designer of elf design, is a brand identity and graphic
design expert. She has been helping small businesses grow with bold, clean and
effective logo and marketing material designs for over a decade. Elf design offers
the comprehensive graphic and web design services of a large agency, with the one-
on-one, personalized attention of an independent design specialist. Erin works
closely in partnership with her clients to create designs that are visible, credible and
memorable – and that tell their unique business stories in a clear and consistent
way. For more information about elf design, please visit:
Logo design at
http://www.elf-design.com
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