Episode 5, Creating a brand Welcome to the be your own boss podcast
The young entrepreneurs guide to starting a business, whether you're
thinking about business for the first time or you have an idea that you want
to develop then this is the podcast for you.
I'm Mari and I'll be guiding you through this 15 part series that will
keep you on track and help you think through the challenges that come with
starting a business. Part of the Welsh Government's Business Wales service Big
Ideas Wales raises aspirations and supports young entrepreneurs ambitions
for business. Part funded by the European Regional Development Fund Big Ideas
Wales supports young people through online resources , business skills
workshops and one-to-one sessions with an advisor to help your ideas become a
reality. To get in touch with us you can like and follow us on Facebook, Twitter
and Instagram. Message us and one of the team will get back to you, call us via
the helpline on 03000 6 03000. Live chat on the
Business Wales website or you can email us bigides@gov.wales
Welcome back to episode 5 of the be your own boss podcast focused on creating a brand.
Before we begin let's recap on episode four where we discussed the importance
of researching your markets, identifying, listening and catering to your customers
needs throughout your business life cycle. We all know that first impressions
count and it's the same with a business, every business no matter how small needs
its own brand identity you need to stand out in a crowd, you might be wondering
what the brand actually is. It's more than just your name and logo, it's the
character of your business and how you control the way your business is
perceived. If you don't work on your brand you risk leaving your image and
reputation to chance, the right branding can help you raise awareness, attract
customers, build loyalty and encourage word-of-mouth recommendation. Your brand
has to appeal to the audience you're targeting and must convey your unique
selling points (USPs). It can help you stand out
from the crowd and become a well-known name in your local area and sector, it
makes you recognizable. Once you've devised your brand identity it's up to
you to make sure your business lives up to its brand promise but don't put one
in place and forget about it. In coming up with a name for your
business, have you thought about how important it is? Choosing a name can be
fun but there are some things that you really need to consider here it needs to
be easy to pronounce, spell and remember but don't be afraid to touch on your
roots. It should be unique it should be unique check the national business
register to see if there are any other businesses with that name this could
affect the domain name and emails you get as well. Can you get a suitable
domain name and social media handle?Have you thought about the benefits of using
Welsh? It might need to work overseas too so maybe you could try translating your
name on Google. Please remember to not put Ltd or PLC next to your name if
you're a sole trader. Many businesses choose a descriptive name so it's clear
what their business does and can be easily found online, whichever route you
choose remember to test your ideas on your potential customers first.
Don't forget the research questions we talked about in Episode four, if people
don't like the name it could put them off. I'm going to give you a four step
system that can help you along the way with your branding. Step 1,
draw up a list of brand characteristics for your business. Step 2,
think about where your branding will appear, this could include on a business
card, brochures, on the website, on social media, at your premises, on the side of
your van or even on staff uniforms. Branding links all of these elements
together and connects everything to your business, the more people see it the more
they think of you. Step 3, ask a freelance designer to help you create your logo
and brand identity or you could even do it yourself. Step 4,
develop the right voice for your business based on your brand
characteristics and customer profile, this will help you to write consistent
and effective marketing messages, this will be carried through the website and
social media channels remember it all connects. I had the chance to sit down
with Shoned Owen from Tanya Whitebits Ltd to discuss brand identity.
ML: Hiya Sioned
SO: Hello
ML: Hello thanks for making the time to chat with us
SO: You're welcome
ML: First of all tell us a bit about yourself and the business
SO: So I'm Shoned and I live
on the Llyn Peninsula just outside for Pwllheli I've always lived in that area
and I've developed the first Welsh fake tan company and it's called Tanya Whitebits
ML: I love the name
SO: Thank you
ML: How did it all begin then?
SO: I was working full-time in sports development and my job was funded by the
National Assembly, unfortunately we were told that maybe the funding would stop
as it happened it didn't actually but at the time my contract went from a four
year contract to a two year contract to an annual contract so I had to think
about where my income would come from if the contract came to an end and
obviously living where I live quite a rural area Ive got limited
qualifications I haven't got a degree I haven't got teaching qualifications so I
started to think about developing my own side hustle just so that I had something to fall back on
ML: And did you know straightaway I was going to be something in the beauty industry or
SO: Yeah I think because I I think health and beauty and
well-being come hand-in-hand so because I was in sports development in my
full-time job I'd always been interested in the beauty industry and I recognized
locally there was nobody offering mobile spray tanning so there was a gap in the
market there so initially the idea was to start a business as a service and
an actual brand so it came from doing a mobile tanning service attending the
course and just offering the service locally in my area and I just called the
service Tanya Whitebits because it was a personal catchphrase that I used to
say and I love puns as well and it's a catchy name and my own name is a little
bit boring so I just wanted something quite fun and memorable.
