From Fortune 500 Branding Employee to Small Business Entrepreneur

The following is adapted from Your Brand Should Be Gay (Even If You’re Not) by Re Perez.

I didn’t exactly know how to run a business, but I was determined not to be another cog-in-the-wheel employee again.

In creating a separation from the Fortune 500 environment, I quickly found myself surrounded by entrepreneurs and small business owners. I started to observe their way of thinking and approach to building businesses — as well as their branding.

I remember thinking that their entire approach to branding couldn’t have been more different to that of the Fortune 500 companies I was accustomed to.

I couldn’t help but negatively critique their lack of a clear message, poorly designed logos, confusing marketing copy, non-functional websites, and even their ink-jet-printed business cards.

I felt compelled to tell them candidly and unabashedly to STOP doing what they’re doing because it was just so bad.

I offered suggestions on how they could make their branding better, clearer, and more professional. While you’d think most people would get easily hurt or offended, I got a different response.

My new entrepreneurial friends were appreciative. It was the first time someone was direct and brutally honest with them, while at the same time able to provide valuable tips and constructive ideas on how to improve.

My biggest takeaway: Entrepreneurs and small businesses “don’t know what they didn’t know” when it comes to branding.

They either didn’t know “branding” even existed, or they thought branding was synonymous with marketing or logo design. They couldn’t grasp that branding is both an art (design, colors, graphics, imagery, fonts) and science (psychology, sociology, cognitive linguistics).

Everything about branding that came so natural to me was completely revolutionary to them.

They were astounded by the depth of my training and knowledge in the field. Their acknowledgment of my expertise wasn’t what amazed me.

Rather, it was the look in their eyes and their physiology shift when they began to see the world differently. It was as if I had given them their first pair of prescription glasses, and they could see clear shapes at a great distance.

They began to understand the art and science behind the process. Branding became a “want” they hadn’t even known they wanted.

Inevitably, they would ask if they could hire me to build their brand.

When I received my first check from a client, I quietly celebrated and told myself: “I’m now in business.” Because I now had “proof of concept” that small businesses could benefit from my Fortune 500 background and experience.

For more advice on brand strategy, you can find Your Brand Should Be Gay (Even If You’re Not) on Amazon.

RE PEREZ is the CEO, founder, and Chief Brand Strategist of Branding For The People, an award-winning branding agency that utilizes the diverse expertise in Fortune 500-level branding strategies, forward-thinking design, and conversion-oriented marketing best practices to create authentic, disruptive, and profitable brands. With a proven track record advising clients across 100+ different industries and professions, from high-growth entrepreneurs to expanding small-to-midsize businesses, his clients often credit him for doubling, tripling, or quadrupling their business and impact, while in the process transforming their approach to how they run their business and lives.