Know your business before you go into business | plus a free business-planning template
I walked away from another startup last week. The first time I heard about this particular idea I saw huge potential, but the more we talked, the clearer it became that they had no idea what they were trying to create in their new platform. That alone hasn’t forced me from startups before. It’s usually made me dig in and work with the head of the org to define who they are and why it matters. The problem in this case was that even with an entire investor deck, promo videos, and dozens of advisors, they still weren’t able to define what they were actually hoping to create—nor did they want to have the conversation about it.
I’ve worked for—and consulted with—many startups and remarkably few of them have been able to accurately describe what they’re doing or why they’re doing it. As a new marketer, this led to frustration because I didn’t know how I could possibly help a company that insisted on using obscure terminology, communicating on a “post-masters/PhD reading level” (seriously), or that hadn’t been able to figure out what they were doing after eight years of startup hype and cycling through 200+ employees.
Over the years, my initial frustration with this major gap in planning has turned into the opportunity to help coach on the importance of knowing who you are and why you do what you do. Now, I recognize patterns that increase the potential for success and flaws that lead to unnecessary struggles, if not complete failure. And, I don’t like to see companies fail, especially those with strong ideas intended to make the world better. Yet, there seems to be an abundance of entrepreneurs who don’t have the tools they need to break their ideas down, establish their brand voice, and begin a business with clear consistency.
The branding and messaging slide deck
When we began Alter Ethos, we knew we needed to do things differently—with a clear understanding of why we were jumping into a new venture, how it would impact us, and how it could help others. We took the information we’d learned in our own businesses—in the engineering and marketing spaces—the experiences we’ve had over the last 20+ years and put them all into our own branding and messaging deck. We began to define our new business—before we put out a single bit of copy, marketing, blog posts, or approached our first client.
Then one day, a friend called. He was trying to resurrect a non-profit idea I’d once tried to help with. I simplified my own messaging deck, turned it into a type of business planning template and texted him the link. In this post, I’ll go over that simplified Google Slide deck step-by-step. You can access the branding and messaging deck template here but first keep reading to get the details you need to get started. Oh, and feel free to “clap” for this article if you find it valuable. It’ll help others find it and put it to use in their future business planning.
1. Know why you’re in business
I cannot overstate the importance of knowing your why. This video by Simon Sinek will provide a short overview, but there’s a process to go through that will help you define your why that I highly recommend completing. So, watch this video, then check out both of these books for more information about discovering your why:
- Start with Why by Simon Sinek
- Find Your Why by Simon Sinek
2. Create your mission and vision statements
Mission and vision statements are essential to your strategic planning, but don’t take my word for it. Google it. And, read the statement below that I found in the LinkedIn article, The Importance of Vision and Mission Statements.
“Strategic planning is a key function of an organization’s management that helps to set priorities, allocate resources, and ensure that everyone is working towards common goals and objectives. However, for strategic planning to be effective, there are two important tools that are needed — a vision and a mission statements. These serve as a guide for creating objectives and goals in the organization, thus providing a road-map that is to be followed by everyone.”
–Norja Vanderelst, Creator of Marketing Materials
3. Define your strategic messaging
What is strategic messaging? I like this definition in the The Marketing Playbook publication on Medium. It’s a longer read, but totally worth it, and they provide a great template for working through your own messaging. If you’re not great with words or breaking down your own ideas, please hire an agency to help you with this. Yes, it’s that important.
“Strategic messaging is a value-based communication framework that companies employ in all interactions with stakeholders — employees, prospects, customers, partners, and investors. Strategic messaging communicates product value to the customer by describing the solution to a problem.”
–Myk Pono
What solution are you providing? You’ll find a page in the branding and messaging deck so you can begin to learn about and iterate on your:
- Tagline
- Slogan
- Positioning statement
- 25-word description
Go through the process. Yes, even if it’s a lengthy one.
4. Understand the culture you want to foster
Know what kind of company you’re going to create before you begin and know the kind of people you’re going to bring on.
Why is company culture so important to define from day one? There are seven pretty straight-forward reasons in this article by Corey Moseley, aptly named, 7 reasons why organizational culture is important. While you’re researching culture, check out these 11 company culture examples as well.
This is important to know up front because it’ll influence much of what you do from day one.
5. Get to know your audience
Your audience is comprised of the people who have a need or interest in what you have to offer. It’s essential to know them. Absolutely essential.
And, you should not only know them, but know their habits, likes and dislikes, even the words they use. You should know how to construct your messaging so that it presents an ideal solution—wrapped up and packaged with a bow. You can’t do that if you don’t know your audience and their needs. If you’re unsure how to do this, begin with a persona. You can find details on personas in this blog post, Create a buyer persona in 3 steps | plus a free persona playbook.
6. Create an “about” page
You’ve heard of this page. You’ve probably even read one. It’s the page that explains who you are in a way that connects with your audience. It also provides some excellent opportunities for some great SEO. The page in this deck should be written as if it’s the copy you’ll use on your website.
You want your ideal customer to be able to relate to you, understand you, and begin to trust you and the services you’re providing. And once again, I’ll provide you with a reading assignment, this time from HubSpot: 15 About Us & About Me Pages + Templates to Make Your Own.
Why I love this article:
- It provides real-world examples of “about” pages.
- It tells you why each “about” page rocks.
- Many of the example pages are diverse, human, and brilliant.
7. Know what’s in it for you
Describe your ultimate goal and the benefits of running your own business. Unlike the “about” page, this is for internal uses only and will be used to determine strategies, next steps, and even direct hiring and expansion. Of course, this is a simple version just to get you going, but it’s important to define it before you start bringing on advisors or seeking investors.
8. What’s in it for your people
Once you get your business going, you have to make some tough decisions. Knowing what you’re going to offer your people shouldn’t be one of them. Decide up front what you want to do in order to attract—and keep—the best people possible to bring your idea to life.
You need to know why they’ll want to be a part of your venture, because only you have your whole heart invested. They need more concrete and tangible benefits. Their advocacy can come later, once you’ve shown them you value their efforts.
9. Know how to show yourself off
Many companies hire a designer to guide them through the branding process and create their assets. I recommend doing so, but I also recommend putting together some thoughts on where you’d like to see branding go before you contact a designer.
This isn’t a small task. Branding includes:
- Your logo
- Company colors
- Graphics
- Icons
- Approved photography
- Approved typography
- Approved brand colors
- Approved buzzwords and lingo
- Copy and style guidelines
Branding will morph into its own, substantial deck, but you must have an idea of where you’re going before you design your first piece of marketing material—for investors, for potential employees, etc. You need to know what you’re going to look like, what image you’re trying to portray.
Having a well-defined branding strategy will help you look like a pro from day one!
10. Wrap it up in your own deck
I’ve created a simplified version of a branding and messaging deck that you’re welcome to copy, modify, alter, and make your own. You’ll find areas where you need to expand. You’ll most certainly find something is missing that’s unique to your idea. Go ahead, add a new page. You’ll find places where you’ll struggle. That’s a good thing to do when you’re trying to wrap one big idea into a simple statement. So, take your time and do it right from the beginning.
Make it as complete as possible and share it with your marketing and design agencies. Doing the work to know your business will pay off, but it’s important to take the time to do it right.
Download and subscribe
Get the branding and messaging deck template and then subscribe to Alter Ethos to be notified of future articles about optimizing your online presence through your existing — or new — website and how to be effective in your marketing.
To get help fleshing out your branding and messaging deck, reach out to us at connect@alterethos.engineering. We‘re here to help you make your biggest impact online.
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