A brand is more than just a slogan or a design preference of the business. It’s the company’s whole reputation, image, and vibe that accompanies it everywhere. Creating a brand effectively can take your business to new heights of achievement. However, if you don’t build your brand correctly, it might turn off customers and make it very difficult to earn a profit.

For this reason, having a strong marketing plan and an understanding of brand management are crucial. What tools are needed for the branding process, and how does your brand image affect the consumer experience?

In this post, we’ll go over several branding best practices and tactics for aspiring business owners.

One of the most crucial components of any organization, big or little, B2B or retail, is branding. In markets where competition is escalating, having a strong brand strategy offers you a significant advantage. However, what does “branding” actually mean? What impact does it have on a small company like yours?

Your brand is, in essence, what you promise your customer. It distinguishes your offering from that of your rivals and lets them know what to anticipate from your goods and services. Who you are, who you aspire to be, and how other people see you are the foundation of your brand.

Are you the creative outlier in your field? or the trustworthy, seasoned one? Which option high price, high quality, or cheap price, high value is your product? It is impossible to be both and to please everyone at once. A certain amount of who you are should come from who your target audience needs and wants you to be.

Your logo is the cornerstone of your brand. Your brand should be communicated through your website, packaging, and promotional materials, all of which should incorporate your logo.

Brand Strategy & Equity

The how, what, where, when, and to whom you intend to communicate and deliver your brand messaging make up your brand strategy. A component of your brand strategy is where you promote. Your brand strategy includes your methods of distribution as well. Additionally, your verbal and visual communications are components of your brand strategy.

Strong brand equity, or the value added to your company’s goods or services that enables you to charge more for your brand than comparable, unbranded goods fetch, is the result of consistent, deliberate branding. When comparing Coke to a generic beverage, this is best illustrated. Coca-Cola can charge more for its product because of its strong brand equity, and consumers are willing to pay the higher price.

Perceived quality or emotional attachment are common forms of the additional value inherent in brand equity. Lakme, for instance, links its products to actors and models in the hopes that consumers will feel the same way about the product as they do about the actors and models.

Defining Your Brand

Establishing your brand is similar to going on a business self-discovery journey. It can be uncomfortable, challenging, and time-consuming. It requires, at the very least, that you answer the questions below:

• What is the mission of your company?
• What qualities and advantages do your goods and services offer?
• What opinions do current clients and potential clients have of your business?
• Which attributes do you want people to connect with your business?

Make an investigation. Recognize the wants, needs, and habits of both your present and potential clients. Additionally, don’t base your decisions on what you believe they believe. Understand their opinions.

In essence, your target audience is the subset of consumers most likely to make a purchase from your company. Understanding your target audience’s essential characteristics, such as gender, age, geography, and more, will help you identify it.

Determine the demographics of your potential customers by conducting market research. Your ability to sell to and ultimately meet the needs of your target audience will improve as you get more knowledge about them.

It can be difficult to define your brand and create a brand strategy, so think about using the resources of a Small Business Development Center or a nonprofit small-business advisory organization.

How do you spread the word about your brand once it has been established? Here are a few easy, tried-and-true suggestions:

• Obtain a fantastic logo. Put it everywhere.
• Put your brand’s messaging in writing. Which are the main points you wish to make about your brand? Each employee ought to be familiar with the qualities of your brand.
• Include your brand. Everything about your company, including how you answer the phone, what you or your salespeople wear on calls, your email signature, and more, is part of your branding.
• Give your business a “voice” that is consistent with your brand. This voice ought to be used in all written correspondence and integrated into all offline and online products’ visual design. Is your brand user-friendly? Engage in dialogue. Is it elegant? Adopt a more formal tone. You get the idea.
• Create a slogan. Compose a concise, meaningful, and memorable statement that encapsulates your brand.
• Create brand guidelines and design templates for your marketing collateral. Maintain the same style, feel, and color palette throughout. It’s not necessary to be elegant; simply reliable.
• Stay loyal to your brand. If you don’t live up to your brand promise, customers will stop doing business with you or recommend you to others.
• Maintain consistency. I only included this suggestion last since it ties into everything mentioned above and is the most crucial advice I can offer. Your efforts to build a brand will be ineffective if you are unable to accomplish this.

