Why do people buy from you?

If you analyse why people buy a particular product or service, the list might include things such as it is cheaper, the product has a special feature that others do not have, the service is nearby and very convenient, its running costs or maintenance is less, and there is 24-hour guaranteed service. These are all rational reasons, capable of proof. If your product or service has one feature, or more, that is like this you have a primary benefit. You may be able to achieve your sales on this alone.

The list of reasons why people buy a product might also include it is better, it looks good, the quality of the service is high, it is believed to be very reliable, it is better value for money, and the design is excellent. These are all emotional reasons, which may be real or imagined. But they reflect how customers feel about a product.

A combination of the emotional and the rational reasons gives a product its reputation (or brand image).

How does your product rate?

Your product may have some unique element; if so, you are probably unusual. The chances are that there is nothing that much different or better about what you are going to do than your competitors’ offerings. But that does not mean you will not be more profitable, make more sales and get a bigger share of the market than someone with a product that does have unique features.

Creating a ‘good feeling’ among buyers about your product can give you a better general reputation and can make you better thought of and more widely known. Giving your business an identity can make you successful.

However, creating an image of quality and reliability for a utilitarian product can lead to a downfall if your product or service does not live up to it. The product must be good even if it is not the best; the service must be reliable even if not the most reliable.

Where does name come in?

You want the name of your business or product to summarise all the emotional and rational feelings about the product. So if a potential customer hears the name, it instantly gives a good connotation. On day one of your business, this will not happen. You must plan to achieve it over a number of years.

Your first step is to select a name that does not, by itself, cause any feeling of antipathy. Ideally, the name on its own should give a clue to your image. You should at least aim for the name to generate neutral feelings in the early stages, until you have built the image from scratch.

Of course, your choice of names may be severely limited by what is available as a web address.

One name or two?

Should your business and product share the same name? There is no clear-cut answer to this one, and for a small business it may not be very important. You will not have the resources to create two brand images, one for the product and one for your business. In any case, it could be confusing. So even with separate names, you will be promoting only one.

If I’m selling to industry, do I bother with image?

Yes. You may be selling to a buyer from an industrial firm but, with the other hat on, the buyer is also a normal human being. This means that he or she will probably have the same number of prejudices as a member of the general public buying soap. It is as important to create a good feeling about your product with an industrial customer as with a domestic one.

If my product has a unique feature, do I have to bother with image?

Yes. You may have some original feature, but once you have launched it on the market, your competitors will be beavering away to make sure that it does not stay unique for very long. And, on the whole, you cannot patent an idea, only a mechanism, so you may not be able to rely on protection (p. 111). If you do not concentrate on the image of your product, and your competitive advantage is subsequently eroded because other products are improved, the future of your business may not look so rosy. Building an image for your product is a low-risk safety route.

What image do you want to create?

This is all linked up with the market research you will have done (p. 21), a crucial stage of your planning. You will have found that there are sectors within the market. For example, if you were considering opening a picture framing business, you might find the following sectors: do-it-yourself, speedy service, mail order, high-quality frames, and a service with advice from a designer or artist.

Your research will identify the size and growth of each sector, where the competition lies, and what are the prime demands by customers in each sector. In turn, your decisions will be to go for one or more sectors, to look at your service compared with the competitors’ and to focus on what your customer wants. This will give you guidance on what sort of image to build for your business.

Logo – a no-go?

A logo or logotype may be nothing more than a word, the name of your company or product, always shown in the same typeface or in the same colour, or, perhaps, within a simple shape. It could also include an unusual or memorable shape; one that people will recognise quickly and eventually come to associate with all their perceptions of your product.

Using a logo can emphasise your name and get greater customer awareness. If you can afford to do it, do it. But do not rely on your web programmer or printer. Paying a skilled designer may be worthwhile (p. 211). In your dealings with your designer, specify that the logo must be cheap to reproduce, as once you have got it, you will use it on everything you can.

