Your Business Plan Should Begin with Differentiation

For your business to be truly differentiated from the competition, you have to be doing something that no one else is doing. Even if you’re offering a product or service that is similar to what other people are doing, you need to make sure that your company is offering that product or service in a different way. Especially if you’re creating a startup, differentiation is the most essential component of your business plan.

The first way that most startups seek to differentiate themselves is through product features. After all, most new business ideas start with someone thinking to themselves, “I could do that better.” When you know how your company will be doing something different, you’re halfway to establishing a great brand. Now you just have to find a way to communicate that to others.

Differentiating Yourself With Branding

While making a better product that stands out from the rest is a key component to differentiation, branding can set your company apart just as much as product features can. Even if your company is in truth offering something similar to others, establishing a unique point of view through branding helps you to send the signal to people that you are really doing something that no one else is doing.

Branding – The Big Picture

A branding business plan includes a lot of different aspects, so instead of going through each of them, we’re going to talk about how to think about branding conceptually as a whole. Branding is like a first impression. When you meet a new person, you immediately make a series of snap judgements based on signals they send out through their clothes, their voice, the way they speak and carry themselves. Your brand sends these signals for your company. Branding starts with a company name, but it also includes all the other verbal and visual elements that reveal your personality to potential customers.

If you’re struggling with making a business plan that differentiates your company effectively on your own, one thing you can do is work with branding experts. A Hundred Monkeys has an experienced team of top-notch branding experts who know just how to distill the unique aspects of your company into something that gets your audience’s attention.