Check out the video

Designing Your Brand’s Style

Having an intriguing yet distinct brand style is crucial because your brand’s visual identity may greatly boost brand recognition. Let’s explore some of the topics mentioned above in more detail.

For instance, the logo for your company should be distinctive, recognizable, and connected to the products or mission of your company. A professional graphic designer can build an amazing logo from scratch, so don’t be scared to hire them. Try to incorporate some aesthetic or stylistic element of what your firm does into the logo.

You have one shot to create a logo that your target audience will remember. If it’s a good one, it will make the growth of your brand much more successful. Your target market and existing customer base can be persuaded to try your business by using a well-designed logo. Plus, it’ll act as excellent branding on product packaging!

In a similar vein, you should carefully consider the color, text fonts, and other stylistic components of your brand. Depending on your sector, a particular color or text type can attract customers to your brand or drive them away. Pink could be a bit too traditionally feminine for your target market, but red or violet might be ideal if you want to create a line of power equipment just for women.

It’s important to think about how the voice of your brand complements the overall aesthetic of your business. For example, if your business is B2B and your target market is other businesses in your sector, you shouldn’t use a lot of catchphrases or be condescending to them.

As an alternative, you ought to speak in highly technical, educational terms that demonstrate your brand’s expertise and authority in its field. Conversely, if you market and sell to the general public, your copy and material should be as clear and basic as possible.

Spreading the Word – Ensuring Brand Continuity

Creating a strong brand identity is only the first step. Next, you must ensure that all of your marketing collateral including that created by outside contractors or freelancers maintains brand coherence.

In light of this, you might want to consider developing a brand style guide. All of the aforementioned details, such as the appearance of your logo, the colors to be used in marketing materials, and the brand voice to be used in copy text, should be broken down in the style guide.

Distribute the style guide to all professionals and marketing experts affiliated with your organization. This incorporates social media messaging and typography, particularly since you’ll frequently interact with your devoted clientele on social media.

Everyone in your organization, including yourself, must always follow the style guide. Why?

Your brand will be easier for customers to remember and more memorable overall if they perceive it as being consistent with you. People are less likely to recall your brand’s name and mission when they need one of your products if it seems disorderly or chaotic. They might even believe that your brand values are shifting or that you are rebranding when in fact you aren’t.

If you execute this well, your brand will become ubiquitous with the services you offer or the items you manufacture.

Conclusion

In the end, developing a brand takes patience, experience, and practice. Continue to refine your brand’s identity and theme as you get more insight into your target market’s needs and preferences. Eventually, you will have the most profitable form of your brand. Wishing you luck!

By now, the COVID-19 pandemic had already battered the global economy, and startups faced significant challenges. Supply chains were disrupted, consumer demand plummeted, and everything moved online, leaving hundreds of startups struggling to raise enough funding or losing their sources of revenue. However, a few startups managed not only to survive but to flourish by adapting their startup fundraising strategies and creating long-term value. Their success highlights the importance of mastering the art of fundraising in challenging times.

Most importantly, a comprehensive breakdown of how to protect your startup in the current times, and what the future holds for us all when it comes to fundraising.

Key Strategies For Startup Fundraising

Following are the key strategies for startup fundraising:

1. Angel Networks vs Venture Capital 

The type of investor you go for during these times is everything. Angel investors are different from VCs because of the way they support startups; thus, it will be important to choose the type of investor that best suits your startup.

– Angel Investors: Angel Investors are more friendly and sympathetic; they have a self-realization that all do not operate as this would always be. That means investing with one’s own money, and indeed they may be willing to support pre-seed stage startups; however, their funding can be lighter compared to venture capital.

