The absolute foundation of your small business is its image. The way customers and / or potential customers perceive your business sets the stage for the way your product or service is recognized and ultimately judged. Image is everything and it will affect your business positively or negatively.
What do you want people to think about when they see your image? When they see your logo, business card, brochure or website, what will they think? Cheap? Expensive? Professional? Successful? Expert? Amateur? Failure?
It doesn’t matter if you’ve been in business for six years or six days, failing to recognize how important your image is and how much people will judge you based on that image is a huge mistake. It is a mistake that will have a lasting impact on the long-term success of your small business.
People’s perception tends to become their reality. How much do you charge? Is your product or service the best? Would people be crazy not to do business with you? Are you the most experienced and qualified professional in your industry?
Does your image convey this? Do you say, “We are the best and we pay attention to detail …” or do you say “We are the cheapest in town and we just throw things away at the last minute”? Does your image convey your professionalism and experience? Now, do you say, “We don’t stand out, we are like everyone else, we are a commodity to be overlooked”?
I come across small businesses on a daily basis, who pay absolutely no attention or consideration to what their image says. You’ve seen them too … they put together a font with a clip art plucked from the internet and called it a logo. Your brochure is printed with an inkjet printer on cheap paper templates purchased from Office Depot®. Your website was built in one night and has six different fonts and twelve different colors.
Basically, what these companies are saying with their image is: “We do not care, we are cheap, we are amateurs, we are not as professional as we claim.” Is this really what you want to convey? Probably not, but ignoring the importance of image is a recipe for misinterpretation for your small business.
The image can make you look better.
Think for a moment of Starbucks®. Its image is of excellence and the highest quality in the world of coffee. From the image it has, we willingly pay $ 2, $ 3 and even $ 4 for a coffee when we could go down the street, elsewhere and pay much less for the same thing. But, says the Starbucks® image, “we are worth the price, we are the best.” Starbucks® has added to the success of your business by developing a professional, successful and quality image.
The image can make you look cheap, even if you don’t want to look that way.
I recently spoke with the owner of a small venture capital company. His business is small, but he works with very large companies to get them millions of dollars in financing. However, when I checked their logo, I found it absolutely egregious. He did it himself by putting together a font and some clip art that came with Microsoft® Word. A three-year-old might as well have designed it, because it seemed so elementary.
Why on earth would potential clients trust your firm to handle millions of dollars in hedge funds for them when your image screamed “we’re cheap”?
Successful companies know and understand the importance of image. If you spend time, effort and money to develop a successful and professional image, your business will be seen as a successful and professional business. If you don’t take the time and simply put your image together, your business will look like a cheap, organized business.
A successful image will help you attract the types of clients you want to work with. It will convey that it is worth its price. It will convey that you are the best in your industry. Plus, it will give your prospects the feeling that they would be crazy if they didn’t do business with you.
Your image is what everyone sees. It is what people think of your small business and it is one of the most essential elements in a successful business.
Recognize its vital impact on your bottom line.