I recently taught a workshop in Philadelphia around building a brand and the 4 Pillars of Marketing and there was an interesting question - “Should I wait until I determine my business name to get started?”
The simple answer was ‘ABSOLUTELY NOT!’
Let me clear this up right away - there is a difference between starting your business and branding your business. Once you start branding materials and putting a name on things, it becomes harder to change that later on down the line because people may have started to do some brand association and have brand recognition. It can certainly become harder to get people to associate your product or service with a new name later on.
However, getting started can mean a multitude of things. Getting started can mean going out and and getting your face known, talking to people and networking, doing the research behind the your brand and the industry you are getting involved in. Getting started doesn’t always mean you have to have a website and business cards right away but it does mean you should know what you are offering to the public and have some way for people to contact you if they want to know more.
Often times, we get stuck in making sure all of our ducks are in a row or making sure certain things are lined up before we begin - and just as often, we are our own biggest barrier. While we sit and wait to make sure we are at just the right time, the industry is trucking right along and we are continuously learning something new, which in turn causes us to have to take more time to ‘line things up just right.’
Fear not friends. The time is now. Even if you are getting started behind the scenes, you are still making moves. Sometimes, silence can speak the loudest and as long as you have your goal in mind and you know your passion and purpose, start now! Take the steps to get you to the place where you want to be! While we are all on different timelines in life, you don’t want to look back and realize that you could have started a long time ago if you just had taken the first step and the only thing holding you back, was you.