– Venture Capital firms: Greater sums of money are brought in by venture capital, but with faster expansion come often higher control demands. They put money into new businesses that have already begun to take off.

Tip: An angel investor might be the greatest choice if you’re just starting out and need mentoring. Venture money is the ideal option if you need a large infusion of funding and are scaling quickly.

2. Discussion on Term Sheets and Negotiations 

It is therefore more crucial than ever to negotiate investment arrangements under the COVID-19 scenario. A term sheet, which is a written agreement outlining every detail of an investment, needs to be carefully examined.

It’s relevant to keep the focus on:

– Equity stakes: At founding, don’t give away too much too early.

– Valuation: It should also be updated as per the realistic market condition.

– Control terms: Do not give up so much control over your startup that you get pushed aside.

Tip: Hire an attorney experienced in startup investments to help you negotiate the best deal.

3. Use Investor Money Only as a Booster 

Every penny counts during a pandemic. Investor money should be a booster, not the only lifeline on which your business hangs. Use it judiciously to fund projects that promise growth in a sustainable manner.

– Invest in technology upgrades that provide added efficiency.

– Financing of marketing strategies that correspond to new consumer behaviors.

This means expanding operations into digital channels to capture the growing demand for online service delivery.

Tip: Instead of merely focusing your funds on short-term benefits, focus on using the money as a strategic lever in solving very significant company problems that will fuel your long-term success.

For fundraising check investor approved pitch deck

4. Focus on Diversification 

The bottom line is this: pandemics have shown us that all our eggs should not be in one basket. Product, service, and revenue diversification are the things that will safeguard your business against disruptions in the future.

– Enter new markets or industries.

– Diversify revenues by developing as many revenue streams as possible and refrain from total reliance on one source.

– Be adaptable to varying consumer needs and adjust your offerings accordingly.

hint: Diversification geographically when your market is in a slump may help. Opening to international markets may translate to enormous opportunities.

5. Not the Courage of Abandoning 

Being an entrepreneur requires perseverance, and the epidemic put every startup founder’s bravery to the test. When facing the prospect of a financial meltdown, perseverance makes all the difference.

– Be adaptable: Take brief breaks to adjust your plan of action if needed, but don’t abandon the current task.

– Maintain team motivation: A driven team is one of the main things your startup is built on.

– Seek out opportunities: Market gaps are frequently created by crises.

Tip: Be steadfast; challenges could arise, but take measured chances to keep your startup alive.

6. Create Value, Not Just Valuations 

When times are uncertain, creating real value pays more dividends than chasing sky-high valuations. Investors are certain to flock to startups solving real problems in the real world.

– The focus should be on gaining the trust and loyalty of the customer.

– Develop a product or service offering that truly addresses the needs of your target market.

Value creation gives a long-term sustainable business, whereas inflated valuations may not stand up to disruptions in the market.

It’s wise to consider more than just what will increase your short-term valuation and consider how you can actually add value for your partners and users.

7. Choosing the Right Incubator and Accelerator

Therefore, if your company is still in its early stages, joining an incubator or accelerator could provide much-needed financing, connections, and coaching. But times have changed in the pandemic era for incubators and accelerators themselves.

– Incubators are best serving the needs of early-stage startups that need mentorship, space, and business resources.

– Ideally, accelerators are for those kinds of startups that have a certain traction going on and seek more capital to access scaling opportunities.

Tip: It is worth mentioning here that choosing incubators and accelerators based on your industry or powerful networks of mentors and investors is important, as they will lead you through the worst times.

8. Dare to Dream Big 

It’s the big dreams that even today-when largely struggling from the pandemic-play a crucial role in the success of any startup. Founders are far-sighted in their thinking, bold in their ideas, and imaginative in their approach to emerging from crises even stronger.

