If you are operating it without some kind of business plan, or without having given any thought to building your brand, then I would say it is. Naked. Stark naked. And that’s not good for either of you.
Because a successful business runs by the numbers. The basic business numbers are your sales and expense forecasts, your startup costs, and your startup funding. You need to keep tabs on those and scale your projects and plans accordingly.
And if your dream is to build a business that lasts, you must build a brand. In fact, the smaller you are, the more important brand is to you.
We’re not saying every business has to have the full formal treatment running dozens of pages long. Just that every business has to have a plan. Even if it’s just a plan that you have worked out in your own head. You can put a comprehensive business plan together using a one-page template. We teach a 5-part course that shows you exactly how to do that. It’s not hard, but it does require critical thinking and constructive decision making.
Nor are we saying you can’t market yourself and generate revenue without a brand. People do it every day. But to compete effectively, you’ll need to distinguish yourself from the crowd.
Your brand is what you or your product stand for. Expressed in emotional shorthand. It’s the promise, the big idea, and the expectations that reside inside the head of each customer’s mind. Your brand isn’t what you say it is; it’s what they say it is.
If you don’t have something guiding your actions and investment of time and money and something that tells your prospective customers what you stand for, then make no mistake, you’re out there doing the full monty. Don’t expect too many to get excited enough to chase a long-term relationship with you.
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