The branding advice most founders ignore until it’s too late

Over the years, I’ve had a lot of conversations with founders about why their branding isn’t working and whether it’s their logo that’s the problem. Often these conversations happen after a launch didn’t go as planned, or after watching a competitor with a worse product pull ahead. The issue is almost always the same. They skipped straight to picking colours and fonts without asking the right questions: who is this for and what does the business stand for?

Skipping this vital step means your visual identity, on the surface, looks fine but still does not work. We found that 78% of small business owners said visual branding significantly contributes to revenue. But if the underlying narrative isn’t there, the design work is just decoration. Teams need to lay the groundwork first as this shapes everything thereafter, from how you write product copy to how you show up on social media. The founders who get this right early on tend to build brands for the long term. Those who don’t will spend months, if not years, tweaking the visuals hoping the minor changes will make a difference.

Authenticity is a business decision

Consumer scepticism has been building for a while now, particularly among younger audiences. Greenwashing, performative social media, generic purpose statements, and AI-generated content – people are getting even better at detecting when something’s being faked.

For an early-stage company, this can matter even more than it does for a business with decades of goodwill behind it. You can’t absorb a misstep in the same way, and you risk losing all the trust your customers have in you. But what you do have (i.e. a compelling founding story) is something a big business can’t manufacture retrospectively. If used properly, your story can be a real commercial asset.

Get specific, or get ignored

The most common instinct early on is to appeal to everyone. Broad positioning and steering clear of anything divisive sounds sensible – but it results in a brand that doesn’t really speak to or connect with anyone.

The most useful questions when you’re starting out are inevitably the uncomfortable ones. Who is this for? What do you actually believe? What would you still stand behind if it cost you customers? Answering honestly means ruling things out – but a brand that stands for something gives people a reason to choose you rather than just consider you.

Good brands still lose customers

For major corporations, inauthenticity often looks like major broken promises (I’m sure hundreds of stories come to mind). But for early-stage startups, inconsistency is the biggest issue to worry about. A founder can have a genuinely compelling story and real conviction, and still undermine it by looking like a different company depending on the platform. They might be polished and corporate on the website, but then on Instagram they’re really scrappy. Customers might not be able to tell you what’s wrong, but they won’t quite trust you or your brand either.

Document your core brand decisions – what you look like, how you sound, what your values are – and use them. If you’re consistent, you’ll become trustworthy.

See Also

Small business scaling support goes live

Where to start

You don’t need a brand overhaul, just honest answers to a few questions:

• Does your brand reflect what you actually believe?
• Is the reason your business exists clear to customers?
• Are your brand’s tone of voice and visuals consistent across channels?

If the answer to any of those is no, don’t panic – you don’t need to start from scratch! Go back to basics: figure out your core brand values, remind yourself what you’re building, and do the groundwork to ensure your company’s branding is consistent. It’s as simple as that.