BRAND NEWs

You know I was thinking that there must be a reason that only 5% of all of the start-up companies in the US make it through the first 5 years of their lives, by the way that’s the numbers that the SBA (Small Business Administration) put out, not me.

Having started two companies of my own from scratch, I think that there are probably lot’s of excuses as to why these folks don’t make it, but in reality there are just a couple of reasons. Usually they just do not have enough money to get them through the first year and three month and they get into a cash flow problem. Yes Cash Fow is King! The second reason is that while they may be great practicioners at what they do, they have never run a business before and therefore have zero experience in doing all of the things that move a business forward. For instance, they have never written a business plan, a marketing plan, a brand plan, hired people, and on and on. But the overall biggest mistake they make is that their marketing stinks, and let’s face it whatever category you are working in, it is just that, a category, which in itself says there is more than one of you doing whaatever it is that you do. You have to find a way to separate you from the herd, and like an old friend of mine always says, you don’t have to be outstanding, but you do have to stand out.

Please let me have your input as to why you think so many US businesses fail, yes 50% in the first year and 95% within 5 years.

I thought that there is so much information written by so many “Brand Experts” that I would start a monthly newsletter that would be really useful for the “Small to Medium sized” businesses. Where they could get information that is easy to understand and easy to enact.

What is Branding? Honestly if you ask 10 Branding Experts you will probably get 10 different answers. So why is my opinion any better, well because its based on my founding not 1 but 2 businesses from scratch and they both did very well. Frankly “Branding” is all about business, getting it right and doing it better than the competition does. Branding is Business! It has evolved over the years to become this mystical thing that only branding experts can really understand, and frankly I think that’s bologna. If you are excited about creating whatever it is that you create, and want to make sure that your customers have a great experience, then the chances are that you already creating a great brand.

Jack Sims www.jacksims.com