During a time of positive business growth it is far too easy for companies to lose sight of their brand and start to lose their dedicated customer base. Your brand is the most important marker that your business has – it’s what sets you apart from the hundreds of other companies doing the same thing as you! If you’re doing well enough to start thinking about growing your business, then what you’ve been doing is clearly working. Here’s how not to lose sight of that during business expansion.
Know what your core values are
At the inception of your company you probably jotted down some core values that you wanted your company to stick to. Take time to remind yourself of what these are, and ensure that everything you are doing right now reflects these. It might be useful to write your core values down and make sure that everyone involved in your business knows them by heart.
Set up and write down a strict approval process
When you are starting out it is easy to approve documents, plans, invoices, products and so on, as it is predominantly just up to you. As your business expands it is key to set a solid approval process that is the same every time and that everyone is aware of. This ensures that all ideas are heard and all correct channels are involved in the approval process. A simple spreadsheet with shared access is a useful way to ensure that the approval process follows the exact same structure every time, and also offers a record of it.
Reflect branding within the company
The best way to make sure that every area of your company is reflecting your brand is to keep internal processes on-brand. Talk to staff the way you expect them to talk to customers, make sure that internal memos and letters always include company branding, and keep the office atmosphere the same as your brand. If your company is perceived as lighthearted and fun, for example, having a straight-laced office space reeks of inconsistency. This will translate to your customers and make it unlikely that your brand will feel authentic.
Business expansion – where to get more help
If you’d like to expand your business, but need help with finance, please get in touch, we can help.
To find out more about the business expansion finance we can help with, please visit our Alternative Finance page.
Image: Business Meeting by amtec_photos licensed under Creative Commons 4.0
