Growing a small business into a sustainable operation is a daily hustle. From finance, accounting, sales, and marketing to general administration, entrepreneurs have to wear a lot of hats to make their businesses a success. As a result, small business owners don’t have much time to worry about nuances of design, although is essential because it sets a brand apart from its competitors.
When small business owners are thinking about ways to improve delivery and increase profitability, design is almost always the last thing to come to mind. In some cases, it doesn’t even come up. You have run your business for the last 30 years without design and probably don’t need it now, right? Wrong, unfortunately. Times have changed, your business needs this. We’re not in the 80s anymore. Here are five reasons why design is essential for small businesses:
Marketing
Good design helps businesses — large and small — to sell more sans being “salesy.” The way you brand your business can make the difference between closing one lead in a day and closing five in an hour. New customers are vital to the survival of a small business, and the more you can bring in, the better. With good design, you don’t have to force the message on your clients.
Technology has grown, and some companies like Facebook have developed to a point where it’s possible to slice hundreds of millions of users into segments based on things like age, race, ethnicity, and employment status. Some social media marketers even placed housing and employment ads targeting certain races or ethnicities. The Facebook corporate office has decided to scrape off the tools that allowed ethnic affinity targeting ads in various markets like employment and housing.
Finance
An outstanding design creates financial value for a brand, something your small business definitely needs. Your brand is an asset, so make sure to nurture it from an early state. Eventually, it will grow into something so big that you will actually need help to deal with. A good design can help you do that, so treat it as an asset. Cultivate a stylish and aesthetic design, one that appeals to customers.
Attract Like-Minded Employees
Employees are an essential part of a business. As an entrepreneur, you have to make sure to hire those people who believe in the company vision. If you can achieve that, then you don’t have to worry about assets and where they will come from. You are sitting on the most important asset in the business world. The rest will happen organically. Good design will ensure that you attract the best, not to mention like-minded, employees.
Differentiator
A good design sets your business apart from the rest. If you want to run a successful business, you need to differentiate yourself from the competition, that’s entrepreneurship 101. Design can be a visible and immediate differentiator in any market setting. Many small business owners neglect design and focus on the quality of their products and services, which is indeed important, but not as important as a good design that will complement these factors and help your business grow.
Inspire Confidence
Amateur design can damage the confidence your clients have in you. If you want to create long-lasting relationships with your investors, partners, and clients, you need to take very good care of the image you want to portray. As the old saying goes: Dress for the job you want, not the one you have.
Starting and running a successful business is not easy. One of the factors necessary for the growth of a business is design. Design is essential for small businesses, but it’s almost always ignored. Don’t make that mistake. The earlier you start cultivating a style and design aesthetic for your business, the better.
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