Do not make snap decisions on logos; if you can, try a little bit of market research on potential buyers to assess their reaction or possibly ask colleagues, family or friends.

Tips on choosing a name

1. Made-up words can make good product or business names. They may not arouse any positive feelings about your business, but they are also unlikely to create negative ones. If you are going to register that name as a trade mark, there is more chance of coming up with something distinctive and less chance of objections from firms already named something similar if it is a made-up word (p. 116). This may also help in getting an appropriate web address.
2. If you are going to use an existing word, if possible try it out on potential buyers to check that you will not create a bad impression simply because of the name.
3. Use brainstorming sessions with family and friends as well as colleagues to produce a list of names for consideration.
4. Check that the name you prefer is not used by another product or business in the same or a similar market. (There is no automatic search for similar names when you seek to register a trade mark, but anyone already using a similar name can apply to block your registration.)
5. Avoid initials: it is difficult in the short term to create a comfortable feeling about a business or product with initials.
6. If you think that some of your business will come through alphabetic listings, choose names beginning with A.
7. Check that the name you choose does not mean anything nasty in a foreign language (for example, use translate in Google or check online). If you are interested in selling throughout Europe, consider whether your proposed name is suitable.
8. Very complicated words need careful consideration. If a customer has to ask you to spell the word when it is first mentioned, this can be a positive reinforcement for recognition in future. But if it is just too difficult, it may be a disadvantage.
9. Finally, ask yourself if the name seems right for the image you want to project.

What the law says about names

With a limited company or a limited liability partnership (LLP) (see p. 64), you will not be allowed to register names that:

• are considered the same as that of an existing company or LLP. You can check this by looking at the index at Companies House*.
• contain ‘limited’ or its equivalent anywhere else in your company name but at the end.
• could be considered offensive or illegal.

And you’re unlikely to be able to register a name that could give the impression of a connection with the government, the devolved administrations, a local authority or other public authority. There is also a range of words that require the agreement of the Secretary of State or various other bodies before you can use them. Examples are Abortion, British, Charity, Royal, Windsor, National and English. There are around 145 of these words altogether. There are other rules about company and LLP names, so advice from your solicitor* would be helpful. Guidance on names for companies and limited liability partnerships is available from www.gov.uk, ‘Choosing a name for your company, partnership or business’.

If you are a sole trader and want to use a business name other than your own surname, there are certain rules you have to observe, and the same names which are prohibited or sensitive for company or LLP use (see above) also apply in this context. You are not required to register your business name anywhere, but you must disclose your own name in various ways. You must put your own name and address legibly on all business correspondence, on written orders for goods and services, on invoices and on written demands for payments of debts. You must display your name and address prominently at your business premises or at any place to which your customers and suppliers have access. And if anyone with whom you are discussing business asks you to disclose your own name and address, you must do so immediately in writing.

If you are going to trade under a name that is not your own, consider registering it as a trade mark (see p. 116). You won’t be able to register a name that is descriptive of your product or service (because this would be too restrictive for other businesses), but if you choose a name that is made up or unusual you may be able to do so. And registering it as a trade mark would give you some sort of protection for the investment you are making to build a brand image.

If you will be trading under your own name, you could still apply to trade-mark it. This might be especially worth doing if you have built up a reputation that would enhance the image of your business – say, you are a sports personality selling sports equipment. Following a European Court ruling, an application to register a name as a trade mark is now more likely to be successful than in the past, even if it is a relatively common name.

Your own web site

Having your own web site is often the single most important way for small businesses and the self-employed to create some type of image about themselves. Setting up a web site is usually a key step in starting a new business, and an effective web presence can be a vital marketing tool. Despite this, you should always ask yourself what the benefits would be. These could include:

• increasing sales by allowing customers to buy online;
• keeping ahead of the competition with a professional online presence;
• reducing costs by removing some of the overheads;
• attracting more customers by promoting a positive brand image;
• encouraging interaction and feedback with your customers.

