The Hidden Costs of DIY Branding

Building a brand is one of the most crucial (yet incredibly daunting!) tasks for any founder. No matter how daunting, many entrepreneurs, hoping to save costs and maintain control, choose to DIY their brand. While this approach can work in the early stages, it often leads to challenges that stifle growth and create hidden costs that aren’t immediately obvious.

Today, I'm exploring the hidden costs of DIY'ing your brand—from time-consuming tasks that pull you away from other critical areas of your business to the missed opportunities that arise when you’re deep in the weeds of brand-building.

Hidden Cost #1: Time

As a founder, you're asked to split your time and attention between many tasks—from building your product to managing payroll. When you choose to DIY your brand, you choose to take time away from other critical areas of your business. Tasks like interviewing customers, conducting competitive analysis, crafting messaging, and designing brand assets can consume hours. Without brand-building experience, you might find yourself endlessly tweaking positioning, messaging, and design, often without fully understanding what your customers truly want.

It's natural to want to maintain control of your brand. But holding on too tightly can lead to burnout, decision fatigue, and the inability to delegate. This grip will ultimately create a bottleneck in your business that hinders growth.

Hidden Cost #2: Inconsistency

Many DIY brands struggle to gain traction due to a lack of consistency. Without a cohesive system for organizing and structuring your brand, key information can become scattered across multiple platforms. This fragmentation often leads to different departments or stakeholders holding varying versions of a brand story. These inconsistencies can erode trust with your customers, employees, and stakeholders, making it difficult for them to understand what your business does and what to expect in communication with your brand. Even solo founders who trust that they know their brand story but don't follow a structured process can struggle to consistently convey their brand story.

When founders fly solo on branding, they often become the sole keepers of their brand identity. This can make delegating tasks challenging, as there’s a constant worry that others might produce content that doesn’t align with the brand.

Hidden Cost #3: Missed Opportunities

While LinkedIn influencers may show off the glamorous side of being an entrepreneur, the reality is business owners get caught up in the day-to-day grind more frequently than not. This grind keeps many founders from thinking strategically about their businesses. When you DIY your brand, you risk missing out on opportunities that could better align your business with its mission and connect more effectively with your target audience.

When non-brand professionals take it upon themselves to DIY their brand strategy, they often waste time, money, and resources chasing initiatives that don't yield results. They become overly focused on tasks like creating Instagram content and miss out on lucrative opportunities that are right in front of them. When you DIY your brand you miss the chance to get an unbiased perspective on your business and unlock brand opportunities that may propel your business forward.

Is it Time to Invest in Professional Branding?

There are many reasons to consider investing in professional branding, especially if you're feeling overwhelmed by marketing, struggling to articulate your brand story, or finding that your current strategies aren’t yielding the results you hoped for. If your growth has plateaued, your customers don’t fully understand your brand or offerings, or you’re finding it increasingly difficult to stand out in a crowded market, it may be time to explore professional brand strategy.

While not every business needs an extensive brand overhaul, every business can benefit from an outsider’s perspective. If you’re currently DIY-ing your brand, consider seeking professional feedback or a second set of eyes on your branding efforts.

There are many reasons to invest in professional brand-building, especially if, as a founder or business owner, you're feeling overwhelmed by marketing, you're struggling to articulate your brand story, or you've hit a dead-end on your marketing methodologies. If your growth has plateaued, your customers don't understand your brand or what your company does, or you're finding it increasingly difficult to stand out in a saturated market, it may be time to invest in professional brand strategy.

While brand strategy isn't for everyone and every business, an outsider's perspective is essential for every business's growth! If you're DIY'ing your brand, consider working with a brand professional to get feedback or a second set of eyes on anything you produce. (P.S. Here's how I can help).

The Benefits of Professional Branding Support

When you invest in professional branding support from an experienced brand strategist, you elevate every aspect of your business. Just ask Amber Mogg Cathey of Evolve Vocal Studio:

"[Brand strategy] has really enabled me to elevate every level of what I do. I have much more clarity with my brand identity, I have a clear strategy now for what I offer, how I offer it, and how I communicate and market it. It’s been a game changer."

A strong brand strategy pushes you to view your business from new angles, helping you uncover innovative ways to connect with your customers and differentiate yourself from competitors. It empowers you to make business decisions that are aligned with your long-term vision, ensuring you maintain a clear and consistent message. This clarity allows you to zig where your competitors zag, forging deeper connections with your audience by addressing what truly matters to them.

Ashia Amavè, a brand firm owner, recognized the value of an external perspective when preparing for a re-launch:

"As a solopreneur who has created this business from my own ideas, it was very easy for me to get lost in my blind spots and not realize where the disconnect is from me to my customer. Jamie’s bird-eye view approach comes in to make sense of your business purpose and how to speak to your audience."

With a professional brand strategy, you gain clarity, alignment, and a competitive edge that keeps your business moving forward.

Make the Shift from DIY to Strategic Branding

If you’re ready to move beyond the limitations of DIY branding and build a brand that truly resonates with your customers, it’s time to consider a professional brand strategy.

Here are two ways to work with me, no matter your budget:

Brand Intensive

This 12-week brand strategy program is designed to help you focus on what matters in your brand so you can build traction with your ideal customers. This hands-on intensive includes a brand workshop, brand strategy documentation, and brand activation support from yours truly.

Brand Consulting

Brand consulting is designed to help you move your brand forward in 60 minutes. These actionable consulting sessions alleviate decision fatigue for founders and business owners and help them identify the best opportunities to move their brands forward.