Part Two: Building a brand and setting yourself up for success

Last week I decided to start putting some words together on the journey I’ve been on over the past few months, setting up Inara with my two friends / business partners Jason Ouston and Kate Oliver . 

I kicked things off with talking through the fundamentals of starting a talent consultancy (read 'Part One' here). I explored the leap of faith it takes to get started, the finances, the business plan and setting up your back office. 

Part Two is all about creating a brand, which in my opinion it’s up there with one of the most important factors in setting yourself up for early success. 

I’ve really enjoyed the whole process of setting up and launching a company, but I have to say I’ve definitely loved this part the most. It gave us all a chance to get our heads together, get creative and understand how each of us envisioned how we want Inara to look and feel. 

So here we go, let's look at some of the key things to think about when creating your brand. 

The name: 

Honestly for us this was up there with some of the most exciting and frustrating few days. All day everyday for about a week we were sending names to each other trying to find one we all loved. 

We tried name generators, we shared names of things we walked past on the street, we explored initials of children & dogs, there was even one point where we were taking pictures of gym equipment brands. We eventually narrowed our search down to trying to find a name with a meaning that we all liked and there is no better world to get lost in than pinterest for names with meanings. 

The moment Inara was shared in the group and we saw that it means “Ray of Light” in Arabic we all knew that it felt right. 

The logo & theme: 

There are so many options to explore online that it can become quite overwhelming. We were lucky to be able to call in a friend to help with this, someone I knew really well and someone who had helped me with another logo for an event I used to run, in steps our 'Scouse Hero' Dean Smith . 

I highly recommend bringing an impartial person into this part of the process because not only can they give you a different perspective but they can also keep you aligned as a team. 

My top tip: Find a logo/font you’re happy with before you decide on your colour scheme. Once we had our logo it was just a case of flicking colour variations before we found something we liked. Honestly without doing this I don’t think we would have ever gone for our Inara yellow which we now love so much today. 

The values:

This is so important for your company as a whole, the brand is just one of the many areas your values will impact your business. We prioritised this really early on as we believe our values set the tone for what we wanted Inara to be. 

I think this is where our already existing bond as a team really shone through, as our values were so aligned. 

We did run a really fun and interesting exercise though, which anyone could use and follow if you wanted. We went away and came back with four values that were important to us and then we wrote a sentence about each of those values. Finally we sat down and we dissected our sentences and fitted them together so all our individual thoughts merged into creating our collective values as a team. 

The identity & tone: 

A lot of what I’ve talked about will help set this, but it’s really important you try to keep both your identity & tone throughout all aspects of your business. It defines who you are, showcases your authenticity and allows people to build trust in both you and your brand.

My top tip: Look at other businesses you resonate well with. Try and find the ones with great messaging, powerful content, engaging website, strong social media presence. There is a good chance you’re attracted to these brands because they know their identity and they have a consistent tone. Don’t be afraid to take some tips, but make sure you also stay true to your company and define your own way, don’t just copy someone else.  

The content & social media 

This isn't just a one stop shop to focus on during your launch or even the first few weeks of getting your company off the ground. Your social media content & platforms need constant focus, time and attention. 

My top tip: If you're part of a team (like we are) find the person who enjoys creating content the most and give them the responsibility to keep the ideas coming and the team on track.  

If you’ve gone solo and this isn’t your strong point I highly recommend trying to push yourself as much as possible to get used to sharing some content, even if it's just a handful of posts a month. There are some great courses, podcasts and articles out there that can help with inspiration. 

The website 

In all honesty this isn’t something we’ve prioritised and I’m not sure it’s something that needs to be front and centre when launching a company, especially in the recruitment world. Yes a website should be on the agenda but if you are working to a budget does it need to be the first thing you spend your money on, no. 

My top tip: Remember you can use your company pages on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter as your shop window whilst your work on your website in the background. 

The team

Shout about your team members, what are your likes, dislikes and superpowers. Let people get to know who they will be working with if they choose to engage with your company. 

My top tip: Give your audience the opportunity to get to know your team on a deeper level.

We did this by creating some really cool bio cards for our socials that allowed people to get to know each of the team and their lives in and outside of work. We then put together some longer articles to introduce the founders' backstories and doing that allowed others to come on the journey that has led us to starting Inara.

 You don’t need to do the same things we did if you don’t want to, there are tons of ways to shout about your team. I do however think you're missing a massive trick here if you don’t allow people to get to know the amazing people in the team, which they could be working with.  

The end:

So there we have it, some of the things I’ve learnt about building a brand and hopefully setting ourselves up for success as we start to grow Inara . 

I can’t begin to describe how much I’ve enjoyed writing this article. I absolutely love everything about building a brand, growing an audience and using your platform to create connections that can lead to professional relationships and future business.

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it and I will be absolutely over the moon if you’re able to learn something along the way. 

Next week I will be sharing the final article in this three part series. We will be looking into a really important and juicy topic ‘Actually getting started, generating new business and tuning hard work into profit'.