alexia austinBranding Your New Company
Where should you start when starting a new company? Branding, of course!
"You can, you should, and if you're brave enough to start, you will."
- Stephen King
Where do I start??
I started my first company, French Silver, in late 2011 while I was staying home with my 2 year old son. When I started the company, I had no idea what direction I was going. I just knew that I wanted to be self employed and work from home. I put very little thought into what my "brand" was going to look like. I actually reserved my company name on Etsy well before I even started a shop or knew what I was going to be selling. I picked the name from the paint color that had been on my walls as a teenager.
At first, I gave new life to dated furniture and would repurpose various items that I found at thrift stores and estate sales. Sales trickled in and I was staying busy while my son was at pre-school. But sometimes I'd finish a project and realize I wasn't going to make much of a profit.
Eventually, I got the idea to print onto tea towels and that's when the company took off. I had hit the sweet spot and quickly had more orders than I could fill by myself, so I enlisted the help of my sister, Jennifer. By late 2012, Jennifer had quit her job and was working with me full time. We had a really good run for 7 years, but now we're both ready to start a new chapter.
I learned a few things over those 7 years and this time, I'm going to do some things I wish I had done the first time.
Step 1: Understanding Branding
Before creating a website, Etsy shop, any social media accounts or maybe even an email address you're going to want to know your brand. What do you want your brand to look like?
- Logo
- Secondary Logo (optional)
- color pallette
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