– Go beyond just survival: Set up your business for success after the epidemic by identifying growth prospects that coincide with long-term trends.

– Bold to innovate: To set your startup apart, stick with cutting-edge concepts and innovations.

Key Stakeholder Tip: Your dream should involve not only short-term survival but long-term impact. Emphasize how your startup can leave a legacy in your industry or society.

Check out more about startup fundraising strategies

Conclusion 

Although the epidemic has presented previously unheard-of difficulties, it has also highlighted the need for resilience, adaptability, and creativity in the startup industry. Selecting the appropriate investors, using good judgment while negotiating, and generating value through diversification can all help to facilitate this further.

In times of distress, fundraising is not difficult. It does require a calculated approach, a great deal of bravery, and unwavering faith in your goal. Dream large. Quickly adjust. Construct intelligently.

The Indian startup ecosystem has seen the rise of deep tech startups as a significant force over the last few years, making profound impacts in verticals and the broader economy. These deep-tech startups, which are powered by cutting-edge technology including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), blockchain, quantum computing, and robotics, are redefining the boundaries of innovation and contributing to what is shaping the new-age Indian economy.

An innovation of this magnitude is much more than a ripple; it is a wave that opens up novel avenues, disrupts long-established territories, and establishes India as the front-runner in techno-economic solutions worldwide. Keep reading to see how these deep-tech startups are quickly changing the face of the Indian economy.

Startups Transforming the Indian Economy

Following are the startups transforming the Indian Economy:

1. Fueling Innovation Across Industries

Deep-tech startups are playing a vital role in impacting the Indian economy in many ways and transforming sectors of our country through innovation is one of the best practices of it. Using novel technologies such as healthcare, agriculture, fintech, and manufacturing these startups disrupt traditional business models and processes.

– Healthcare: AI diagnostics, robotics-assisted surgeries, blockchain for secure medical records improving patient outcomes, and reducing costs
– Agriculture: Drones are still gaining significant traction and are now being more widely used to provide farmers with advanced technology such as drone mapping, data analytics, IoT technologies for optimized farming practices.
– Financial Services: Blockchain technology is used for more secure and transparent financial transactions, whereas AI and ML are being widely adopted for risk assessment and fraud detection.

Such technological enhancements are making Indian industries more efficient, competitive and globally aligned.

2. Creating High-Skilled Jobs and Attracting Global Talent

Deep-tech startups will continue to proliferate and generate thousands of high-skill jobs within the country. Deep-tech start-ups are responsible for >12% of the nation’s start-up environment and have access to a large proportion of engineers, investigators, R&D specialists as indicated by an investigation by NASSCOM.

– AI and ML Developers: Data scientists, and AI developers are in high demand as companies in all sectors require talent to build and maintain sophisticated algorithms.
– Robotics and Automation Engineers: undisputedly one of the most critical because with automation being so crucial to manufacturing and logistics, skilled robotic engineers are in the highest demand.
– Blockchain Developers: With more fintech and supply chain start-ups implementing blockchain for transaction security and product tracing, there is a strong increase in demand for developers with experience in Blockchain.

With a strong Innovation ecosystem, India is not only generating jobs locally but also bringing in global talent and investments.

3. Boosting the Economy with Investments and Exports

Deep-tech startups are instrumental in boosting economic growth, by attracting foreign investments and adding ons to the exports. India has seen a growth in funding available to startups working in deep-tech because VC and PE executives appreciate the potential of using intellectual property to build new companies.

– Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): The potential of the Indian deep-tech startups has attracted investments worth billions from global investors in the field of AI, blockchain, and quantum computing.
– Exports of Tech Solutions: Deep-tech startups in India are exporting tech solutions to the international stage and cyber security, AI driven software and Fintech are some of the leading areas.

These investments and exports not only contribute to the economy, but also position India as a global technology innovation hub.