ML: Are you surprised now to see how the business has grown?
SO: Yes I'm still pinching myself because I
wasn't very academically strong in school I was never top of the class I
wasn't the worst either but I was just middle-of-the-road and when you're in
the middle it's sort of a nowhere land really so I think I left school feeling
a little bit of a failure so yeah I am still pinching myself that my my product
is out there and people are buying it.
ML: And when did the product come to life
because you said it was a service going around giving people spray tans
when did you think I want to actually develop a product here as well?
SO: Yeah so that idea sort of evolved so it wasn't a master plan from day one it was after
I attended the course and was using other brands and products and realizing I
didn't like some of them were orange some of them were sticky and just
started thinking if I developed my own product how I would have that product
different I wanted it to be vegan friendly, cruelty free, paraben free,
alcohol free so it doesn't dry the skin and just started thinking how what sort
of ingredients I would want in my own branded product
ML: So you were a massive part of the process of developing this product
SO: Yes so obviously I haven't got a
degree in chemistry so I had to find a chemist that could help me come up with
the formula to put it through the cosmetics regulation and to have
everything that I wanted in the ingredients or didn't want in the
ingredients so I didn't realize how much of a task it was when I started out but
I'm here now and yeah the brand was born
ML: And its a massive success as well
SO: It is now but it's been an uphill struggle in the beginning
ML: What would you say then were the biggest challenges or hurdles
SO: I would say because nobody heard of the
brand it was an unknown brand and approaching shops and customers in the
beginning asking them do you want to try Tanya Whitebits and they would go
I've never heard of that and I'd say well if and I tell them all the good
things about the brand and they would say no thanks
so it was lots of no's in the beginning but luckily I was using it myself
because I was a spray-tan technician on my own clients so I did start to build up
testimonials, before and after pictures and then slowly shops did buy into it
and it started growing very slowly in the beginning and then suddenly it's
just gone yeah it's got it's gone quite a big company now .
ML: So what advice would
you give them to someone thinking of starting their own business thinking
back to those early days?
SO: So early days I would say I'd always had an interest in
the beauty industry so if you're passionate about something and you love
something and you've got an interest in there then that will keep you going
especially on the days where you've had five people say no thanks and you've got
this product and you know it's good you've just got to keep going and it
will make you when you have that passion it's just what keeps you going and when
you love your product and you love what you do and that's that's what worked for me.
ML: Is it difficult then to have a positive work-life balance when you're running your own business?
SO: Yes for me I found because I am the driving force of
the business it's been very difficult to switch off at times I feel like I just
can't take my eye off the ball and from a personal perspective as well I feel
like there's a third wheel in our marriage and luckily my husband puts up
with her and we call her her so it was so we called we referred to Tanya as her
and yes so fair play he's quite good there's been times where we've had to
cancel meals out or days out and because something with work has happened
and I have nobody to delegate to or there's a big order to come in or anything
um but he he's quite good with that so I think he's he's a keeper
ML: Well she's a part of you isn't she
SO: Yes yeah and I think he just sees sometimes how hard I
work and how much time I put into it and in the beginning there was little
financial reward so he was probably thinking you know you're killing
yourself here and you know but that that's part of building something from scratch
ML: You must have had that vision from very early on to keep going and to be patient with it
SO: Yeah I don't think I ever thought it would fail I thought I'd
probably drop dead or something in that in the time that I was working so hard
but I never thought it's not gonna fail because I was so confident in the
product and and how it went on and how it developed and the testimonials I
already had and the ideas that I still had for more product development so I've
just that's been my in my in my head it's just getting other people to see
and to try it and to believe in it as well.
ML: And now with social media as it is
people do spread the word of mouth now is on Instagram as well as Facebook yeah
so on do you see that as a massive advantage?
SO: Huge yeah definitely Instagram has
transformed my business I've I've reached out to people I would never have
spoken to from Penllyn and I've had people trying it I've worked with
influencers, makeup artists, celebrities so it all helps to build the brand definitely.
ML: Well keep doing what you're doing and thanks for chatting with us.
SO: Thank you
Tune into episode 6 where I'll be discussing getting online with a budget
and the tools available that you can make use of because every business
needs to get online. To get in touch with us you can like and follow us on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Message us and one of the team will get back to you.
Call us via the helpline 03000 6 03000. Live chat
on the Business Wales website or send us an email bigideas@gov.wales
I'll speak to you all again very soon