How to tell you're ready to hire a professional

As a brand designer myself, I keep harping on about the importance of brand design and how it can truly transform your business. But contrary to popular belief, I don't think it really is a good investment for every business. And you also don’t need to rebrand every year to stay relevant. So let’s take a look at the biggest misconceptions and the telltale signs to look out for that tell you when you are ready to invest in brand design!

The misconception

Here’s the truth: Brand design is not a good investment for everyone. As a rule of thumb, if you’ve just started out, brand design is not the investment you need to make in your business unless you start with a brick-and-mortar location or you sell luxury products. You should have been in business for at least 6 months (I actually recommend 1-2 years) before you invest in brand design.

Why? Because chances are that in those first couple of months (or years) in business, things will shift and move constantly. I speak from experience here. When I started out I wanted to serve a completely different audience than I do now. The thing is, in theory, we all have great ideas about who our dream clients and customers are and how our dream business will look like. But reality is often different and you need to make those experiences first. Before you have your processes down and know who your dream clients are, it’s simply too soon to invest in brand design. That is the foundation for any good brand design. Without it, it might look pretty, but it won’t actually help you. Using something semi-custom or pre-made instead is perfectly fine at that stage of your business.

→ Design is not a magical fix. If your business isn’t there yet, brand design will not be able to cover that up. So first, make sure you have a strong foundation.

There are of course exceptions. I mentioned it earlier, but if you start with a brick-and-mortar location or retail products, it makes sense to invest in branding upfront. The reason is simple: It’s much harder and more expensive to rebrand a location, such as a store, than it is to rebrand anything that’s online. When you want to break into retail with your products from the start, it also makes sense to invest in brand design from the start, because packaging will have a big impact on how your products are being seen. If you’re unsure of whether it makes sense for you to invest right now or wait, fill out this inquiry form to book a free consultation call with me.

So now that we have the biggest misconception out of the way, let’s look at the telltale signs that tell you when you should be investing in brand design:

Sign No. 01/03

You feel overwhelmed and your taste changes constantly

Does this sound like you: You spend hours on that IG post and you just can’t get it right. Whenever you see a design you like, you feel slightly jealous or even try to emulate that style. You just can’t decide what colors or fonts are right for you, so you keep experimenting. You keep editing your website but it never turns out how you want. And you spend way too much time going through design tutorials.

Yep, we’ve all been there. But the fact is, that you are wasting your precious time. As a business owner you have so many hats to wear, don’t add design apprentice to the list. Unfortunately learning design skills takes years and you have a business to run in the meantime.

→ Investing in professional design will save you all that time second-guessing yourself. A good designer will also teach you all the skills you need to use your design effectively.

Budget option: Invest in a semi-custom brand or design templates until you’re financially ready to invest in professional design. There’s nothing wrong with starting there!

Sign No. 02/03

You’re pivoting or your target audience is changing

Maybe you already have a professional brand design or you’ve been happy with the DIY solution until now. If your offering or target audience changes, it’s time to go back to the drawing board! Let’s say you have a skincare brand and so far you’ve only targeted a female audience but now you’re including a line for men as well. That’s a big shift in your audience and your branding will need to reflect that in order to bring in those new people as well.

One of my clients used to focus on wedding photography along with brand photography, so when we first worked together her brand needed to reflect that at the time and speak to both audiences. But recently she decided to focus entirely on brand photography so we worked together again, although technically the design was still good. But now she has a brand that is attracting only the people she wants to work with now.

→ Investing in professional design will make sure your new season in business will be successful and you will attract your dream clients and customers.

Sign No. 03/03

You don’t feel confident sending people to your website / social accounts

We’ve all been there. The dreaded website shame. Believe me, my first website was embarrassing and I hated giving people the link to it. I hated giving out my business card too. And not because I wasn’t confident in my work as such, but because my website wasn’t accurately showcasing my skills. Today I design websites for a living and I’m proud as hell that you’re currently here reading this!

But the thing is, every time I didn’t give someone my link or handed out my business card, I was missing a real opportunity! Whenever you don’t feel confident in sharing your work and showing up you’re losing money. Also if you don’t feel confident in your brand, why should anyone else?

→ Investing in professional design will help you to show up with confidence and represent your business authentically.

In conclusion:

Strategic brand design will give you clarity on your brand, a look that reflects your purpose and the confidence to step into who you are, so you can build a business that lights you up and that attracts your dream clients and customers. But if you’re just starting out, don’t know who you’re serving or frankly don’t have the money to invest in a professional designer you’re better off waiting until you’re ready.