What Does It Mean To Brand Your Business?

Most think of branding in very simple terms.  The words ‘brand’ and ‘business’ are used interchangeably in daily conversations, but it is more complicated than that.  Here is something to consider: one can have a business without a brand, and a brand without a business.  To further explain this, business and brand will be defined, and it will be shown that one can integrate into the other.

What Constitutes A Business?

There are many types of establishments, and not all of them exist for the purpose of acquiring a profit.  There are “non-profit“ establishments, and an example of this is a charitable organization.  These non-profit organizations are structured the same as a company with members and governing authorities, but they lack profit which is a crucial element of a business.

A business is an individual or a group that is obtaining a profit through their operations.  For instance, if there is an individual with specific skills and is making available his or her services on an online platform such as Craigslist, and then receiving payment for it, then this is a business.

In this trade, SELLER, PRODUCT, BUYER, and PROFIT are the four key elements.

Returning to the above example, the freelancer who is offering services on Craigslist would be the seller.  The product is the rendered services such as filing of income tax returns, designing of websites, and etc.  The client who pays for the services would be the buyer.  Profit is the earned amount after expenses such as cost of necessary material to complete the work.

Any entity (individual or group) is a business if these four elements exist.  This is true without paying any regard to whether the operations are done on a small or large scale, or if the transactions are carried out open or close door.

Being a brand is a different matter.

What Constitutes a Brand?

When a business goes beyond that just simply existing as a business, then that is a brand.  The attribution of a product to an idea is another way to define the word ‘brand’. As previously pointed out, all brands are businesses, but not all businesses can become brands.

Let’s take Nike as an example of branding.  When one hears the word ‘Nike‘, shoes, sports, basketball, and basically anything related to energy and athletic endeavors comes to one’s mind.  This demonstrates branding.

Another way to explain branding is when your product or service has reached the subconscious level of the people, and they associate and correlate items your brand portrays as if the two convey the same thing.

Most think of a Jacuzzi as a tub filled with bubbling water.  In truth, a Jacuzzi is a brand that manufactures mattresses and toilets as well.  All brands of hot tubs are still called a Jacuzzi, even in instances when the hot tub had been produced by another company!

There is a brand of lip balm known as Chapstick.  All these different kinds of lip balms, even those from other manufacturers, are referred to as Chapstick.  This demonstrates that the business managed to influence its product`s industry to such an extent that it has taken over the generic term for the product.

If you want your business to be first and foremost in the minds of the masses, then you must have concrete branding strategies. To be on the right track, you must come up with a really good name for your future brand.

Focusing on generating an income and developing your product(s) are essential.  However, these activities will not commemorate your brand.  You need to select a promotional product that will display your brand for the long-term and will be seen numerous times, so how about checking out wholesale stadium cushions by Promocenter International?  People’s confidence is also what you need to make your products stand out and help your business operate for the long-term.

Just being a business will not cut it. You should have your own brand.