4. Solving India’s Unique Challenges with Technology

While deep-tech startups develop tech-driven solutions to cater to the challenges specific to India, they are also helping improve some of the direst conditions in the country. For instance:

– Rural Connectivity: using satellite technology and wireless networks, startups are making the internet more accessible for poor rural communities, ultimately decreasing the digital divide.
– Clean Energy: As India has committed to clean energy, deep-tech startups are working in the areas of energy storage and distribution with the broader ecosystem parts.
– Smart Cities: Deep-tech companies are developing internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics technologies for more intelligent urban management around resource usage, traffic flow and infrastructure maintenance.

Deep-tech startups in the country are resolving these challenges and this is one way they contribute towards developing India and aiding in building a sustainable future.

5. Fostering an R&D Culture

The mindset of deep-tech startups are more focused towards research and development, and those kind of approaches and interventions comes from business is a must for long term vision. While traditional startups often rely on scaling and market domination as a key part of their business model, capital-light deep-tech focused enterprises tend to value spending substantially more on research and development (R&D) in order to create innovations that can change the industry.

– Collaboration with Academia: With some top Indian universities and research institutions, many deep-tech startups collaborate to receive the latest research discontinues nurturing innovation
– Government Support: The Indian government is supporting deep-tech startups by funding R&D-focused companies through initiatives like the Startup India program, and the National Research Foundation (NRF).

This focus on R&D, in turn, is not just paving the way for advancements in technology but fast establishing India as the innovation leader worldwide.

6. Enhancing India’s Image in World Competition

To begin with, deep-tech startups drive India to a greater competitive level on the world stage. Moreover, India has caught up with tech powerhouses like the USA, China, and Israel in terms of innovation in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Quantum Computing, etc.

– AI and Quantum Computing: India is emerging as a power-house for founding multi-national startups in the domains of AI and quantum computing.
– Global Partnerships: Is the new norm and Indian deep-tech start ups a forming strategic partners with global players taking the competitiveness/ reach to the next level.

These startups in turn are making India as an innovation hub leading the technology of future.

Check out all transformation in economy due to deep tech

Conclusion

Fast-paced Deep Tech Startups in India are rapidly bringing about a transformation of the Indian economy through innovation-led growth, job creation, attracting investments, and solving critical problems. In addition, they are bringing new solutions in multiple domains including AI, ML, blockchain, and quantum computing, which will undoubtedly change industries forever while simultaneously positioning India as a global tech leader. And with startups on the rise and stronger than ever, these firms will definitely to contribute to India’s business narrative and tech road map.
India has started its deep-tech journey and the future is as bright as the summer sun.

The need of the hour in a fast-paced startup environment where innovation meets aspiration is not advice & solutions from an army of consultants and investment bankers like never before. We are counselors at the front of the battlefield, traveling with entrepreneurs as they navigate their way through funding and growth. But the question remains: are we truly providing effective startup consulting with strategic, if not operational guidance, or simply skin-deep makeover in your pitch decks and valuation spreadsheets? We need to take another look around.

The path to investment banking is typically long and challenging. Investors and founders are required to invest prudently, which is what we expect them to do in the first place. We need to be more than just a conduit for raising money and try to maintain a closer working relationship with each of the startups we support. It requires boundless reading, counterintuitive critics, and steadfast dedication to stats and unparalleled business constructs.

And if we do want this transformation to really happen, we need to push ourselves to spend time and try to get a complete sense of our clients’ businesses. In turn, if we are properly aligned with where the founders live today and aspire to be in the future, it makes for a more aggressive ecosystem built around actual frameworks of success which will come not just by securing investment but also by building companies that can eventually grow, scale, sustain. In the sections to follow, we flesh out key learnings that can restructure the way consultants interact with startups; which in turn leads to a more contributive relationship.

Are You As A Consultant Providing The Right Direction To Startups?

