As business owners, it’s easy for us to get consumed by the constant need to make business decisions. But all-too-often we get so caught up in reflexive decision making that we lose sight of the single-most important thing about our business: our brand.

Branding Word Art“Brand” is not a buzzword. Forbes says, “Your ‘brand’ is what your prospect thinks of when he or she hears your brand name”. That’s a simple definition, but it says a lot. To your customer, your brand is anything and everything they think or feel when they think of you, whether you wanted them to think or feel those things or not. So basically, your brand is the most important thing in your world, and you have to make sure every decision you make is a reflection of what you want your brand to be.

Steering your brand in the direction you want to go isn’t a simple fix, but steering yourself back to the heart of your brand is. By answering 10 questions you can snap yourself out of the auto-management mode and get your brain back on the heart of your business. Read below and make sure you write down the answers to these questions. You’ll want to revisit them often and evolve as needed.

The Top 10 Questions Bring You Back To Your Brand

  1. What is your mission?
  2. Where do you see your company in 5 years? 10?
  3. Who are your customers? Describe your ideal customer.
  4. Prior to actually doing business with you, how do you want your customers to view you?
  5. After an experience with you/your brand, what do you want your customer to be thinking/feeling?
  6. What is the single greatest benefit of your business to your customer and how do they know that?
  7. If your company were a person, standing here talking to you, what would they look like/sound like? Describe this “person”.
  8. Do your current marketing messages address/communicate your answers to questions 1-7? How/why not?
  9. Do your people address/communicate your answers to questions 1-7? How/why not?
  10. Taking everything you’ve written here, how will you make business decisions differently in the future?

It’s extra work, but you should consider taking these same questions and answering them about your competitors as well. Not only will you realize how you are positioned against them, but you’ll be better able to plan your direction, whether it’s around or through the competition.

Check back next week as we discuss the most important part of your brand: your people.