5 Ways That Small Business Owners Sabotage Their Own Brands

We’ve all seen it. A company that you love, that could be huge if they just wouldn’t try to do it all alone. You love the product, you love the workers, you love the concept of the business, but you refuse to share the information and put that horrible logo on your social media timeline because it makes the company look unprofessional. Well here it is, I’m gonna lay out 5 ways that small business owners sabotage their own brands. And by branding I mean everything that others see and think of about a company.

1. A bad logo, designed by the owner of the company or one of their teenage relatives is a very effective way to ensure that your company stays local only. I remember posting a question on FaceBook asking how much people expected to pay for a logo design. Of course I got all kinds of answers ranging from free to thousands of dollars. But the answers that stuck out to me and created dialogue were the two who said something to the effect of “I can design my own logo for free”. The people who responded this way had designed their own logos and both had mildly successful businesses. One maintained success by getting city and state contracts and didn’t really need a logo, his target audience was the people who assigned the contracts and one of them was his family. The other, was a hustler who had 4 businesses, all of which were successful enough to make the four salaries seem like one very good salary. But neither had a good logo and neither could gain any business off their brand identity alone should that family member lose their job or 2 of those businesses become less profitable. They were stagnant and had no growth because their logos weren’t recognizable nor did the logos represent their respective companies. So if you’re content with the level of success that you have, then I apologize for wasting the three minutes of your life that it took to read number 1. However, if you want more success, I suggest that you allow someone who knows that a logo is meant to be recognized and remembered to create your logo. Hire someone who knows how to communicate your brand message with icons, fonts, and colors.

2. No uniformity. In high school I worked at Taco Bell. Of course being a giant restaurant chain, we wore uniforms. But, whenever there was a new promotion or sale we would get t-shirts to wear advertising that promotion. During the time of the promotion, these t-shirts were considered our uniforms. After working there for 2 and a half years I had collected quite a few t-shirts. Of course as fly as I was in high school, I couldn’t wear these shirts anywhere except to work so in the summer, rather than wearing the standard uniform, my coworkers and I would wear the t-shirts to work. Now, rather than having a restaurant run by 10 people in uniformed shirts and slacks, we had a restaurant full of teenagers in 10 different t-shirts. One day the Regional Manager came for a surprise visit and saw this and she lost it. We were technically in uniform but our uniformity was lost, thereby compromising the company brand. This can happen with the colors, fonts, and even the photo filters used in company collateral as well. Your logo sends one message, while your site sends another message, and your brochures send yet another. One of the quickest ways to sabotage your brand is to have every part of your brand look different. Then you have a restaurant full of teenagers in different t-shirts, not a brand.

3. Bad customer service. “Treat a customer well, he’ll tell a friend. Treat a customer shitty, she’ll tell 20 friends. ” -unknown

I can’t remember where I read that quote so I can’t cite it, but it stuck with me. What will your current customers say to your future customers about how you treat them? The customer experience is the biggest part of your branding. Word of mouth continues to be one of the best forms of marketing in all industries and the words said about your company will make people either come to you or run from you. As a Brand Strategist I see it all the time. People who think their brand is a bunch of logos, fonts, website, and colors. This stuff makes up your brand identity and is a huge part of your branding, but your brand is the results of all that stuff added to the customer experience. Take a second to think about a company that leaves a sour taste in your mouth and ask yourself when you’re going back to them or telling your friends to patronize them. Brand successfully sabotaged.

4. Bad product photography. Imagine, you google silk scarfs and a company pops up that has a website, and the company is near your home. You get excited about the proximity of the store so you want to know more. But when you open the site, all of the photography looks like it was taken with a Walmart cell phone and the silk scarfs look more like burlap. Will this make you order a scarf? But the place is right around the corner, surely those burlap photos will make you visit the store, right? Probably not. You can have the finest product line in the world but if potential customers can’t look at the photography and feel the texture of the product or at least one of their senses isn’t stimulated, you have likely lost that customer. Also you can have great photography but the photography isn’t uniformed: some photos are close ups while others look like the photographer was across the room; and it will turn the customer off just as fast. Their senses and curiosity are confused. Bad product photography hurts your brand.

5. Unprofessional sounding domains and emails. Let’s say I meet you at a networking event. Your elevator speech is fantastic! I’m impressed and intrigued. I’m ready to spend money with you.

“How can I learn more?”

“Visit my site stevenstastytreats.wix.175566.com or email me at [email protected].”

“Alright, thanks Steven it was great talking with you.”

There is no way Steven thinks I’m gonna remember any of that, ever visit his site, or contact him again. He had me! I was really feeling what he was saying but seeing as how it costs just $10 per year to purchase a domain and $5 a month (some hosting companies give them to you free of charge) for a professional email corresponding with the domain, Steven has shown me that he’s either ignorant, lazy, cheap, or likes to cut corners. Why would I buy his tasty treats? He has successfully sabotaged his brand.

So there you have it. Five ways small business owners quickly sabotage their own brands and succeed at losing customers. Do you know of any more brand sabotaging methods? Please share in the comments and share the link to this post with your friends so that they don’t make these same mistakes. See ya next time.