The investment banking exercise is tedious and has a long gestation life. The closest to the founders are their consultants and investment bankers. We have the onus to deal with startups more responsibly and not waste time and efforts of investors and ourselves. Consultants need to be strategy partners for clients than merely try getting funds for the company. Most of the consultants take up an assignment and start deliberating on fancy pitchbooks and valuation models. This needs a transformation. Do a homework and lot of research on the business model, meet the management at least 2-3 times before taking up an assignment, make them aware of their success ratio of getting funds, and make the founders realize the business model lacks uniqueness (no client would like to listen to this, however, trust me they would still be happy to get insights and push themselves to make it different). Do you challenge the founders? As consultants, try taking up this useful exercise. Below are relevant observations and justifications.

Founder’s / Management’s Full-Time Role And Involvement In The Company

In case it’s a part-time business for the founders and there are no stakes involved for them to grow and flourish the business. 

Looking from the Investor’s Eye: The owner has to be hungry; needs to eat, drink, and sleep to take the business to the next level. Put your bet on the company or idea which is striving to make the business model profitable. In case the founders merely talk about “When can we get funds?” are the ones you need to filter out.

Monetization Of Business

Cash-burn businesses used to be the focus of the investors a couple of months ago. The investors today are more learned and cautious to invest merely based on the cash burn ratio. 

Looking from Investor’s Eye: As Consultant, segregate and analyse the cash burn based on client acquisition (this is a plus), extensive marketing (this is a minus as startups do not need expensive marketing, rather word of mouth, and social media marketing will be good to start with).

Background Research About The Business Model

When management is deep inside the business models, it is assumed that they would have researched about the business in depth. 

Looking from Investor’s Eye: Investors are keen to compare businesses so to analyze the scalability and replicability. An in-depth research of business models, revenue streams, international best practices, and domestic peer groups is a must. Founders need to be aware of pin to plane about all these aspects apart from evaluating the need and necessity of the business model.

Technology Intervention

How manual is the idea? Would it bring a disruption? Does the founder belong to the same/similar line of business? 

Looking from the Investor’s Eye: In case, the founders are not related, they might need a strategy partner or board of advisors from a similar line of business. After which one might explore technology intervention which could possibly transform the process. 

Vision Of The Management

Spend 1-2 hours to understand the vision of the management. The shortcut is before meeting ask them the vision to be written in 5 sentences with maximum 6-7 words. 

Looking from Investor’s Eye: The clarity, scalability and reliability in the vision statement is must for investors.

International Best Practices And Practical Adoption Of The Business In The Country Where It Is Located

How international peer group is working, are their best practices which could be replicable in your current business?

Looking from Investor’s Eye: Investors are largely driven by precedence as they are able to compare and envision the future.

Uniqueness In The Idea

What is the problem statement, and how unique is the idea? 

Looking from Investor’s Eye: In case, investors feel there are ample such business models, they might uprightly reject the idea. There might be an instance where the business idea is unique however, the way it is positioned it does not appear TO LOOK UNIQUE. 

Collateral And Stakes

Ask your clients what assets they or their family own. Would they like to mortgage those assets and get funding? 

Looking from the Investor’s Eye: Investors want to see promoters’ skin in the game. In case they are reluctant to invest their own money, why would you expect a 3rd party equity investor to take a risk? Investors like to see the confidence of the founder in the idea.

Last is would you as a consultant invest in the business leaving your fee aside

This shall serve as a hypothetical and practical analysis – Would you as investment bankers and consultants pledge your money and advisory fee to make it successful? If the answer is yes, then strive hard to make it successful.

Most founders today start business out of lure of getting high valuations, to get name and fame, to be independent, to showcase the world and relatives that they are doing something different. However, the truth is far from reality. The valuation is merely an illusion, its just a number.

One suggestion to founders: Don’t start burning cash and make it big by thinking equity money is free money. There are no free lunches. Empathize with the money you borrow. Consultants need to provide genuine and straightforward advice to clients than providing them false hope of deal closure.

Also Read: Investment Memorandum Guide for startup