Here at Elastic, we’re big fans of the philosophy that branding a new company from scratch should be a fun, exciting process. After all if you’re a business owner you’ve probably spent a lot of late nights dotting the ‘i’s’ and crossing the ‘t’s’ – this should be the fun bit.

As a creative branding agency with well over a decade’s worth of experience under our belt, we’ve got a few thoughts on creating a brand from scratch. Here are our tips for making the process an enjoyable but also useful one. Are you sitting comfortably? Let’s begin.

1. The Competition

A good place to start is often to look at where others have ended up. Who are your closest competitors and what do they stand for? If there’s nothing that differentiates you then there’s no concrete reason for a customer to choose you over a more established company that seems to do the same thing.

It’s also a good method for routing out category clichés. For example, there’s lots of green used in the environmental sector. That’s understandable, but that fact alone should get you thinking about ways to stand out.

2.Business Plan

Your brand and your business plan have a lot to do with one another! We talk about it in depth our blog about brand strategy. In short, your business plan will inform a lot of branding decisions. Things like how you talk to certain audiences, your growth strategy, the experience you want for your staff when they come to work. Hey! It’s almost as if a business plan and brand strategy are equally important.

3.Details

It’s true. The devil is well and truly wedged right into the details. You’re getting fantastic feedback on your logo, your website copy is on point, those branded ping-pong balls you commissioned are going down a storm … but your URL stinks. It’s enough to sow the seed of doubt in the mind of your next customer so don’t let yourself get caught out by something ‘minor’. Someone will pick up on it!

4. Hitting the ground running

It’s your big moment. You’re ready to unleash your brand into the world. It’s worth remembering that at this point all is new, and you might not get another excuse to really make some noise before it’s business as usual again. Creative ways to attract attention are essential for making the most of this fleeting moment. And if your launch ain’t all that, don’t worry. Even Bill Gates has been there.

Any other vital pieces of advice that we’ve missed? Don’t be shy. We wanna hear it!