You’ve got a great idea, created a business plan, and put all your effort into starting your own business. Congratulations! You are now one of the people fighting hard for their dreams, for what they want to create and achieve!
But, to be successful in the competitive business world, you need more than a great idea and a lot of work. To make the world notice you and to attract your ideal customers and business partners, you need to find ways to stand out as an entrepreneur. You’ll have to bring all your guns to the fight if you want to set yourself up on the best path to success. Luckily, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel: there are tried and proven ways to do that.
Create a strong brand
One of the most important things to do when you start your own business is to define your brand identity and create a strategy to express it. Having a powerful brand is crucial to any entrepreneur. Your brand is how your customers see you, or, as Jeff Bezos said: “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.”
Creating a brand is not an easy thing (or a quick one), but, with the right help, you can start right and continue to develop it over time. Your brand should be aligned with who you are, with your values and mission, and it should be consistent on all your platforms and marketing materials. A strong brand is not just a logo; it starts from the smallest details and goes on to the most visible part of your business. Your brand will show in the pictures you add on your website and social media, the messages you put out there, the colors and fonts.
Collaborate with strong brands
By aligning yourself with strong brands that share similar values to yours, you reinforce your brand, so don’t stand alone in the field! Try to find a few amazing brands to collaborate with on meaningful projects. This cross-promotion will be beneficial to both and will help expand the customer base. Customers of one brand will check the other as well. You might think this is counterintuitive — to share the attention with other brands, but, in fact, this will help you create a powerful brand that shows it’s not afraid to share the spotlight.
Position yourself as an expert
As an entrepreneur, you should project an image of confidence, of someone who knows what they’re doing and can be trusted with the work. Positioning yourself as an expert in your field will gain trust for your brand. You can do that by consistently sharing valuable information of your website and your social media, taking part in conferences and workshops, interviews in the media. Creating a network of other experts around you will also help, as this will help you build expertise while also giving you the “vote of confidence” from other experts in your field.
Show your passion
If you are like me, you started your entrepreneurial journey, most probably out of a passion for what you do. Your dedication is what keeps you going, even when obstacles are thrown in your way. Make sure not to keep that passion hidden; let people see it, let them see your personality and your love for your work. Passion makes you sparkle in a conversation and makes you more persuasive. And if it’s something that people love, it’s being inspired by other passionate, determined, driven people. When you talk with passion, the right people will follow.
Share knowledge
Collaboration and sharing knowledge with other entrepreneurs could do as much for you as it does for the person you’re sharing with. From being part of mastermind groups to answering questions on LinkedIn groups, help your fellow entrepreneurs and receive help in return. Sometimes it might be just a “thank you”, other times you might benefit from hearing a perspective that is different from yours, or you might find an amazing business partner for future projects – the sky is the limit! You will stand out as a knowledgeable entrepreneur, as a “go to” person, and it will also help position yourself as an expert.
Believe in yourself
This might be the one factor that will determine your success as an entrepreneur: the trust in yourself and in your abilities to reach your dreams. The confidence will not only help you stay on your path and make powerful decisions, but also to overcome failure (and a certain amount of failure is inevitable in business) and show your clients and competitors that you are strong and not going anywhere soon.
These are only a few things that you can do to stand out in the entrepreneurial world. It’s a continuous endeavor and, in time, you will find out what works best for you. Good luck, I know you can do it!
Kasia Giska