Your web site is more important than your real-world location as you can buy and sell from all over the globe. E-commerce transactions can occur at any time on any day of the year, and the costs of operating online may be considerably cheaper.

Even if you don’t use your web site to generate online sales it can still help to promote your brand. Your web site may be the first point of contact that many potential customers and suppliers have with your business. It acts as an online brochure and is constantly updateable and accessible from anywhere in the world. This makes it a vital marketing tool and, whether you opt for a simple web site that just provides basic information and contact details or a professionally designed site packed with information, it is essential that you get it right.

The question of what you want your web site to achieve will have a big impact on the design and how much you need to spend on it. If you have a limited budget and some experience in this area, you may decide to save money and design it yourself. This could be feasible if you just want a basic web site, but is likely to be a false economy if it is going to be an important part of your business. Think about it in the same way that you would any other investment and try to estimate whether it will generate an adequate return.

An expert web designer will do all this for you and will help you define, design and deliver a site that is tailored to suit your customers. They can also work with you to improve the content, structure and image to make sure that your web site effectively translates your brand to the World Wide Web. There are hundreds of web design companies to choose from, and the cost can be anything from a few hundred pounds to many thousands of pounds depending on what you want. The UK Web Design Association* web site says you can search amongst 10,000 registered designers to find the one you want.

The branding on your web site should be an extension of the branding on your product, invoices and so on. Ideally, the domain (the site name or URL) should be the name of your product or company to strengthen your branding still further. Web site names are registered with Nominet UK*. See p. 133 for ideas on how to maximise the number of people who visit your web site.

You will also need to find a company that will host your web site. If you use a web designer, they should be able to advise you on this, or you could use the same company that you bought your domain from. One important point to consider is how much web traffic you are expecting. Each of your online visitors will download a certain amount of data and, if your site contains a lot of images or videos, then you’ll probably need a package with a higher bandwidth limit. Otherwise a one-gigabyte monthly data transfer limit should be sufficient. Costs normally start at less than £10 per month, but can be substantially higher.

E-mail communications

One of the advantages of having your own web site is that it gives you the opportunity to communicate with existing and potential customers. If a customer has bought items online from you in the past then you may already have their contact details and their permission to use them. Alternatively, you could allow online visitors to register an interest so that you can get in touch with them about new products and special offers.

Make sure you comply with all the rules about getting consent, offering opt-outs etc. The Information Commisioner has useful guidence on https://ico.org.uk/for-organisation/business, including an assessment checklist for small business owners.

The rules and regulations surrounding the use of brought-in lists are complex and it probably doesn’t make much commerical sense to go to the expense of doing this. If you want to try it, best to take expert advice.

An e-mail should communicate your brand and you should create a template so that every e-mail you send is formatted in the same way. This should include your logo and use the same colours and fonts as your web site so that your brand is consistent across all the different types of media. You may be able to do this yourself using your e-mail software, otherwise your web designer should be able to help you. There are also online services that specialise in this area (see p. 136 for more information about e-mail marketing).

Labels and stickers

If you can see any opportunity for using labels and stickers on your products, seize it. These can also carry the message you want. There must be continuity with your chosen branding: colour, style, typeface and logo. In a shop, you might consider having price stickers. On garments or other material items such as rugs, tableware and so on, labels should be sewn in.

Packaging

The package says lots about the goods, so take the opportunity to reinforce the message you are sending to customers. The style of the packaging should be consistent with all the other items for promoting your image, and with your chosen image itself. Packaging is an extension or even an integral part of your products.

Other ideas

These can all help to build your reputation:

• advertising;
• public relations;
• appearance of salespeople;
• how you answer the telephone;
• vehicles: their cleanliness and livery – i.e. the colour or markings on them.

Other chapters to read

3 ‘Who will buy?’ (p. 21); 7 ‘Getting ready to start’ (p. 57); 12 ‘Getting the message across’ (p. 131); 13 ‘Getting new customers’ (p. 151); 14 ‘Building customer relationships’ (p. 169); 17 ‘Professional back-up’ (p. 207).