Serendipity can be defined as the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy and beneficial way. This is certainly how I have learnt about branding and it has taken me a while.
I am lucky we have support from paid professionals with all things branding, plus I am extremely lucky to have an inner circle of professionals, business colleagues and friends to call upon when I am struggling in this area.
I am not known for being indecisive but when it comes to branding I often find myself repeating ‘ I don’t know what I want but I don’t want that’. I am certainly not of the generation who can talk with confidence about SEO (search engine optimisation) nor do I understand the intricacies of various social media platforms and how their algorithms work. However I certainly know more than I did.
I struggled for years in acknowledging what various branding folk were telling me which was in order to build the BEC as a brand then people wanted to know my story as the CEO. It felt uncomfortable, from my perspective it was not about me it was about the business I proudly hold the leadership of, with the support of a fab in-house team and wider support from our mentors, trainers and content experts. Except that all these media folk kept telling me the same thing, people want to know the story behind the business.
I have noticed a shift in consumerism over the last few years, and post pandemic this is certainly the case lots of customers are looking to use more ethically sourced products and services and are keen to know the person behind the brand. Over the last few years in the world of hospitality I have had to get used to be called Luke West-Whylie’ mum as he and his partners build their brand around their restaurant and wine business. It felt weird but I am proud and the odd free glass of wine from a restaurant owner is always well received!
Undeniably for start-ups and micro businesses building a brand is not easy as you have to juggle every role within your business. You are the finance officer, the HR person, the sales assistant and the brand manager. We all acknowledge the importance of managing a brand but it is hard.
Here at the BEC we want to help and so we are launching the Brand Hub a new network of start up and creative, solopreneurs of any age who can come and learn about branding. The events will be a mix of professionals and peer learning. Most of all we want to deliver what our small business community is looking for, so please do reach out to me if you have ideas.
The Brand Hub will be a monthly event with a rolling calender of topics over six months it will not be compulsory to come to all the events we just want to plug the gap in knowledge so feel free to dip in and out as you see fit.
We look forward to meeting you at our first event in Three Sixty Workrooms on Tuesday 17th September at 6pm. Please do get in touch if you want to support or have ideas: [email protected]